The Site Analysis: History + Demographics

The Inner Loop Area was first inhabited by the Hohokam people between AD 700-1400. Pueblo Grande, an important Hohokam archaeological site, is located roughly 3.5 miles to the east of the Inner Loop’s eastern border. The Hohokam were welladapted to the desert climate and lived along the Salt River. Before the creation of modern-day dams in the 1930s, the Salt River ran year-round and provided a lush, vegetated riparian habitat from which the Hohokam lived off. They created an expansive system of irrigation canals (copies of which are used to move water around Phoenix today), hunted fish, mollusks, and waterbirds; wove fibers from cat-tails; and found shade and fuel from willow and cottonwood trees along the riverbanks. The Hohokam people abandoned the Phoenix area presumably due to drought before white settlers arrived and laid claim to the modern city, so-called Phoenix because it arose from the ashes of a previous civilization.

For the last decade, population growth in Phoenix has focused in and around its downtown core, with the downtown area growing on average 5.8% between 2011-2019. Roughly 134,000 regional residents enter this “Inner Loop” each day for work. Conversely, approximately 16,000 Inner Loop residents exit their neighborhoods as part of their commute.

Our analysis reveals that specific areas within the Phoenix central city village exhibit a heightened vulnerability compared to other regions, primarily due to a higher concentration of aging and impoverished populations. Significantly, these vulnerable areas coincide with the historically red-lined districts in Phoenix.

Aging + Poverty (2020)

Right: Historical relining map

Right: made available by the University of Richmond