Snake removal

If you follow the online Regional Dispatch Center maintained by the Phoenix Fire Department, you'll frequently see calls labeled "snake removal," especially in north Scottsdale. As I understand it, firefighters respond to the tony manses Slightly North of Bell (SNOB) to pull rattlesnakes out of pools, away from doors, or their expensively xeriscaped  properties.

The Regional Dispatch Center isn't as inclusive at Seattle's Real Time 911, and it usually consists of calls to automobile collisions (962s) — often involving pedestrians, bicycles, and motorcycles — as well as mountain rescues of idiots hiking up mountains in mid-day high summer. But the call for snake removal seems especially apt for our moment.

As the wealthy Anglo subdivisions have pushed ever deeper into the desert, they've destroyed and disrupted the habitat of the creatures that live there. It's no surprise, then, that  a diamondback — not a baseball player — suns himself on a championship golf course or gives a new meaning to the "water hazard."

When I was growing up in what's now the Willo Historic Neighborhood north of downtown Phoenix, we never saw snakes. Believe me, we looked! As a teenager, friends and I would hike around Arizona with a varmint gun at the ready, but never saw a rattler, much less a deadly coral snake or Gila monster. For one thing, I knew to walk with a heavy tread so the snake could feel me coming. DDT had killed off the scorpions and black widow spiders. They've made a big comeback, especially on the ever-expanding fringes. And snakes? Call the fire department.

 

I think about snake removal when I see Kari Lake is running for the U.S. Senate. Lake, a former news reader for the Phoenix Fox affiliate, was totally unqualified for public office, not even dog catcher. Yet she came very close to winning the 2022 gubernatorial election against Katie Hobbs.

Lake is an all-in Trumper, conspiracy theory huckster, and election denier (she denied that Biden won the presidency; she denies that Hobbs was elected governor). Like Trump, who endorses her, Lake seems to generate free publicity every time she opens her mouth.

Now, however, she's "pivoting" to win the backing of the GOP establishment, such as it is. In a race among Lake, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, and "independent" incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, don't count Kari out.

I also think about snake removal when I hear the continuing drumbeat of people on social media fearing Phoenix "will become another LA" or has "become another LA." Will someone please reach out the safety tongs and remove these vipers of ignorance? I wrote about this in 2018, obviously to no avail. But I'll repeat part of the column:

Phoenix becoming another Los Angeles? It should be so lucky. LA is one of America's three world cities, as defined by sociologist Janet Abu-Lughod's famous book of the same name. The influential Globalization and World Cities Network ranks it as an Alpha city, the third highest level of global power (only New York is Alpha ++ among North American cities). Phoenix is gamma, the ninth category. Phoenix peers Denver, Seattle, and San Diego rank Beta-minus. The LA metropolitan area's gross domestic product totaled more than $931 billion in 2017, second only to New York City in inflation-adjusted dollars. Phoenix, although the nation's fifth-largest city and 13th most populous metro ranked 17th, at $220 billion (again, behind peer metros). If LA were a nation, its output would rival Australia.

To become another LA, Phoenix would need more than freeways and traffic congestion. It would have world-class universities such as the University of Southern California, UCLA, Caltech, and Pepperdine, along with elite institutions such as Occidental College, Loyola Marymount University, UC Irvine, Claremont McKenna College, and Chapman University. Add in the Cal State campuses at Los Angeles, Northridge, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, Fullerton, and Pamona, plus many (real) private institutions and LA has a huge engine of higher learning, top talent, and innovation.

Being another LA would mean world connections, from LAX, the second busiest airport in the nation with direct flights to dozens of international destinations, to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, among the busiest in the world. The lack of direct service from Sky Harbor to Asia is a huge impediment to Phoenix in the Asian Century. The ports directly support more than 160,000 jobs in LA and Long Beach and several times that number in the region. They are the foundation that supported California's $172 billion in merchandise exports last year (compared with Arizona's $21 billion). LA has a Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Little Armenia, Filipinotown, Little Ethiopia, along with numerous historic barrios. Although it lost its major banks, LA remains a center of international finance (Phoenix has barely any, except for some real-estate speculation). Los Angeles hosted the summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and is set to hold the 2028 games.

