By Connor Radnovich | Cronkite News
Andrew Clegg’s commute from his Arizona City home to his former job in Maricopa County took 45 to 90 minutes on a good day – hours if there was a wreck on Interstate 10.
The Census Bureau this week confirmed what Clegg knew: It wasn’t the distance that made the trip so long, it was the tens of thousands of others heading in the same direction at the same time.
A bureau report on commuting patterns this week said that more than half of Pinal County residents leave the county for work, with most of them heading north to Maricopa County. The report estimates that about 57,000 workers make the trek every day.
“Pinal County developed quickly because, it is a great place to buy a home and is so close to the jobs in the East Valley and Phoenix areas,” said Jordan Rose, founder and president of Rose Law Group pc. “It makes sense there is currently a higher rate of commuting out for work because of the proximity of the seventh largest city in America.
“That said, as more and more people move to Pinal, it will have a workforce base that allows employers to locate in Pinal,” Rose said. “Employers like to go where people live. Because of the long recessed real estate market, Pinal grew enormously but still has a relatively low population base, especially in contrast to the Phoenix market. So employers go where there are rooftops.
“The great news is the real estate market is quickly surging ahead, and we will see tremendous growth in Pinal over the next three years. Jobs come when there are people – people will come when they have the money and restored credit to buy a home. That is happening.
“I confidently predict that Pinal will be an economic hub within the next decade. “
