Disappearing Desert: Cultural Perceptions and Suburban Sprawl PDF

INTRODUCTION CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS AND SUBURBAN SPRAWL Under the desert sun, in the dogmatic clarity, the fables of theology and the myths of classical philosophy dissolve like mist. The air is clean, the rock cuts cruelly into flesh; shatter the rock and the odor offlint rises to your nostrils, bitt...

INTRODUCTION CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS AND SUBURBAN SPRAWL Under the desert sun, in the dogmatic clarity, the fables of theology and the myths of classical philosophy dissolve like mist. The air is clean, the rock cuts cruelly into flesh; shatter the rock and the odor offlint rises to your nostrils, bitter and sharp. Whirlwinds dance across the salt flats, a pillar of dust by day; the thornbush breaks into flame at night. What does it mean? It means nothing. It is as it is and has no need for meaning. The desert lies beneath and soars beyond any possible human qualification. Tf;erefore, sublime. , -EDWARDABBEY, 1988 In 1996 Cave Creek, Arizona, was a sleepy little town snuggled into the Sonoran Desert foothills. Unassuming homes in Cave Creek seemed to merge with sun-baked rock. Residents generally avoided "scraping" the land and left the natural flora intact whenever possible. They refrained from introducing nonnative bushes and trees like palms onto their property. Also, they supported zoning ordinances for low-density development, believing that the more spread-out their homes, the less damage done to the land. As a small rural town for the past fifty years, Cave Creek appeared as a slight dimple on the face of the vast Sonoran Desert. In contrast to Cave Creek rose downtown Phoenix, a mass of glass skyscrapers reflecting the big desert sky and glistening in 3 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION the shadows of the rugged mountains that surround "The Valley of the Sun." Located fifteen miles south of Cave Creek, Phoenix typifies the modem American city. The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (2005) describes Phoenix as "a sprawling metropolitan desert area that extends from trendy Scottsdale in the northeast, to Glendale and numerous expanding towns in the west." This modem metropolis has reinvented the meaning of "desert," converting uninhabitable wasteland to land of great prosperity and endless possibility. "Phoenix is a city on a roll" Mayor Skip Rimsza pronounced in his 2001 State of the City address. "Believe me, if you 're the mayor, having a city that's on a roll is as good as it gets." In 1996, Phuenix was in