Another LA? To get there, Phoenix would need such top cultural assets as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty, Huntington Library, the Beaux Arts Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, the Broad, the Hammer, and Griffith Observatory, among other treasures. Gallery Row would never be mistaken for Roosevelt Row. The LA Philharmonic is one of the finest orchestras in the world. The city's intellectual life could be reflected in a Phoenix Review of Books, but that doesn't exist. LA has one. Also, Phoenix would need to be headquarters of the entertainment industry. In addition to their worldwide influence, the creative sectors make a massive footprint in the economy. LA is the largest manufacturing center west of Chicago.

Los Angeles does offer an interesting thought exercise that longtime readers may remember. It went from a population of 102,000 in the city in 1900 to 1.2 million in 1930. In that time, it set in place many of the assets that are still its backbone, including the universities, manmade port (surpassing San Francisco) and Hollywood. Phoenix had 107,000 in 1950 and took half a century to reach 1.3 million. Yet the Phoenix of 2000 has no USC, no UCLA, no international powerhouse economy, cherished if financially shaky cultural assets yes, but nothing appropriate to its size. It shares with LA lots of freeways and sprawl, plus a large Hispanic underclass — but one that lacks the political power of its counterpart on the coast.

Phoenix remains a back-office of LA, where the low-wage jobs are dependent on the high-wage, high-skilled work of California. It's not another LA, and stands no chance of even matching its peers in well-being and competitiveness. The local-yokel apologists don't even want that, because...sunshine! championship golf! and an elite getting rich from the extraction industry of profaning the Sonoran Desert with tract houses. California is a solid blue state, allowing for progressive advances. Arizona's Kookocracy won't even allow local control of blueish Phoenix and Tempe. Another San Bernardino County, maybe. But no passenger trains to downtown Los Angeles.

I'll add that Los Angeles Union Station is busier than it's ever been, with Amtrak operating intercity passenger trains northeast to Chicago, north to Seattle, east to New Orleans, and south to San Diego. LA enjoys Metrolink, the commuter rail service, that operates trains over 547 miles in the metropolitan area, as well as subways and light rail. Los Angeles has essentially rebuilt the Red Cars of the Pacific Electric into a modern, efficient system. Phoenix lacks even one Amtrak train.

Discuss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoenix becoming another Los Angeles? It should be so lucky. LA is one of America's three world cities, as defined by sociologist Janet Abu-Lughod's famous book of the same name. The influential Globalization and World Cities Network ranks it as an Alpha city, the third highest level of global power (only New York is Alpha ++ among North American cities). Phoenix is gamma, the ninth category. Phoenix peers Denver, Seattle, and San Diego rank Beta-minus. The LA metropolitan area's gross domestic product totaled more than $931 billion in 2017, second only to New York City in inflation-adjusted dollars. Phoenix, although the nation's fifth-largest city and 13th most populous metro ranked 17th, at $220 billion (again, behind peer metros). If LA were a nation, its output would rival Australia.

To become another LA, Phoenix would need more than freeways and traffic congestion. It would have world-class universities such as the University of Southern California, UCLA, Caltech, and Pepperdine, along with elite institutions such as Occidental College, Loyola Marymount University, UC Irvine, Claremont McKenna College, and Chapman University. Add in the Cal State campuses at Los Angeles, Northridge, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, Fullerton, and Pamona, plus many (real) private institutions and LA has a huge engine of higher learning, top talent, and innovation.

Being another LA would mean world connections, from LAX, the second busiest airport in the nation with direct flights to dozens of international destinations, to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, among the busiest in the world. The lack of direct service from Sky Harbor to Asia is a huge impediment to Phoenix in the Asian Century. The ports directly support more than 160,000 jobs in LA and Long Beach and several times that number in the region. They are the foundation that supported California's $172 billion in merchandise exports last year (compared with Arizona's $21 billion). LA has a Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, Little Armenia, Filipinotown, Little Ethiopia, along with numerous historic barrios. Although it lost its major banks, LA remains a center of international finance (Phoenix has barely any, except for some real-estate speculation). Los Angeles hosted the summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984, and is set to hold the 2028 games.

