[emersonbiggins]

That puts 3 of the top 5 cities (in terms of population) squarely in the sunbelt.
2. Los Angeles
4. Houston
5. Phoenix

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ''')City of Brotherly Love' spouts unfriendly words about Phoenix

Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 24, 2007 12:00 AM
Forget the "City of Brotherly Love."

We may want to start calling Philadelphia the "Municipality of Sore Losers."

Turns out, folks there have finally decided to acknowledge what we here have known, oh, for about eight months: Phoenix is now the nation's fifth-largest city based on census population counts.

And they're not happy about it.

In a story published in Thursday's Philadelphia Daily News, everyone from a Temple University professor to the Philadelphia Mayor's Office took potshots at us.

Among the choice comments? That we "cheated" by swallowing our suburbs and that we have air- and water-quality problems.
link to AZcentral article

[DantesPeak]

This is probably posted elsewhere, but one PO professor believes the population of Arizona will be less in 20 years. Much, much, much less.


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')UBLISHED ON MARCH 22, 2007:

Apocalypse Soon?

A UA professor thinks an oil crisis is imminent--so kiss your old life goodbye


If McPherson is living in two worlds--as a mild-mannered college professor by day, and a wild-eyed survivalist stocking a fallout shelter by night--it's because he has a vision of Tucson's future that's the stuff of dystopian science-fiction novels. He sees a Tucson in which dead cars litter the streets, and mass migrations leave large swathes of the city uninhabited. Gasoline won't be available to transport food into the city, and there will be power bottlenecks hampering the transportation and pumping of water--not to mention keeping people cool with air conditioning. Tucson will become a desolate, inhospitable place.

"It's hard to imagine a ... capacity of more than a few thousand people 20 years out, and those are going to have to be very hardy folk," he said. "No air conditioning. Perhaps they'll be harvesting water, growing all their own food. But those are the choices in the days ahead. You're going to have to generate your own water and generate your own food. Tough to do that in Tucson."

[Tyler_JC]

All I can say is "eww".

Phoenix is prototype of unsustainable car-based civilization.

May God have mercy on Phoenix's citizens when gasoline supplies become unreliable.

Here's what happened in 2003 when a major pipeline into the city broke.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Southwest/08/18/phoenix.gas.crunch.ap/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')HOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Three hours after she started to search Monday, Judy Bergeron was finally able to find gas for her sport utility vehicle.

She first had to visit five stations, and then wait in line for about 45 minutes at the last one.

Gasoline has become a precious commodity in Phoenix in the week and a half since safety concerns shut down a pipeline that delivers a third of the city's supply.

"I never knew that gas was going to seem like gold," said Bergeron, who paid around $2 a gallon to fill half her Ford Expedition's tank.

Motorists in the nation's sixth-largest city found stations with the pumps blocked off by yellow caution tape, or with lines that stretched a block or more. One gas station attendant called police because some patrons were getting upset and others were cutting in line.

[TommyJefferson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DantesPeak', '[')url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid%3A93929]Tucson Weekly[/url]

[lateStarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '"')I never knew that gas was going to seem like gold," said Bergeron, who paid around $2 a gallon to fill half her Ford Expedition's tank.

When the price has climbed to $20/gallon and no one in phoenix has air conditioning or a job, then Judy will notice gasoline is the color of washed-out blood in a gutter and that it leaves a sour taste in her mouth.

[Kingcoal]

You can call anything part of a city, there are no rules and thus not much to brag about.

Being from the northeast, I have a very different conception of what a city looks like than a lot of the rest of the country. I never knew there was a difference until I had a job traveling around North America. In the northeast, a city is sidewalks, streets, row houses, sandwich shops, subways and whatnot. I can walk to and from the bar (several bars, in fact) in a northeastern city - now that is what I call civilized. When driving out of a northeastern city you generally have to notice the sign denoting the city limit because the close in suburbs look just like the area of the city you are leaving.

