Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Phoenix, etc. I can understand part of the appeal (like Las Vegas), and it’s not like people haven’t lived in desert cities for millenia, but looking at them from Google Earth, they’re absolutely massive and sprawling. How can these places be viable to live in and grow so huge? What’s so appealing to them?
In: 15164
A lot of “why is the US different” boils down to the fact that we’re populated by Europeans, but mostly *after* Capitalism, irrigation, and transportation were established.
Manifest Destiny can’t be understated, either. “Go west and grab land that’s ‘free’ for the taking (those natives don’t count)”.
So why do we have large cities in the desert?
* Because someone saw an opportunity for profit there, and there was nobody able to stop them from claiming it.
* Irrigation and Transportation (rail, then cars) made it feasible.
And, of course, the Colorado River is a very important piece of the puzzle.
These cities were not necessarily established in the ancient way of, “gee, this looks like a nice place and I could live here”, they were settled after it was possible to look at a large scale map and say, “hmmm, we can bring the water from here and rail from here and hire workers from there with promises of land out there…”
Most European cities had to be somewhat self-sufficient and defensible. US cities never did.
I mean.. Dubia.. Egyptian Cities.. Doha.. Baraihn (Spelling).. Kuwait.. so many places with desert cities that are huge… sometimes land is cheap and easy to build and as long as you can get supplies there, then you can build.
I lived in Albuquerque for about 6 years and it at least has a river running through town (the Rio Grande). Near the river it’s pretty green, though it definitely gets pretty dry beyond some distance that includes most of the city. What really confuses me is why water-intensive farming/industry goes to cities in the desert with limited water supply. Albuquerque had a big Intel fab that was practically single-handedly depleting the water table because it used so much water.
I may be completely wrong about this as it’s been 15 years since I learned this in school (and the UK as well) but one other aspect that I haven’t seen from the comments yet are Mormans.
Not saying they’re the only reason, but they kept being driven out of towns so they eventually set up their own places away from everyone (I. E. The desert) and just kept either founding new places or being driven out again (memory is a bit foggy). They were involved with at least Salt Lake City and Las Vegas if I’m not mistaken.
Why is Dubai so big?
Warm weather year-round in a dry climate? If I was American that’s where I’d move..
When Albuquerque was founded, it was on the excellent farmland produced by the Rio Grande. The Spanish explorers spoke of its excellent crop yelds and access to timber.
Especially compared to the surrounding areas, it was really the only place that any sizable community could form. But Mexican and early American Albuquerque remained relatively small due to its isolation, that is until 1880.
Albuquerque grew rapidly as a railroad town and as a repair depot. From the 1880s-1930/40s.
But as the railroad work declined. Work from the nearby Air Force base kept high quality jobs in town as well did route 66 and the later cross roads of I-25 & I-40.
The continued existence of the Base and national labs, the amount of traffic on the high ways, cheap air conditioning as well as usually pretty pleasant climate as allowed Albuquerque to continue to grow.
Albuquerque is built “in a desert” only because it’s farmlands have now been paved over and it still serves as the best hub in the Southwest.
As someone who lives in Phoenix:
1. No natural disasters
2. No snow
3. Relatively low cost of living but still in a major metropolis
Albuquerque was actually founded by the Spanish Conquistadors in 1706, so there was infrastructure already in place when the Americans moved in. Not to mention that being in the mountains means that the summers are more mild than the lower altitudes.
Can’t speak for all of the cities, but Albuquerque has actually been around for over 300 years (it’s 20 years younger than Philadelphia). The Rio Grande has supplied enough water for most of its existence, and it has been a trade crossroad throughout its history (El Camino Real, BNSF railroad, 2 US interstate highways) plus the military presence.
The water situation isn’t great, but it is in no way dire
Latest Answers