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Mesa is a suburb of
Phoenix. It is the third-largest city in Arizona, after Phoenix
and Tucson. It is one of the United States' fastest-growing
cities, and currently ranks as the 37th-largest. 2006 Census
Bureau estimates put the city's population at 460,155.
The city proper has a larger population than better-known U.S.
cities such as Cleveland, Miami, Minneapolis, or Pittsburgh.
Although it has a large population, Mesa is a "bedroom community."
Neighborhoods across the city are diverse, some areas have
experienced urban blight, while others feature middle class
dwellings and elaborate custom homes.
Mesa was founded in January 1878 by Latter-day Saint pioneers and
its population is still roughly one-tenth Mormon. The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates one of its oldest
temples in Mesa.
History
The history of Mesa dates back at least two thousand years to
the arrival of the Hohokam people. The Hohokam, whose name means
"All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones", built the original canal
system. The canals were the largest and most sophisticated in the
prehistoric New World. Some were up to 90 feet wide and ten feet
deep at their head gates, extending for as far as 16 miles across
the desert. By A.D.1100 water could be delivered to an area over
110,000 acres, transforming the Sonoran Desert into an
agricultural oasis. By A.D.1450, the Hohokam had constructed
hundreds of miles of canals many of which are still in use today.
After the disappearance of the Hohokam and before the arrival of
the early settlers little is known, as explorers did not venture
into this area. By the late 19th century near present-day Mesa,
U.S. Army troops subdued the Apache opening the way for
settlement.
Daniel Webster Jones led an expedition to found a Mormon
settlement in Arizona. Leaving St. George, Utah in March 1877,
Jones and others arrived at Lehi, an area just north of
present-day Mesa. Jones had been asked by LDS officials to direct
a party of people in establishing a settlement in Arizona.
At the same time, another group dubbed the First Mesa Company
arrived from Utah and Idaho. Their leaders were named Crismon,
Pomeroy, Robson, and Sirrine. Rather than accepting an invitation
to settle at Jones' Lehi settlement, they moved to the top of the
mesa that serves as the city's namesake. They dug irrigation
canals, some of which were over the original Hohokam canals, and
by April 1878, water was flowing through them. The Second Mesa
Company arrived in 1879 and settled to the east of where the First
Mesa Company settled in 1880, due to lack of available farmland.
This settlement was called Stringtown.
On July 17. 1878, Mesa City was registered as a 1-square-mile
town site. The first school was built in 1879. In 1883, Mesa City
was incorporated with a population of 300 people. Dr. A. J.
Chandler, who would later go on to found the City of Chandler,
worked on widening the Mesa Canal in 1895 to allow for enough flow
to build a power plant. In 1917, the City of Mesa purchased the
utility company. The revenues from the company provided enough for
capital expenditures until the 1960s. During the Great Depression,
WPA funds provided paved streets, a new hospital, a new town hall
and a library.
With the opening of Falcon Field and Williams Field in the early
1940s, more military personnel began to move into the Mesa area.
With the advent of air conditioning and the rise of tourism,
population growth exploded in Mesa as well as the rest of the
Phoenix area. The 1950s and 1960s showed growth of commerce and
industry, especially from early aerospace companies. As late as
1960, half of the residents of Mesa made a living with
agriculture, but this has declined substantially as Mesa's
suburban growth continued on track with the rest of the Phoenix
metro area.
Demographics
Population in July 2007: 452,933. Population
change since 2000: +13.3%
Males: 224,398 (49.5%)
Females: 228,535 (50.5%)
Median resident age: 32.0 years
Zip codes: 85201, 85202, 85203, 85204, 85205, 85206, 85207, 85208,
85210, 85211, 85212, 85213, 85214, 85215, 85216, 85274, 85275,
85277.
Estimated median household income in 2007: $49,778 (it was $42,817
in 2000)
Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $225,000 (it was
$112,100 in 2000)
Mean prices in 2007: All housing units: $255,466; Detached houses:
$312,252; Townhouses or other attached units: $185,702; In 2-unit
structures: $200,740; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $164,920; In
5-or-more-unit structures: $142,968; Mobile homes: $43,405;
Occupied boats, RVs, vans, etc.: $33,227
Median gross rent in 2007: $845.
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2007: 10.2%
Races in Mesa:
White Non-Hispanic (73.2%)
Hispanic (19.7%)
Other race (9.7%)
Two or more races (2.8%)
Black (2.5%)
American Indian (2.3%)
2008 cost of living index in Mesa: 93.1 (less than average, U.S.
average is 100)
For population 25 years and over in Mesa
High school or higher: 84.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 21.6%
Graduate or professional degree: 6.7%
Unemployed: 4.2%
Mean travel time to work: 25.9 minutes
For population 15 years and over in Mesa
city
Never married: 25.8%
Now married: 55.6%
Separated: 1.7%
Widowed: 6.3%
Divorced: 10.6%
44,546 residents are foreign born (8.0% Latin America, 1.3% Asia). |
