Arizona's Urban Planning

It is so interesting to see the layouts across the United States of different towns and cities.  Growing up in Arizona, and now living on the East Coast, Arizona's layout is quite different.  Everything from housing complex, towns, cities, and the transportation system from place to place is not the same as the East Coast.  I mean, at least in Arizona you can make left turns than compared to New Jersey ( a little out of state humor their, jersey people please do not take offense!).  

Phoenix is considered the "city" in Arizona.  However, with-in Phoenix there are so many suburbs that connect with one an other that have other suburbs with-in them.  For example, Scottsdale is a huge wealthy suburb of Phoenix, but with-in Scottsdale there are suburbs of Paradise Valley, Desert Ridge, and Pinnacle Peak.  All these towns are woven into each other.  This is interesting when the do school districts because one family could be going to one school in a neighborhood, while the line dividing could be as close as their next-door neighbor's.  

Arizona's urbanization planning is quite unique.  Urban planning, as we discussed in class, is the planning to explore a wide range of aspects to the communities.  This has existed since ancient Roman times.  Arizona has planned to keep its towns right next to each other.  It is pretty much all built up too, there is not much desert left from North Arizona all the way to right past Mesa.  This Region takes up most of Central Arizona. 

 Also there is not much of a Highway system in Arizona.  It is a newly developed transportation roadway which is a result of the extreme growing population that Arizona is experiencing.  The major highways are the loop 101 and the Interstate 10.  The interstate 10 is the only highway that is not originated in Arizona because that runs across the country.  The 101 connects to the 60, 202, and 51. These were designed to go through out all of Arizona, North, East, South, and West.  They end at the outskirts of the state and connect to interstate Highways.  They did this so they could accommodate all the different towns and increase population.

That is interestingly different than the rest of the United States, especially the East Coast.  I have found that highways out here are to make state to state transportation a lot easier and faster.  This is because of commuting.  This allows society to live in the suburbs for cheaper and commute faster with these road ways. In an highway information sight they explain it like this: 

The procedure for naming the highways is systematic. Major routes are designated by single- or two-digit numbers. If a route runs north-south, it is given an odd number, and if a route runs east-west, an even number. For north-south routes, numbering conventions begin in the west. Thus I-5 runs north and south along the West Coast, while I-95 runs north and south along the East Coast. For east-west routes, numbers begin in the south.

Major routes usually traverse cities and are the shortest and most direct line of travel. Connecting interstate routes that travel around a city carry three-digit numbers.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0881994.html

a little interesting fact ill leave you with.

Goodbye for now (=.