Artwork depicting how at the end of WWII, veterans who grew up in Arizona or trained here, returned to Phoenix, creating a severe housing shortage that John F. Long set out to correct. /Drawing by Erin Brassey/Cronkite School Innovation Lab
By Jeffrey Horst/Cronkite News and 11 reporters
Maryvale once epitomized the American dream of suburban family life. During the post-war building boom, a local boy back from the Army transformed acres of farmland west of Phoenix into Arizona’s first planned community.
Maryvale, which now stretches from Grand Avenue to 99th Avenue, Camelback to McDowell roads, had it all when it opened in 1955: modern ranch houses that former G.I.s could afford, new schools within walking distance, a slick open-air mall and plenty of recreation for children and parents alike. It was built in an era when cars were king and gasoline sold for pennies.
John F. Long, who named the subdivision after his wife, marketed it to young families looking to settle down. Long brought in celebrities and actors, including future President Ronald Reagan and comedic legend Buster Keaton, to hawk the development in short promo films and at a showcase called “The Greatest Home Show on Earth.”
People lined up for blocks to see the stylishly appointed model homes and sign up for a mortgage. So many people bought into Maryvale that Long at one point was the third-largest homebuilder in the world.
Then as with most dreams, reality stepped in.
Maryvale Shopping City, which opened in 1959, was the largest mall west of Dallas at the time.
But the dream didn’t last. For decades, toxic chemicals had spread under Maryvale, leaking from an industrial complex at 35th Avenue and Osborn Road. That set off years of illness, decline and demographic shifts for the neighborhood, which today is both loved and lamented.
It is the most densely populated of Phoenix’s 15 “urban villages,” each of which has its own planning committee. City planners are eyeing a section of Maryvale Village for a makeover, to create a place where people once again will flock to. Instead of relying on a vehicle, residents in the planned village core would have access to a new light rail line and could walk to shops and parks.
How Maryvale grew and transformed also speaks volumes about Phoenix’s growth from a sleepy desert town to the fifth-largest city in the country.
