Obscenity, Blunder, Utopia: Phoenix's Growth From 1949-1979

The urban form of Phoenix, Arizona is a massive departure from the form of older American cities in the Chicago School of urbanism, and even from other newer cities in the Los Angeles School of urbanism. A deeper look at the city grid, economy, and demographics can make Phoenix seem even more chaotic. What forces caused Phoenix to take on the form that it has today? This paper looks at the period between 1949 and 1979 and traces five main powers that had their own visions for what a city should look like and their own interests in how to get there, and investigates the decisions that they made, the alliances that they created, and the clashes that they had, in order to better understand the preeminent Southwestern city.