The Other Side of Paradise: The Creation of South Phoenix

For longtime residents and families of Phoenix, Arizona, south Phoenix is well-known, but for many scholars and historians, detailed studies of this region have been largely left out of the academic conversations. Nonetheless, there are critical works over the past century that have sought to provide explanations of the history of that region within larger arguments. There are the few works that have sought to historicize and record the development of the region.

Over the course of the 20th-century, Phoenix, Arizona became synonymous with year-round sunshine as the Chamber of Commerce branded the city: “the Valley of the Sun.” With promises of happiness and paradise, millions moved to the region as it saw explosive growth due to the rise of the railroads, and subsequently the development of highways and airports. These industries funded tourism pamphlets and created this image of Phoenix as a haven for health, wellness, and resorts. The railroads, highways, and airports, which allowed for the explosion of resorts and hotels, created a physical barrier between the minority communities residing in south Phoenix with the rest of the city. In addition to this physical barrier, policymakers and businesses with white supremacist attitudes did little to ameliorate the poverty facing this region.

The tourism industry of Phoenix, paired with the financial interests of the travel industry, perpetuated the environmental racism that continues to shape the human ecology of South Phoenix today; despite these oppressive conditions, institutions, activists, and families nourished and celebrated the community and culture of the neighborhood.