{"id":44816,"date":"2017-02-21T00:58:15","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T08:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/?p=44816"},"modified":"2018-02-13T06:54:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T14:54:46","slug":"phoenix-az-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentcafe.com\/blog\/rental-market\/real-estate-news\/phoenix-az-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready for Some Nostalgia? Check Out How Phoenix Has Changed in the Past Century"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lot has changed since Phoenix was first settled in 1867 near the place where the Salt and Gila Rivers meet. While the Sonoran Desert may seem an unlikely location for a farming community, that’s exactly how Phoenix began, thanks to the construction of irrigation canals<\/a>. As a matter of fact, the economy of Phoenix was driven by the “Five Cs” of Cattle, Citrus, Climate, Copper, and Cotton until after World War II, when high-tech industries began to move into the area. Following the war, the population of Phoenix exploded and the city became the template for suburban development in the US.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix of today is home to a wide variety of businesses and cultural centers, including the home offices of four Fortune 500 companies: Avnet, Freeport-McMoRan, Insight Enterprises, and Republic Services, as well as the aerospace division of Honeywell, one of Arizona\u2019s largest private employers. Chip maker Intel also has a strong presence in the Phoenix metro, with more than 11,000 people employed at its Chandler fabrication facilities – the company\u2019s second largest site in the U.S. Phoenix is also the cultural hub of the region, boasting performing arts spaces, fine dining, sports complexes, and much more, including the Gammage Auditorium in nearby Tempe, which is the last public building to have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.<\/p>\n

Join us at RentCafe on a virtual tour of the history of Phoenix to see how a town with a population of only around 65,000 in 1940 has become one of the largest and most prosperous cities in America in the last century.<\/p>\n

To switch between the old and new images, simply drag the arrow back-and-forth. <\/em><\/p>\n

1. Downtown and Central Phoenix skyline, view from Westward Ho Hotel<\/h2>\n

Downtown Phoenix has changed a lot since the 1930s, as you can see in this view from the famous Westward Ho Hotel. At 16 stories, the Westward Ho was once the tallest building in Phoenix, and from it looking south you might once have been able to make out Barrister Place a.k.a. the Jefferson Hotel at 109 S. Central Avenue, made famous by the opening shot of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho. Today the view from the Westward Ho is a little less unobstructed, as gleaming residential and office towers \u2013 including 44 Monroe Apartments<\/a>, the Freeport-McMoRan Center, Chase Tower, and Arizona State University’s striking Downtown Phoenix Campus<\/a> – have added to the central Phoenix skyline. <\/p>\n

\n[before-after width=\"800px\" color=\"#b75d0f\" offset=\"0.5\" before-after label_one=\"1930s\" before-after label_two=\"2015\" before-after label_color=\"#000000\" before-after color=\"#ffffff\"]<\/p>\n
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\n\"Downtown<\/a>
\n\"Downtown<\/a>[\/before-after]\n<\/div>\n

Photo Credit 1930s: Rogue Columnist<\/a>
\nPhoto Credit 2016: Google Maps<\/a><\/p>\n

Use the code below to embed the image on your website:<\/p>\n