Phoenix, Arizona

===1960s to present===
[[File:The View of Phoenix's Urban Sprawl from 4000 Ft. South Mountain in Background , 6 1972.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Phoenix in May 1972, with [[South Mountains (Arizona)|South Mountain]] in the background]]

The continued rapid population growth led more businesses to the valley to take advantage of the labor pool,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.azcentral.com/business/articles/2011/09/01/20110901biz-centennial0902trends1960s.html |newspaper=Arizona Republic |title=1960s trends in Arizona |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055223/http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/arizona |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and manufacturing, particularly in the electronics sector, continued to grow.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/75299/content/DevelopmentOfPhx.pdf |publisher=History.com |title=Development of Metropolitan Phoenix: Historical, Current and Future Trends |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324102211/https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/75299/content/DevelopmentOfPhx.pdf |first=Tom R. |last=Rex |page=9 |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The convention and tourism industries saw rapid expansion during the 1960s, with tourism becoming the third largest industry by the end of the decade.{{sfn|VanderMeer|2010|p=42}} In 1965, the [[Phoenix Corporate Center]] opened; at the time it was the tallest building in Arizona, topping off at 341 feet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/building/phoenixcorporatecenter-phoenix-az-usa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019010641/http://www.emporis.com/building/phoenixcorporatecenter-phoenix-az-usa |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |title=Phoenix Corporate Center |publisher=Emporis |access-date=February 5, 2014}}</ref> The 1960s saw many other buildings constructed as the city expanded rapidly, including the Rosenzweig Center (1964), today called [[Phoenix City Square]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/complex/phoenix-city-square-phoenix-az-usa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221184444/http://www.emporis.com/complex/phoenix-city-square-phoenix-az-usa |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |title=Phoenix City Square |publisher=Emporis |access-date=February 5, 2014}}</ref> the landmark [[Phoenix Financial Center]] (1964),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://modernphoenix.net/phoenixfinancial.htm |title=The Phoenix Financial Center a.k.a. Western Savings and Loan |publisher=ModernPhoenix.net |access-date=February 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222135937/http://modernphoenix.net/phoenixfinancial.htm |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> as well as many of Phoenix's residential high-rises. In 1965 the [[Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum]] opened at the [[Arizona State Fairgrounds]], west of downtown. When Phoenix was awarded an [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] franchise in 1968, which would be called the [[Phoenix Suns]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://origin.nba.com/suns/history/00827382.html |title=Suns Timeline |publisher=National Basketball Association |access-date=February 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140205184137/http://origin.nba.com/suns/history/00827382.html |archive-date=February 5, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/suns/media/SunsMediaGuide2011-12.pdf |title=Season Review 68–69 |publisher=National Basketball Association |page=122 |access-date=February 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208210906/http://www.nba.com/suns/media/SunsMediaGuide2011-12.pdf |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> they played their home games at the Coliseum until 1992, after which they moved to [[Talking Stick Resort Arena|America West Arena]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/suns/media/SunsMediaGuide2011-12.pdf |title=Season Review 92–93 |publisher=National Basketball Association |page=170 |access-date=February 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208210906/http://www.nba.com/suns/media/SunsMediaGuide2011-12.pdf |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1968, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] approved the [[Central Arizona Project]], assuring future water supplies for Phoenix, Tucson, and the agricultural corridor between them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cap-az.com/about-us/history |publisher=Central Arizona Project |title=History |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303061616/http://www.cap-az.com/about-us/history |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.library.arizona.edu/collections/mo_cap/index.php |publisher=University of Arizona |title=Morris Udall Papers – Central Arizona Project |access-date=March 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305065806/http://content.library.arizona.edu/collections/mo_cap/index.php |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The following year, [[Pope Paul VI]] created the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix|Diocese of Phoenix]] on December 2, by splitting the Archdiocese of Tucson, with [[Edward A. McCarthy]] as the first Bishop.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diocesephoenix.org/about-history.php |title=History of the Diocese of Phoenix |publisher=The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix |access-date=February 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227211250/http://www.diocesephoenix.org/about-history.php |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 1970s the downtown area experienced a resurgence, with a level of construction activity not seen again until the urban real estate boom of the 2000s. By the end of the decade, Phoenix adopted the Phoenix Concept 2000 plan which split the city into urban villages, each with its own village core where greater height and density was permitted, further shaping the free-market development culture. The nine original villages{{sfn|Luckingham|1995|pp=235–237}} have expanded to 15 over the years (see [[#Cityscape|Cityscape]] below). This officially turned Phoenix into a city of many nodes, which would later be connected by freeways. The [[Phoenix Symphony Hall]] opened in 1972;<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/arts/phxsymphonyhall.html |newspaper=Arizona Republic |title=Valley Arts Guide |access-date=March 19, 2016 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515180922/http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/arts/phxsymphonyhall.html |archive-date=May 15, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> other major structures which saw construction downtown during this decade were the [[Wells Fargo Plaza (Phoenix)|First National Bank Plaza]], the [[Chase Tower (Phoenix)|Valley Center]] (the tallest building in Arizona),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emporis.com/building/chasetower-phoenix-az-usa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106135205/http://www.emporis.com/building/chasetower-phoenix-az-usa |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |title=Chase Tower |publisher=Emporis |access-date=February 27, 2014}}</ref> and the [[U.S. Bank Center (Phoenix)|Arizona Bank building]].<!--These were the names of the buildings at the times they were built. Please do not change.-->

