Buckeye, Phoenix are some of US's fastest-growing cities
PHOENIX - For years, the Phoenix metro area has seen a population boom that hasn’t slowed, and now we’re seeing how not just cities in Arizona are planning ahead, but federal agencies too.
Skyscrapers are going up in Phoenix and in other areas, instead of building up, they’re building out.
In Buckeye, don’t expect the echoing sound of hammers and nail guns to stop any time this century, says Buckeye Principal Planner, Adam Copeland. "We probably have well over 10 to 15 active home builders in Buckeye right now," he says.
Governor Doug Ducey wrote an opinion piece in the Orange County Register on the amount of Californians moving to Arizona. The population boom is showing up even at the IRS as new data projections show massive growth trends.
In 2019, there were 4.9 million tax returns filed in Arizona. Year-by-year projections skyrocket that number as the agency anticipates in 2027, there will be 600,000 more returns filed in Arizona.
"We’ve been planning for this kind of growth for a number of years," says Alan Stephenson, Phoenix Planning and Development Director.
The city of Phoenix is working for the future, saying in 10 years, the development around the Loop-202 extension will look substantially different.
In other areas, traffic and transit are being looked at as some roads simply can’t expand.
"A good amount of how you balance the existing residents and their desires with new ones coming in. You’ve got to make that happen by making sure you’re planning for adequate growth and the funding to make things happen," Stephenson explains.
In Buckeye, much of the land is still vacant dirt.
"You’ll probably see a grocery store, shops, some fast food places or retail right where we’re standing," Copeland says.
The city of Buckeye has maps of the traffic pattern as of now, but they have a projection of what it needs to look like within the next 20 years.
"To start one of those master plan communities out in the middle of the desert, you have to put at least $80 to $100 million in the ground before you can turn the key on a home," Copeland explains.
Buckeye and Phoenix are some of the fastest-growing cities in America. Buckeye hopes to have triple the number of residents in just the next 10 to 20 years.
Fun fact: The available land Buckeye has can fit 14 Tempe's inside of its boundaries.
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