🔥 Could Arizona face a megafire? The signs are…

Read in browser

Your Week with AZCentral

A SPOTLIGHT ON THE JOURNALISM YOUR SUBSCRIPTION HELPS BRING TO LIFE.

Fri Jun 20 2025

Sean Holstege | City and Development Editor

Hey readers,

I’m Sean Holstege , The Republic’s city and development editor.

We recently launched our series on America’s Evolving Cities. And our city, Phoenix, screams evolution more than most.

Phoenix is a forge of reinvention. Between the hammer of deadly heat and the anvil of an arid landscape, a community grew. It changed and changed again because it had to.

Dams to provide water and power, the air conditioner and a canal from the Colorado River made everything possible. The need to train World War II pilots, to house their families when they came home from battle, and to test their cars forged 20th-century Phoenix.

People came looking for a cheap home in a place where they didn’t have to shovel snow, and maybe one to retire to. Now they’re coming in bigger numbers, this time for jobs. Every day, metro Phoenix gains 280 residents.

You see the unmistakable signs all around: in the license plates from Tennessee, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. In the cranes, and not just the ones reshaping the downtown skyline. On the city’s fringe, they assemble enormous manufacturing plants to produce the most advanced microchips the world has ever known and data hubs to drive the AI revolution.

Phoenix of the 21st century is being forged anew by innovation. Visitors marvel at the world’s largest fleet of robotic cars. It was here an academic researcher invented a solar-powered device that can deliver pure drinking water from thin air to your tap. City leaders not only talk about flying cars, they maneuver to make Phoenix their launch pad.

These are not the stereotypical images of Phoenix. But we wanted to tell the story of the real Phoenix. We sought out faces and places that embody it.

To find these stories, we assembled a team of experts: our reporters. Almost all of them are Phoenix natives or have been here long enough to be considered natives. Corina Vanek covers commercial development. Taylor Seely has covered several metro Phoenix cities. Both grew up here. Catherine Reagor has been documenting the housing market for three decades. Russ Wiles has tracked the economy here even longer. David Ulloa grew up in Maryvale, a west Phoenix community far too often overlooked. Helen Rummel , the relative newcomer, covers higher education.

They explored forces shaping our world: culture, migration, technology, economics, housing and the environment.

They found there is no one Phoenix, but many. They found a city where most everybody shares a spirit of reinvention. And they described what makes Phoenix such a unique, challenging, special place.

Phoenix: The lure of innovation brings thousands of new arrivals a year

Video: Metro Phoenix has grown a lot over the decades. See it from an aerial view

Sean Holstege is the city and development editor for The Arizona Republic. Reach him at SHolstege@gannett.com.

Subscribe to our newsletters

Are you looking to stay up to date on what’s new on your side of town? Here’s how you sign up for the East Valley and West Valleynewsletters.

Why Phoenix continues to attract transplants

Outsiders wonder how Phoenix can exist in desert heat with limited water. But it’s always adapted as it’s grown to become the 5th-largest U.S. city.

READ MORE

Sign up for the news you want

Exclusive newsletters are part of your subscription, don’t miss out! We’re always working to add benefits for subscribers like you.

SEE ALL NEWSLETTERS ➔

Newsletters | eNewspaper | Crosswords

Problem viewing email? View in browser

Unsubscribe • Manage Newsletters • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights • Privacy Notice • Do Not Sell My Info/Cookie Policy • Feedback

We need to be brawlers for the working class.

AZ Briefing: Phoenix-area weekend freeway closures

RJ Hamster

🔥 Could Arizona face a megafire? The signs are already here

🔥 Could Arizona face a megafire? The signs are…

Your Week with AZCentral

Sean Holstege | City and Development Editor

Subscribe to our newsletters

Why Phoenix continues to attract transplants

Don’t tiptoe around why Emilie Kiser’s son drowned

Phoenix breaks heat records every year — except one

These are the most stunning views in AZ. How to see them

Fans invited: Connect with Republic sports team

Make sure you’re all-in for DBacks ride

Sign up for the news you want

Like this:

🔥 Could Arizona face a megafire? The signs are already here

🔥 Could Arizona face a megafire? The signs are…

Your Week with AZCentral

Sean Holstege | City and Development Editor

Subscribe to our newsletters

Why Phoenix continues to attract transplants

Don’t tiptoe around why Emilie Kiser’s son drowned

Phoenix breaks heat records every year — except one

These are the most stunning views in AZ. How to see them

Fans invited: Connect with Republic sports team

Make sure you’re all-in for DBacks ride

Sign up for the news you want

Share this:

Like this:

Related articles