Phoenix, Arizona: The more it grows, the hotter it gets. (And not in a good way.)

 

Getting bigger

Source:  Wikipedia

Getting hotter

Source:  New York Times

And in Phoenix, too.

More new housing has been built in the Sun Belt 

than other parts of the country. Yet the region is not immune to the national housing crisis. Home prices in the Sun Belt are much higher than they were before the pandemic, rents are above the national average, and Las Vegas and Phoenix have among the highest eviction rates in the country. 

Some residents already sensitive to utility bills have to ration air-conditioning at a time when they need it at night. And the homeless — a group that swelled by 26 percent in Nevada and 30 percent in Arizona from 2020 to 2023 — have scant relief from the elements, day or night. 

All this means vulnerable populations are increasing at a time of rising risk, in cities that are expanding in potentially unsustainable ways.

Related posts:

American Madness:  Phoenix has no affordable housing and a developing groundwater crisis, yet 1000s of people move there each year .(4/1/2024)