Introduction
Mesa is the third largest city in Maricopan Country, Arizona and the US 40th largest city. Mesa is a Spanish word for “table top”. It describes a flat-topped, raised land named by the Mormon migrants, a diverse community and continual growth, who came to rebuild the Hohokam irrigation canals in 1878 and founded the city. The city was later incorporated in July 1883.
Just 15 km east of Phoenix, Mesa covers 128 square miles and it is considered to be the cultural hub of Phoenix metropolitan area. Mesa enjoys dynamic recreational, educational and business environment for it has variety of amenities including beautiful nearby parks, variety of sports facilities that caters to athletes, old or young, high rated golf courses for every skilled level etc.
Visitors are welcomed to visit the beautifully created, gorgeous churches but only the true Mormons are allowed in the sanctuary area. Mesa has enormous are galleries, performing art centers, shopping centers, entertainment spots and historical sites for its visitors. The city takes pride in offering a large variety of schools for its city dwellers.
It is the nation’s fast growing suburban city in the US, but its resident’s exhibits significant economic diversity, with low-income areas. The mobile home park coexists with areas that features expensive house. The renowned airports of the city are Falcon Field Airport, William Gateway and Phoenix Sky Harbor. Mesa is larger than Minneapolis, Miami, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Atlanta in terms of population!
Fast Facts
- Location: Mesa is third largest city in Arizona and is located right next to Tempe, 15 miles southwest of Phoenix. The city is located at 33°24'40" North, and 111°44'47" West and spreads over a mesa or a plateau that stands 100 ft higher than Phoenix.
- Total area: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers a total area of 324.2 square km or 125.2 square miles. And 125 square miles of it is land and 0.2 square miles of it is water. Thus the total area is 0.16% water.
- Population: As per information of 2004 census, the total population of the city is 447,845 with 146,643 households and 99,863 families residing in the city. The population density is 1224.4/square km.
- Housing Units: At an average population density of 1,405.7/square miles there are 175,701 housing units. Out of this 33.4% are children under 18 years of age, 52.7% are married couples, 10.6% are females with no husbands, and 31.9% are non-families. The average household size is 2.68 and the average family size is 3.20.
- Medium Household Income: The medium income for a household in the city is $42,817 and that of a family is $35,892. Moreover the medium income of male is $35,960 versus $27,000 for female. The per capita income(total personal income divided by the total population) for the city is $19,601.Of the total populations 10.0 % of those under the age of 18 and 7.0% of those are 65 and above are living below poverty line.
- Climate: The average annual temperature is 84.5°F. The average annual precipitation is 8.29 inches in the months of May-July. The average temperature in the winter months is between (65-43) °F and summer temperature varies between (104-81) °F approximately. Snowfall measuring 10 inches is seen in the month of Dec-Jan.
- Other facts: 49.5% males and 50.5% females cover the area of 125 square miles. The Median resident age is 32 years, median household income is $42,817(2001) and the median house value is $122,100(2001).
Conclusion
Mesa is one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities in Arizona with a population growing beyond 37 percent between 1990 and 2000. Mesa’s growth is due to the low costs of doing business, reasonable tax structure, skilled and well-educated workforce, low crime rate, superior schools, unequaled public services, great weather, friendly and comfortable neighborhoods, affordable housing and an excellent quality of life. The attractive lifestyle in Mesa called in more than 430,000 people to live in it. The city has a sophisticated infrastructure and highly professional local government. The City has strong administrative services. In addition, the city provides fire protection, parks and recreation, libraries, transportation, neighborhood outreach, operation of electricity, gas, water, wastewater, solid waste, aquatics, airports, golf courses and a community center that serve a good standard of living.