Before delving into the particular activities I will partake in over the course of this internship, it would be helpful to know a little bit about the City of Maricopa. Starting with some of the basics, the city is located roughly twenty miles southwest of the Phoenix metro area. Ironically despite its name, the City of Maricopa is located in Pinal County not Maricopa. The City limits encompass fifty square miles surrounded by the Ak-Chin and Gila River Nations.
Despite the areas' history which dates back to Father Kino when the community was known as Maricopa Wells, the modern city and location has only been incorporated since 2003. Since incorporation, our population has skyrocketed to roughly 45,000 people. The City continually works to catch the infrastructure up to the rapid population growth it experienced. Given this situation, the decisions made today will have significant impacts on how the city will look and function in the future. This makes it an exciting place to intern.
If you are interested in knowing more about the city check out their website at www.maricopa-az.gov
That was actually really interesting. I didn't know Maricopa wasn't even located in Maricopa County--ironic. Why did the population get so much bigger after incorporation? Sorry, I know nothing about incorporation of cities.
ReplyDeleteMy brother lived out in Maricopa and loved it. I also interned for city that experience a ton of growth and the city struggled to catch up to provide the proper infrastructure. What department did you work in? I worked in the Planning Department.
ReplyDeleteShelly, our population grew as part of the housing boom. Since we are near the Phoenix metro area and we provide affordable housing, a lot of people decided to move out into Maricopa and commute into the metro area to work.
ReplyDeleteSteven,
I work in the City Manager's office.