On September 25, 1981, Phoenix resident [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] broke the gender barrier on the [[U.S. Supreme Court]], when she was sworn in as the first female justice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historycentral.com/Today/SandraDayO'Connor.html |title=First Woman to Supreme Court |publisher=History Central |access-date=February 27, 2014}}</ref> In 1985, the [[Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station]], the nation's largest nuclear power plant, began electrical production.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azcentral.com/centennial/news/articles/2011/03/11/20110311arizona-centennial-1980s.html?page=5 |title=Arizona Centennial |publisher=The Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com |access-date=February 27, 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Pope John Paul II]] and [[Mother Teresa]] both visited the Valley in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azcentral.com/centennial/news/articles/2011/03/11/20110311arizona-centennial-1980s.html?page=7 |title=Arizona Centennial |publisher=The Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com |access-date=February 27, 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

There was an influx of refugees due to low-cost housing in the [[Sunnyslope, Arizona|Sunnyslope]] area in the 1990s, resulting in 43 different languages being spoken in local schools by 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcl.com/about/timeline/1990s |title=John C. Lincoln Timeline – 1990s |publisher=John C. Lincoln Health Network |access-date=February 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228064753/http://www.jcl.com/about/timeline/1990s |archive-date=February 28, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The new 20-story [[Phoenix City Hall|City Hall]] opened in 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=4219 |title=Phoenix City Hall |publisher=SkyscraperPage.com |access-date=February 27, 2014}}</ref>

Phoenix has maintained a growth streak in recent years, growing by 24.2% before 2007. This made it the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States, surpassed only by [[Las Vegas–Paradise, NV MSA|Las Vegas]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/10/31/property-cities-growth-forbeslife-cx_mw_1031realestate_slide_3.html?thisSpeed=15000 |title=In Pictures: America's Fastest-Growing Cities from |work=Forbes |date=October 31, 2007 |access-date=June 30, 2010 |first=Matt |last=Woolsey}}</ref> In 2008, Squaw Peak, the city's second tallest mountain, was renamed [[Piestewa Peak]] after Army Specialist [[Lori Ann Piestewa]], an Arizonan and the first [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military, as well as being the first American female casualty of the [[Iraq War|2003 Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-10-2715750201_x.htm |title=Feds OK naming Phoenix peak for soldier |newspaper=USA Today |last=Myers |first=Amanda Lee |date=April 10, 2008 |access-date=February 20, 2014}}</ref> 2008 also saw Phoenix as one of the cities hardest hit by the [[subprime mortgage crisis]], and by early 2009 the median home price was $150,000, down from its $262,000 peak in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/obama.foreclosures/ |publisher=CNN |title=Obama expected to announce foreclosure plan |date=February 17, 2009 |first1=Mary |last1=Snow |first2=Jim |last2=Acosta |access-date=May 22, 2010}}</ref> Crime rates in Phoenix have fallen in recent years, and once troubled, decaying neighborhoods such as [[South Phoenix|South Mountain]], [[Alhambra, Phoenix, Arizona|Alhambra]], and [[West Phoenix|Maryvale]] have recovered and stabilized. On June 1, 2023, the State of Arizona announced the decision to halt new housing development in the Phoenix metropolitan area that relies solely on [[groundwater]] due to a predicted water shortfall.<ref name="PhoenixRunningOutOfWater">{{cite web |first=Brandon |last=Loomis |date=June 1, 2023 |title=Arizona will halt new home approvals in parts of metro Phoenix as water supplies tighten |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2023/06/01/new-arizona-groundwater-model-shows-shortfall-state-will-halt-growth/70279189007/ |website=azcentral.com |access-date=June 1, 2023 |agency=USA TODAY Network}}</ref>