So Phoenix is officially the nation's fifth most populous city, surpassing Philadelphia in the 2020 Census. Much information and analysis awaits unpacking. Adding people is not enough. Indeed, people bring carrying costs — Arizona-style growth doesn't pay for itself. Read more»

Every election cycle since Bill Clinton carried Arizona in 1996, the narrative has gone like this: The state will change politically as newcomers bring their (more liberal) values. And thanks to Hispanics Arizona is on the cusp (always!) of becoming a purple or even deep blue electorate. Read more»

Local and state policies and mindsets have crippled Phoenix's ability to compete at the highest level when it had every opportunity. Arizona is known for SB 1070 and suburban sprawl. Coastal "winners" invested in the amenities, infrastructure, quality of life, and dense urban innovation centers to draw and retain the best advanced industry jobs. Read more»

Why is Arizona continuing down this, er, road? The simple answer is that the various interests I call the Real Estate Industrial Complex depend upon constant highway building and expansion to make otherwise useless land valuable for the Ponzi scheme of continued sprawl. Read more»

Led by Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidates are embracing the policy of deporting some 11 million Hispanics in the country illegally. If implemented, it would be a humanitarian calamity and a stain on the nation. But it wouldn't be the first time "American exceptionalism" took such a cruel turn. Read more»

The most precious treasure of old downtown Phoenix is in flux. This could provide the city a long-overdue opportunity. Or it could go sideways in a hurry. I'm writing, of course, about Union Station. Read more»

In the latest Distressed Communities report, Tucson ranks a shocking 91 out of 100. Nearly 59 percent of the city's ZIP codes are distressed and less than 8 percent are prosperous. This is the kind of calamity more likely seen in famously troubled places — and indeed the other bottom 10 include Detroit, Buffalo, and Newark. Read more»

We've made it through the first year of the presidency of Donald Trump (let that name attached to that title sink in) without a nuclear war with North Korea. But there's next year. Read more»

The Deep South has not elected a Democratic senator since 1992, but Alabama drew the line against a wildly unqualified Roy Moore on Tuesday. The natural question for readers here is, If this can happen in Alabama, why not in Arizona? Read more» 1

The progressive echo chamber had quite a fit when Jan Brewer brushed off the suggestion that Hispanics would cause Clinton to win Arizona. "Nah. They don't vote," she said. But she told the truth. Rare for her, perhaps unprecedented, but accurate for once. Read more» 3

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll has Hillary Clinton within one point of Donald Trump in Arizona. You read that right. This is in line with a polling average from Real Clear Politics, which even had Clinton slightly ahead during and after both parties' conventions. Is it possible that Hillary could flip Arizona to the Democrats? I am skeptical. Read more»

On June 2, 1976, a bomb detonated under the car of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles in Midtown Phoenix. He survived an agonizing 11 days before he died. The closest assassins went to prison. Yet full justice was never served. The real puppetmasters got away with it. Many in high positions wanted it to go away. Read more»

As difficult as it is for some of us to believe, Thursday marks 40 years since the bombing that killed Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles. It remains the most enduring mystery and troubling crime in modern Phoenix history. Read more»

The Diamondbacks' demand that Maricopa County provide $187 million in upgrades — "current and future maintenance obligations" — or the team will seek a way out of its lease and leave is extortion, but how badly would the loss of baseball fans hurt downtown Phoenix? Read more»

So it has come to this: Private equity will buy Apollo Education, the parent of the University of Phoenix. It is "a move," the Wall Street Journal reports, "that would take the beleaguered company out of the eye of public investors." Read more» 1