ANNIVERSARY
ANNIVERSARY
Boss babies Maricopa is the boss, but it's still a baby. The average Arizona city was incorporated in 1939, while Maricopa earned its stripes 64 years later in 2003. These young men
A new generation
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While millennials are usually classified as people born in time to witness the dawn of the internet, these special members of Generation Z were born in time to witness the genesis of Maricopa as a city. Let’s meet a few of them!
might just fit into what we call “the first real generation of Maricopans.” People born in Maricopa between 1995 and 2005 are adults now — adults who might not have ever defined their home city as rural, ranchy or desertous.
HOSE WHOSE CHILDHOOD memories of Maricopa are dotted with trips to the movies and fast- food restaurants, copious ribbon
— maybe future leaders of Maricopa — are among their city's youngest natives.
cuttings and endless trips to neighbors’ front doors bearing home-cooked welcome offerings
Miles Kajtaz, age 1, lives in Desert Cedars. Weston Leavitt. age 4, lives in Sorrento. Nathan Mangum, age 7, lives in The Lakes at Rancho El Dorado.
Esmeralda Compian
Cosme Borunda
Jonathan Lissarrague
Age: 27 Maricopan since: Birth Maricopa memories:
Age: 18 Maricopan since: Birth Maricopa memories: • Living in a ranch home in the Stanfield area with his grandparents. • “It’s like you just knew everyone growing up. You grew up with the same class and graduated with the same class.” • Walking around the neighborhood with friends.
Age: 20 Maricopan since: 2006 Maricopa memories:
• “I would play touch football, catch or pretend we were pulling a rope on each end of the road in front of cars on Pershing Street.” • Riding ATVs where the Villages at Rancho El Dorado and Senita are now. • During her walk to kindergarten class at Head Start, a preschool near Maricopa High School, Compian recalled stopping at a candy store, where ACP Painting is now. “Sometimes, my parents would give me a few dollars and I would go buy some candy.” • Giving birth to her two kids, 9-month- old Jeremiah and 3-year-old Eliana.
• McDonald’s and QuikTrip opening on Maricopa’s main strip in 2008, and Walmart a year later. • Weekend family outings usually consisted of a meal at Native New Yorker. • UltraStar opening up was a big moment.
“I remember going with friends all the time to see movies, play laser tag or play arcade games.”
InMaricopa.com | October 2023
October 2023 | InMaricopa.com
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