Oct. 26, 2007: Phoenix has it's problems, but they're small compared to those in other cities
At BloodhoundBlog.com, we're tracking the fires in San Diego County. Business is business, but a world-class disaster commands attention. Three of our fifteen contributors are in the fire zone. Two of the three have already been evacuated as I write this. Our hearts and prayers and donations go out to the victims of the blaze, even as we know that whatever we can do can never be enough.
But at the same time, we in the Valley of the Sun should take a moment to count our blessings.
As you approach Phoenix from California, you see them, one after another, vast warehouses, acres in extent. The space should really be measured in cubic feet, but the numbers would quickly become astronomical.
Why are they there? Because Phoenix is the perfect place in North America to build trans-shipment warehouses. No winter, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no mudslides, no uncontrolled fires. We do have a brutal summer heat, but that's just so much hot air.
For these same reasons, Phoenix is an increasingly popular destination for server farms and colocation facilities. Critical commercial data must be stored or mirrored in places where it won't be lost to acts of god or other freak events. Phoenix has a talented workforce, great air and ground transportation, a first-rate communications infrastructure and a tremendous surplus of electrical power. Major companies and major airlines park their data and their airplanes here because they know they'll be safe.
Plus which, Phoenix is sunny all the time and it's a great place to raise kids. We don't necessarily think about everything when picking a place to live, but, as life expectancies increase, what we might call the marginal futility of death by accident soars. Your kids could live a lot longer than you will, and this is why we pursue safety wherever we can.
Here's the bottom line: Right now the real estate market is slow, but Phoenix is an increasingly attractive place to live. We're not without problems, but our problems are nothing compared to the scenes of despair we see on the news.
Greg Swann is the designated broker for BloodhoundRealty.com, a full-service Metropolitan Phoenix real estate brokerage. This article originally appeared in the West Valley regional sections of the Arizona Republic.
Spread the word: Click here for a printer-ready version of this column.
Or: Steal this book: I've written over 200 of these real estate columns. They are consistently one of the most popular features on our blogs. Many of them are dated and/or entirely Phoenixocentric. But many others are timeless and generic. If you want to use any of my columns on your weblog or web site, feel free. Three rules: Don't change my text, credit me as the author and give me a link back to http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/ with appropriate anchor text. Something like this, perhaps:
Am I link-baiting? You bet. The quid pro quo is free content for your site that pulls eyeballs and excites interest.<a href="http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/" target="_blank"> Phoenix Realtor Greg Swann</a> suggested I share this with you:
