A blog and news about Tempe Arizona

If people vote with their feet, new numbers from the U.S. Census show they like the far suburbs of Phoenix a lot — and are not really keen on large swaths of much of the rest of Arizona.

East Valley locales of Gilbert (third), Queen Creek (sixth) Chandler (eighth) ranked in the top 10 for statewide year-over-year population growth, while Tempe ranked 14th and Mesa 20th. 

Buckeye led the state with a year-over-year population increase of 4.1 percent between 2011 and 2012. That figure for the rapidly sprawling community 30 miles west of downtown Phoenix was good enough to get it ranked ninth fastest growing in the nation.

Nearby Goodyear took the No. 2 slot in the state at 3.4 percent, with Gilbert also at 3.4 percent, Queen Creek at 2.7 percent, Chandler at 2.5 percent, Tempe at 1.9 percent and Mesa at 1.7 percent. 

At the other extreme, many small towns found a net outflow of residents. And the state’s southern and western tiers were particularly hard it.

Five of the cities at the bottom of the list are in Cochise County, with Tombstone and Huachuca City each losing about 1.8 percent of their already small population.

Population in the county’s unincorporated area also dropped. And even communities that did not dip into negative numbers lagged, with Sierra Vista managing to eke out just a half percentage point growth in residents.

That was better than Tucson which the Census Bureau says added just 1,126 residents over the year, or 0.2 percent. While the far suburban communities of Marana and Sahuarita grew faster — 2.3 percent and 1.9 percent respectively — there was little indication of the same kind of surge in the unincorporated areas of the county where population grew at just 0.6 percent.

Parker lost the most residents, percentage-wise, of any community in the state with a 3.9 percent population drop.

But the pattern played out all along the Colorado River, with the Census Bureau saying Yuma also lost population as did Bullhead City, with no growth in Lake Havasu City and only a 0.2 percent growth in Kingman.

The new numbers show something else: While people continue to pile into the Phoenix area, they may not be willing to drive as far as they once were to find cheaper housing.

During the last decade, the city of Maricopa boomed from just a handful of homes to more than 43,000. But it managed to add just 500 new residents in the last year. And Florence, which also saw a 50 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2010, actually lost population between 2011 and 2012.

But economist Tom Rex with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University specifically questioned losses logged for Yuma and Florence. He said that may be a function of an overestimate between 2010 and 2011, with the new numbers simply making up for that.

Overall, Marshall Vest, an economist with the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona, said the population growth patterns are no real surprise: They mirror where jobs are being created.

That presents an interesting problem for the rest of the state.

“It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg question of what comes first: population or employment,” Vest said.

“Companies are going to locate where there’s an available and skilled labor force,” he explained.

“And people, likewise, are going to migrate to where the jobs are,” Vest continued. “It’s a dynamic there that feeds on itself.”

Even with that, Vest foresees brighter times, particularly for parts of Southern Arizona.

“I think the economy here in Tucson is beginning to accelerate,” he said, saying the sluggish year-over-year growth needs to be put in perspective.

“The Phoenix economy dived deeper” than the rest of the state, Vest said. “And so it’s coming up a little more rapidly.”

Rex agreed population growth rates around the state will even off — but not necessarily because of improvements elsewhere.

“At some point the Phoenix area will get so large the negatives will outweigh the positives,” he said, and people will no longer want to move to the Valley. How soon, Rex said, he can’t say.

“A lot depends on how good a job we do in coming years in handling the growth and providing the infrastructure,” he said.

And Rex said other areas of the state should not see their slower growth rate as a bad thing.

“If you wanted to improve your community and enhance your prosperity, it’s easier to do if you have slow growth,” he said. And he said it also means the ability to make a big difference with a single score.

For example, he said if Tucson were to add a new employer the size of Raytheon, which has more than 10,000 employees, that would make a major difference to the area. Total non-farm employment in Pima County is about 370,000.

“You dump a company like that in Phoenix and it gets swallowed up with Joe Shmoe’s Remodeling Shop and this, that and the other thing,” Rex explained, with 1.8 million jobs in the Phoenix metro area. “Even though you brought in several thousand good jobs, it had an almost imperceptible impact on the overall numbers.”

That conclusion about the slow job growth for the near future for everything outside the Phoenix metro area, for at least the near future, reflects what has been predicted by economist Aruna Murthy of the state Department of Administration.

She is forecasting a 2.3 percent jump in employment in the Phoenix area for the balance of this year and 2.4 percent in 2014.

By contrast, Murthy figures Pima County and the rest of the state will see job growth of just 0.8 percent this year. That figure will hit 1.1 percent for Pima County in 2014, with a 1.3 percent growth for the balance of the state.

John Aguilar believes that putting names and faces to neighbors who died serving their country might heighten understanding of the meaning of Memorial Day.

For too many young people, Memorial Day is recognized more as a day off from work or a reason to have a pool party than as a day to honor soldiers who did not make it home to their families, said Aguilar, who has lived in Tempe 79 years.

This Memorial Day, Aguilar is among a group of Tempe residents who are uniting to organize a gathering to honor all veterans and to recognize a Tempe family that lost two brothers and a cousin in World War II.

A bronze statue in front of the Tempe Escalante Community Center is dedicated to brothers Cipriano and George Escalante and their cousin, Gabriel Escalante.

Gabriel was the first member of the family to die while serving his country in 1944. Cipriano died during the battle of Iwo Jima. His brother, George, died in Luzon during the battle for the Philippine Islands.

Aguilar said it pained him to know that thousands of people walk by that Tempe memorial every day and have no idea what the Escalante boys did for their country.

