More growth is coming, SE Valley official says

Stunned by a historic housing collapse and recession, Southeast Valley cities' growth fell short of expectations in the latest census. But one of the region's top cheerleaders thinks the 2020 census will show a bigger, more prosperous Southeast Valley. Roc Arnett, president of the East Valley Partnership, thinks every city in the region will boom during the coming decade, with 15 to 18 percent population growth overall. "There's going to be jobs," he said, "and I think we'll get more than our fair share of job growth. Then will come population because people will tend to move close to where they work." The 2010 census results, released last week, painted a mosaic of Southeast Valley communities in different stages of growth and maturity. - Phoenix, which includes Ahwatukee Foothills, added 124,587 people between 2000 and 2010, a 9.4 percent increase. - Mesa, Arizona's third-largest city, added 42,666 people. Although the growth rate of 10.8 percent was its lowest in history, Arnett said "that's not too shabby" given that Mesa was a big city when the decade began. - Both in terms of raw numbers and percentage, Chandler's growth far outstripped Mesa's. Chandler added 59,542 people, growing by 33 percent as the city continued to pull in high-tech employers.

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