A lot of what is called "city" in the south would be regarded as suburb or even rural in the north as there doesn’t seem to be any requirements concerning population density. Where I live, in Allentown, PA, we have three cities connected to each other. In other words, as I drive east, I go directly from Allentown into Bethlehem, then Easton and across the river into Philipsburg New Jersey. There are no suburbs in between. If you took the populations of those four cities together, you'd have a big city. In fact if you took the entire Lehigh Valley metropolitan area and made it into one city, you’d probably have a bigger city than Phoenix and have a greater population density still.

[pea-jay]

Peak oil is not going to lead to the failure of the Grid for Phoenix. It will take the final depletion of NG and coal to do that. So early on people will deal with ever more expensive everything with the lights on anyway. I dont think the place becomes the death trap we expected until the food trucks dont show up anymore and the lights wont stay on. No lights and then you have no water. With halfway competent political and technical administration and a degree of out migration, the place will most likely stay inhabitated for some time to come.

Still, in the end most of phoenix will wind up abandoned, picked over for scrap

[emersonbiggins]

I think PHX is doomed for lack of water, alone. Peak oil will of course reinforce the fact that cities should not exist in inarable areas, and will cause the eventual abandonment of the American Southwest, but the region's water woes will come to a head long before concerns about $10 gas. We're all screwed, relatively speaking, at that point anyways.

[DantesPeak]

The Gov wants answers, why doesn't she just read PO.com?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')ov wants answers on rising energy prices

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - After seeing the cost of gasoline rose 20 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, Gov. Janet Napolitano wants federal energy officials to investigate the sudden spike in energy prices that is hitting Arizona.

Napolitano sent a letter Friday to U.S. Energy Department Director Samuel Bodman, stating that she wants a clear explanation from the energy department for the unexpected surge.

Energy officials have told the governor's office the sharp rise resulted from high crude oil prices and from a supply shortage caused by damaged U.S. refineries while other reasons are seasonal.Some oil refineries are switching from a winter fuel blend to summer fuel blend, which can cause production to slow.

The governor suggested that allowing more companies to compete could solve many of the problems within the industry.

She noted in the letter that no new refinery companies have entered the market in the past 30 years - giving the existing firms little incentive to improve their services.

The average cost for regular unleaded gas has risen 44 cents a gallon in Arizona during the past month. The national average rose 30 cents a gallon during the same period.

[pea-jay]

Oh sure, what possibly could Janet do?

1) Announce that 90% of Arizonans will have to leave and go somewhere more sustainable because there is no way to keep this part of the country inhabitable after the decline of cheap energy and failure of the regional grid.

2) Tell them if they dont leave in an orderly manner, they will roast to death when the grid eventually fails, if they havent starved already

3) Announced that you are looking into those dastardly evil oil producers for conspiring to raise prices and not building a single refinery in over 30 years, but that you have answers and hold those responsible for the spike accountable

Hmmm Tough choice!

[The_Toecutter]

As much as I agree with 1 and 2, there really is some truth to 3. Post peak, the oil industry will make even MORE money per barrel of oil than they do today since demand will drive the cost up far out of proportion with the actual cost to produce the oil. The oil industry doesn't want us using alternatives pre peak that will compromise those profits today and increased profits in the future. Viable technologies to reduce oil use like electric cars, industrial hemp, and conservation have been fought tooth and nail by the oil industry for many decades, even with the help of our own government. To keep this industry propped up and raking in cash, we get to have oil wars, chronic shortages, starvation, and dieoff.



Anyone here ever read Good News by Edward Abbey? He may have been a prophet in regard to the future of Phoenix, Arizona...

[aldente]

There is of course always inedia for the remaining few. In India at least this concept is very well accepted . Translated it means that once the 'New Dynamic' takes over your chances are as good in Phoenix as they are in New Jersey or Sitka or anywhere in Gambia for all we know. Once the point of transition arrives I suggest to opt for elements that are directly consciousness related, nothing more, nothing less.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', 'P')ost peak, the oil industry will make even MORE money per barrel of oil than they do today since demand will drive the cost up far out of proportion with the actual cost to produce the oil....