|
Tempe Historic Homes
Search Arizona MLS Free for all Tempe Historic Arizona Homes
The Early Days: 1870's to the 1930's
The Early Days: 1870's to the 1930's
The Modern Era: 1970's – Present
In
its first seven decades, Tempe saw its population
grow slowly but steadily. The city blocks surrounding
the Mill Avenue downtown commercial district were
developed as residential areas, as were the blocks east
of the Territorial Normal School (later named Arizona
State College and Arizona State University). San Pablo,
a Hispanic settlement established before the founding of
Tempe, was at the foot of Tempe Butte, east of downtown
and north of the College.
The
Maple Ash neighborhood is the only remaining
pre-1940 neighborhood in Tempe; the others have been
displaced by expansion of the downtown commercial
district and Arizona State University. Some pre-1940
homes also survive in the Riverside and
Mitchell Park East neighborhoods, which began as
agricultural areas west of downtown.
The
Boom Years: 1940's - 1960's
Tempe continued growing
at a modest rate through World War II. When the war
ended, Arizona's service and manufacturing economy
flourished and propelled a dramatic population boom.
Tempe's population tripled every decade from 1940 to
1970.
Residential developments sprang up on Tempe's outskirts
to meet the tremendous demand for housing. The first new
neighborhoods of the post-war boom catered to returning
veterans and young families. Builders offered
modest-sized pumice block homes on large lots at
affordable prices. Early boom-era neighborhoods include
University Heights, Hudson Manor, University Estates,
and University Park. In the mid-1950's Tempe's
new homes became more spacious, reflecting the demand
for more rooms during the baby boom era, but they were
still a bargain.
Today these post-war
neighborhoods are among Tempe's most attractive and
desirable residential areas, enjoying a "character" that
is not often found in newer Valley neighborhoods. Many
of these neighborhoods retained flood irrigation systems
that were once used to water crops, providing deep
watering for new vegetation. What started out as rows of
treeless tract-style houses have become green, shady
neighborhoods. Over the years, the once-identical homes
have taken on the personalities of their owners, as some
have been renovated while others have been maintained in
their original condition.
The Modern Era: 1970's - Present
Though the pace of
Tempe's growth slowed somewhat after 1970, residential
subdivisions continued to replace farmland at a rapid
rate. New neighborhoods ranged from traditional tract
home developments to luxury custom homes on horse-sized
property.
As the development of
new neighborhoods pulled the city's population center to
the south, Tempe's leaders made a commitment to reinvest
in the historic downtown commercial district, which had
fallen on hard times. A new City Hall was built on the
site of the original near Mill Avenue, and a
redevelopment district was established to refurbish
historic downtown buildings and attract new commercial
development.
By the late 1980's,
Tempe's city limits had expanded to meet the boundaries
of neighboring Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and
Chandler, making it the only landlocked city in the
Valley. As the 21st Century approaches, Tempe's
residential areas are nearly all developed, enabling the
City to concentrate on the task of preserving the
quality of its finite supply of housing. Tempe's
Neighborhood Services Division and its network of
neighborhood associations were established to help the
city's neighborhoods continue to age gracefully in the
coming decades.
Info
provided by the Tempe Neighborhood Services Division
website.
http://www.historiccentralphoenix.com |
