Anthem
Though people have multiple reasons for moving to a certain place, a city’s growth can generally said to be driven by either jobs or housing. Read the newspaper article below about residents who have moved to a new housing development in Phoenix’s urban fringe. Try to determine what drives growth in Phoenix.
People began moving into the first 1,300 of Anthem's 14,000 planned homes last summer. Pioneers like Marguerite Halbig must drive 20 milesto buy groceries until the new Safeway opens in July and she still usesthe interstate to go to church or visit the dentist in the city. Beforesettling on Anthem, Halbig and her husband checked out some of
Phoenix's suburbs, like fast-growing Scottsdale.
“What we found, number one, was traffic and congestion,” says Halbig, sitting in the Anthem community center while her two children played. “Then we came out here. The air is cleaner. When you come up here, you're away from it all.” . . .
The Anthem Community Park has a kid-size railroad, a fishing lake and a skateboard park. For their monthly assessment fees, Anthem families can use the Anthem Community Center, which has a rock-climbing wall, an indoor basketball court and day care. A Web site accessible only to residents offers a list of clubs, such as a mothers' prayer group, as well as resident profiles and tips from a landscaper on yard maintenance.
Russ and Tricia Padgett just signed the papers on their 2,200-square-foot house and will move there in September from north Phoenix.
"We were looking for a place for this guy, where we could bring him up," said Russ, 32, holding his 8-month-old son, Jack.
Source: Morrison, Melissa. “A Sudden Oasis, Or Just Sprawl? Phoenix Exurb Sharpens Growth Debate.” Washington Post. June 5, 2000.
Questions:
1. What do the people in the article find appealing about Anthem?
2. What are the drawbacks of the new development?
3. Based on this article, what drives urban growth in Phoenix?
