Shop ‘til You Melt: Phoenix, Arizona is the Unsustainable, Ultra-Capitalist Desert Metropolis From Hell

The rotten and oppressive summer in Phoenix lasts six months, the air dry and the hot winds that smell of death and burnt coal, palm trees providing the illusion of vacation, of the tropics. Years ago, the population grew because of the low cost of living and the lack of harsh winters —the growth still hasn’t slowed, even now that the cost of living is high, the 6-month summers are deadly hot, and the quality of life is questionable. Phoenix was given the title of the Least Sustainable City in the world in 2011, and it still holds that title, according to sociologists and scientific researchers internationally. As the rich in the area get richer, the poor and all but extinct middle class are left behind, unable to keep up with the extravagant rise in the cost of living and left often unprotected from the effects of the excessive heat and constant drought. Green initiatives are lacking at best, and few and far between. The water is full of arsenic, a state of drought is a given, and most of the houses have grass lawns that they water day and night. They buy, they build, and the consumption and construction doesn’t stop. Welcome to Phoenix.

Drink city water contaminated with arsenic every day, and you eventually get cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease.  Inorganic arsenic is present in a lot of water systems, but the high levels in Phoenix are astounding. To compare, Los Angeles has arsenic levels that are 430 times the Environmental Working Group’s suggested levels for health & safety at 1.72 ppb (Parts Per Billion). Phoenix has arsenic levels that are 1,266 times the EWG’s suggested levels for health & safety, at 5.06ppb. Even though this is under the U.S. government’s maximum allowed arsenic levels, this is incredibly dangerous to human and animal health.

But at this point, what is in the water is less important than the fact that the water is running out. 

Phoenix (along with other states in the southwest) gets the majority of its water from the Colorado river. Legislation was passed in 2023 to enact major cuts to water allowances for the states that rely on water from the river (supplying water to over 40 million people), but this will just slow down the process, not stop it. Lake Powell is down to around half of its previous levels at this point, and the Hoover Dam, which holds the Colorado river water in Lake Mead in Nevada, once full of water, is now a concrete monolith with stains showing the old water levels. Lake mead now hovers at around 27% of its capacity. To compare, it was almost full at around 90% capacity or more in the late 1990s.

Despite the water crisis, big money is still being poured into developing more of Phoenix and the desert surrounding it. Bill Gates invested 80 million dollars in a development company that plans to build 80,000 houses in the desert west of Phoenix. Another huge development is planned in the desert between Phoenix and Tucson, and development within the Phoenix metro area has consistently been at record highs since 2015.And more people means more pollution, more impacts on the ecosystem, and yes, more water being drained from a drying source.

"The Phoenix metro area is on the cusp of being dangerously overextended. It’s the urban bullseye for global warming in north America."

-Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, in a 2017 report for the National Climate Assessment Committee

Solar power, which (you would think) should be a main source of electricity in Arizona, is rarely used. In 2022, only 10% of the state's electricity was produced from solar energy, despite the fact that Arizona, with its year-round sunshine, ranks second in the nation for solar energy potential. A lot of this boils down to the Almighty dollar, government loyalty to the coal and natural gas companies, and a strong capitalist drive for endless and destructive growth that helped build the Phoenix metro area.

And people are paying way too much to live there. The Phoenix metropolitan area has the highest inflation rate among large cities in the US, and the struggling non-wealthy population is also constantly trying to keep up with the Joneses. Driving through any part of Phoenix, you will undoubtedly come to multiple car dealerships, the sheer number staggering, with Phoenix residents buying new cars at an insane rate. According to the national Bureau of Labor, Phoenix metro has the highest rate of individual transportation spending in the country at almost $13,000 a year on average.

In 2019, the average household in the US spent about $4500 a year on new car purchases, whereas in Phoenix, residents spent over $7,000 a year. In a 2017 study, metro Phoenix residents were shown to be almost the worst in the country at living within their means, coming in 3rd place behind San Antonio Texas and Las Vegas. This was based on mortgage debt, credit card debt, and other personal debt in relation to actual income.

In addition to personal debt, crime, mental illness and drug use are all at epidemic levels in Phoenix. In 2023, Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, both in the Phoenix metro area, nabbed the top two spots in the country for Methamphetamine use—which makes Phoenix the Crystal Meth capital of the United States. The city also rates second in the US for the highest rate of eating disorders. The crime rate for Phoenix is one of the highest in America, compared to both large cities and small towns, and your chances of being a victim of violent or property crime in the area is 1 in 27.

"Desert City Night" by Bruce Rolff

Examining this sprawling desert metropolis is like watching the self-destruction of America, the fall of Rome in slow motion. Unlike other desert cities like Dubai, which started prioritizing green initiatives in 2007 and plans to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, it is still business as usual in Arizona's largest city. Occasionally, the local government will announce some small "eco-friendly" reparation, but it's never enough, and one question always goes unanswered—what happens when the water runs out?

"If there is in fact, a heaven and a hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix — a clean well lighted place full of sunshine and [clichés] and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy, except those who know in their hearts what is missing..."

—Hunter S. Thompson