Phoenix is learning from other cities around the country and especially around the world. Many foreign cities are years ahead of the U.S. in terms of sustainability. It would be a great day to see an urban growth boundary implemented in the Phoenix Metro area, since it would promote higher density and more mixed-use projects for us urbanites. Unfortunately, it will most likely never happen, or could be decades away, especially with plans for Buckeye and the Phoenix-Tucson Corridor. Portland has a growth boundary with infill and dense, mixed-use projects popping up everywhere. Most European and Asian cities have similar growth policies, where infill and higher density are standard. These growth boundaries basically limit the amount of land the city can consume and grow. It then forces a landlocked city planning approach to future development, very similar to Tempe’s situation. It completely changes their General Plan, which will most likely promote denser future land use all over the city. There will be a point in time when this massive sprawl is history and building up the core is the main focus.
Even though Phoenix has begun some downtown revitalization programs, they could still promote even more density issues. If every city in the valley had a similar mindset to Tempe, the urban living situation would increase much faster. Unfortunately, many municipalities are still reluctant to grow vertically, as they believe a desert city should stay as flat as possible. Hopefully their policies change, as the price of resources, construction and infrastructure are increasing faster than anticipated. Phoenix isn’t going cold turkey on sprawl just yet, but is now just beginning this new urbanism craze, and will hopefully continue to grow vertically, providing the future 100,000 residents a year a new condo in the core, rather than a home on the fringe.
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