Phoenix From An Architect's Point Of View

"The Phoenix metropolitan area is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States, and urban planning has usually taken a back seat to unfettered development as a result. The car is king here-driving is just about the only way to get around the more than 9,200 square miles of the region."

"Navigating Phoenix is a lesson in freeway nomenclature. The endless pavement and strip malls remind me of a distant Los Angeles suburb with its own international airport. But hope looms on the beautiful iridescent horizon."

"Says veteran Phoenix architect Will Bruder, 'The millennium has since marked gridlock and sprawl across the entire West from large city to small. The car has taken over. And what we've fortunately seen in the late '90s is awareness and people finally starting to do something. We have our first light-rail route coming online at the end of next year and high hopes about the new densification and where things are going.'"