“Some of our community people don’t know it (the statue) even exists,” he said, adding that there are so many more nameless, faceless soldiers who should be remembered each Memorial Day.

Aguilar said he connected this year with his friend and fellow Tempe resident Dan Frank, 70, and the two got to organizing Monday’s Memorial Day celebration at the Escalante center. Help came from several groups, including Los Vecinos, the Early Bird at Breakfast Club, Los Amigos and the Tempe Community Action Agency.

Frank is among a group of Tempe residents who several years ago fought to have the Escalante statue restored and moved from the back to the front of the Escalante center.

“It’s part of our Hispanic history,” Frank said, adding that he hopes that the Southeast Valley community will make time Monday to attend the Escalante celebration to honor men and women who served their country.

“I just hope that people show up and that they get to know who the Escalante boys were. They are just a microcosm of veterans who died serving their country,” Aguilar said.

“People celebrate Memorial Day but they don’t put a face to it. These were three young boys. They were Tempe citizens. They make Memorial Day real. It’s your neighbors who went to serve their country and didn’t make it home,” he said.

Tempe Memorial Day service: 10 a.m. Monday at the Escalante Community Center, 2150 E. Orange St. Councilman Corey Woods and former Mayor Hugh Hallman will speak. The Tempe Fire Department’s color guard will attend. Refreshments will be served.

The City of Tempe announced today that Ryan Companies US, Inc. and Sunbelt Holdings will develop a site owned by ASU adjacent to Tempe Town Lake, subject to City Council approval of development agreement details in the coming month. State Farm will lease office space and anchor the multi-use development.

The Marina Heights project in Tempe will be the largest office development deal in Arizona history, with more than 2 million square feet to be constructed on more than 20 acres. Construction costs are estimated at $600 million. Additionally, 40,000 to 60,000 square feet of retail amenities will complement the transit-oriented development, including food service, coffee shops, restaurants, business services, and fitness facilities. The site will also feature an approximately 10-acre lakeside plaza, which will be open to the public.

“This is a proud day for Tempe and everyone involved. We are tremendously excited about what the addition of State Farm will mean to our community over the decades to come,” said Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell. “These employees, buildings, and amenities will further contribute to and showcase the vibrancy of Tempe Town Lake, Mill Avenue, and Arizona State University, and serve as a catalyst for more high-quality development.”

“We are thrilled that State Farm will be expanding in Arizona,” said Governor Jan Brewer. “The jobs that will be created to make this project a reality will be a tremendous boon to our economy. This is a great example of how our plan to build an Arizona that is attractive to high value employers is hitting the mark.”

The five-building campus will be leased by State Farm and become a hub to include a combination of new hires and existing employees who will provide claims, service, and sales support to State Farm customers.

“State Farm selected Tempe because it has a growing population with skill sets that match our customers’ needs,” said Mary Crego, Senior Vice President, State Farm. “The site along Tempe Town Lake gives our employees access to nearby amenities as well as easy connections to public transportation.”

“We look forward to having State Farm as a neighbor and to working with the company on a variety of programs including employee recruitment and academic programs for their staff,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “State Farm’s decision to lease the land owned by the university immediately adjacent to the ASU Athletic Facilities District is the first major step in the campaign to fund new and renovated sports facilities for the university. The Athletic Facilities District will be home to an exciting mixed-use development reflecting high quality and the best practices of sustainability. A high stature tenant such as State Farm will add to the luster of the district and validates its attractiveness.”

The project is being developed by Ryan Companies US, Inc. and Sunbelt Holdings. Tempe-based architectural firm DAVIS designed the project.

About State Farm

State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 44 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit www.statefarm.com or in Canada www.statefarm.ca.

About Arizona State University

Arizona State University is a New American University – a major public educational institution, a premier research center and a leader in innovation. Our vision is described by our three core principles: excellence in scholarship, access to education and impact in our global community. As a New American University, ASU is intellectually vibrant, socially conscious and globally engaged. For more information, please visit www.asu.edu.

About Sunbelt Holdings

Sunbelt Holdings has been a recognized leader in real estate development, management and investment throughout the Southwest since 1979. Over the years, the firm has gained an understanding of the area’s unique characteristics that only time and experience can teach. Sunbelt entered the local market more than 30 years ago with a strong presence in commercial development and asset management. Early projects like the Phoenix Gateway Center remain successful icons. Recent acquisitions of turn-around assets have provided unique opportunities to add value in the ‘class A’ office market with the Hayden Ferry Lakeside project in Tempe, and the PV|303 industrial project in the West Valley. Sunbelt also developed some of the Valley’s most beloved residential communities including McDowell Mountain Ranch in Scottsdale, Power Ranch in the East Valley and Vistancia in the Northwest Valley. In all, Sunbelt has developed over 50,000 acres of land over the past 30 years. For more information, please visit www.sunbeltholdings.com.

About Ryan Companies US, Inc.

Ryan Companies US, Inc. is a 3rd generation, family-owned national developer, designer, capital investment consultant, builder, and real estate manager specializing in fully integrated solutions for more than 75 years. Key Ryan market sectors include: office, retail, distribution, mission critical, public, and health care; and additional product experience includes work on mixed use, hospitality and multi-family housing. Ryan serves customers throughout the United States having completed over 170 projects in the past 5 years. Ryan has offices throughout the country in the NorthCentral, Midwest, Great Lakes, SouthEast, SouthCentral, and SouthWest regions. Ryan’s SouthWest Region has developed over 20 million square feet since opening its Phoenix office in 1994. For more information, please visit www.ryancompanies.com.