FROM THE EDITOR
I I LOVE MY MARICOPA HOME. It doesn’t have a pool. It doesn’t have a movie theater or an indoor driving range. But what my Spanish-style ranch does have are four sturdy walls, a roof and that refreshing aphrodisiac we call air conditioning. Monsoons? Heat waves? I’m covered, literally. Not all our friends and neighbors in Maricopa are so fortunate. Homelessness in Pinal County is the worst it’s ever been, up an eye-popping 332% since 2017, Monica D. Spencer reveals in this month’s captivating cover story. Living on the streets is a tough job anywhere. But here in the Sonoran Desert during the hottest summer on record, surviving outdoors can be a deadly task. Many of my Maricopa friends are concerned about our city’s rapid residential growth. Houses seem to materialize out of thin air — one of my British Columbian friends tells me his biggest shock moving to Maricopa was seeing houses go up without ever hearing the buzz of an electric saw. Here’s the thing — the houses have to go somewhere. Global developer Hines analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data in January and found metro Phoenix is short around 120,000 homes. So, why not here? Phoenix New Times ran this headline March 24: “Phoenix housing shortage slams the middle class.” A New York Times headline five days later offered an answer to an oft reprised question: “Why it’s so expensive to live in Phoenix.” Homes, sweet homes
As a member of the middle class and a “Zillennial” second-time home buyer — having been born on the nebulous cusp between Millennials and Gen Z — these headlines harken back to a time when I worked three jobs to afford rent in Scottsdale. I was one of the 3 in 4 Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, including most of the ever-shrinking middle class. That’s not right. Maricopa, like any other city, is imperfect. But for me and many like me, this city is a last stand of the American middle class. For all its flaws, Maricopa represents a remedy to the local housing shortage and reinvigorates the dream of home ownership amid record inflation and an economically volatile ruling class. Home ownership is something that uniquely unites us as Maricopans, and I don’t take that for granted. Many of our readers are convinced residential growth has gone too far in Maricopa. Ask a person experiencing homelessness if there’s enough housing, though, and you’ll get a different answer. Our lived experiences dictate our worldviews. Mine, surely, is influenced by my own circumstances. I’m just thankful I get to form my opinions inside a climate-controlled building I’m lucky enough to call my own. Not everyone can say the same.
Publisher SCOTT BARTLE
Managing Editor ELIAS WEISS
Advertising Director VINCENT MANFREDI
Advertising TAWNI PROCTOR MICHELLE SORENSEN
Writers ANGELA ASKEY
RAMIZ AUDI JEFF CHEW JULIA COX
Hey Maricopa!
KRISTINA DONNAY KALLIKA NAYLOR DAYV MORGAN BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR.
HARRIET PHELPS TOM SCHUMAN MONICA D. SPENCER SHERMAN AND EUPHEMIA WEEKES
Photographers JEFF CHEW BRYAN MORDT VICTOR MORENO
Plumbing
Electrical
Insulation
Cooling & Heating
BRIAN PETERSHEIM JR. MONICA D. SPENCER
Designer CARL BEZUIDENHOUT
ELIAS WEISS MANAGING EDITOR
MISSION Inform readers/viewers. Enrich advertisers.
BELIEFS We believe in: • An informed citizenry. • Holding ourselves and others accountable. • The success of deserving businesses.
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VALUES
• Integrity • Accountability
• Open, honest, real-time communication • Prosperity for clients, community, company
Volume 19, Issue 8 InMaricopa 44400 W. Honeycutt Road, Suite 101 Maricopa, AZ 85138
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JULIE COX Cat whisperer Julia returns after last month’s paw-pular column with a story that’s not just poignant, but educational.
RAMIZ AUDI Dr. Audi explains why mental health buzzwords don’t always jive with accurate psychiatric diagnostics.
HARRIET PHELPS Master Gardener Harriet shows us why gardening can be a game of inches.
Published advertisements are not an endorsement of products or advertising claims by InMaricopa . No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the prior written permission of InMaricopa . Copyright 2024.
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InMaricopa.com | August 2024
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