Another LA? To get there, Phoenix would need such top cultural assets as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty, Huntington Library, the Beaux Arts Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, the Broad, the Hammer, and Griffith Observatory, among other treasures. Gallery Row would never be mistaken for Roosevelt Row. The LA Philharmonic is one of the finest orchestras in the world. The city's intellectual life could be reflected in a Phoenix Review of Books, but that doesn't exist. LA has one. Also, Phoenix would need to be headquarters of the entertainment industry. In addition to their worldwide influence, the creative sectors make a massive footprint in the economy. LA is the largest manufacturing center west of Chicago.

Los Angeles does offer an interesting thought exercise that longtime readers may remember. It went from a population of 102,000 in the city in 1900 to 1.2 million in 1930. In that time, it set in place many of the assets that are still its backbone, including the universities, manmade port (surpassing San Francisco) and Hollywood. Phoenix had 107,000 in 1950 and took half a century to reach 1.3 million. Yet the Phoenix of 2000 has no USC, no UCLA, no international powerhouse economy, cherished if financially shaky cultural assets yes, but nothing appropriate to its size. It shares with LA lots of freeways and sprawl, plus a large Hispanic underclass — but one that lacks the political power of its counterpart on the coast.

Phoenix remains a back-office of LA, where the low-wage jobs are dependent on the high-wage, high-skilled work of California. It's not another LA, and stands no chance of even matching its peers in well-being and competitiveness. The local-yokel apologists don't even want that, because...sunshine! championship golf! and an elite getting rich from the extraction industry of profaning the Sonoran Desert with tract houses. California is a solid blue state, allowing for progressive advances. Arizona's Kookocracy won't even allow local control of blueish Phoenix and Tempe. Another San Bernardino County, maybe. But no passenger trains to downtown Los Angeles.

I'll add that Los Angeles Union Station is busier than it's ever been, with Amtrak operating intercity passenger trains northeast to Chicago, north to Seattle, east to New Orleans, and south to San Diego. LA enjoys Metrolink, the commuter rail service, that operates trains over 547 miles in the metropolitan area, as well as subways and light rail. Los Angeles has essentially rebuilt the Red Cars of the Pacific Electric into a modern, efficient system. Phoenix lacks even one Amtrak train.

Discuss.

 

Comments

[Diane D'Angelo]

"Like Trump, who endorses her, Lake seems to generate free publicity every time she opens her mouth."

Ah yes - shades of the Arpaio Era, where every stunt was front page news despite costing taxpayers millions in fines.

[Joe]

I live in Ahwatukee where I have had to remove more than a dozen rattlesnakes over the past 15 years or so from my yard. I have also worked in LA for the last two decades. I will take rattlesnakes over Los Angeles any day.

[DoggieCombover]

Krazi Kari is a buffoonish sideshow. I think Sinema will clean her and a leftist Democrat's clocks. She was smart to bail on the Democrats when they got the vapors over the fact she wouldn't cater to the woke wing of the party--and did what she said she would do in Washington. Gasp, work across the aisle?? Same stupidity that comes from the maga wing of the Republican party, both parties registering their righteous indignation by censuring those who don't bow and scrape at the altar of ideology.

And by god, Democrats would rather be pure and virtuous in pursuit of an agenda--that will not fly in Arizona--than win elections. Sinema should be able to pick up both Republican and Democratic votes from the sane portions of that electorate, as well as a healthy slice of Independents. The other two are welcome to the extreme fringe leftovers.

[B. Franklin]

Kyrsten Sinema is a corporate whore first, last, and always.

I forget, is that what she said she would do in D.C.?

[B. Franklin]

Also, the opposite of "woke" is sound asleep.

Sweet dreams...

[Cal Lash]

But Jon you grew up a green Oasis with concrete sidewalks and asphalt streets. In the early 50's in a dry gully in Sunnyslope a small Rattlesnake got stuck to my boot. My pal Wayne Hancock (no deceased) shot it behind its head leaving it stuck to my boot. We were hunting Tortises for sale.
Along with Chuckawallas.
And giving ASC proffessor Doctor Stanke scorpins.
LA vs Phoenix,NO CONTEST.

But as usual i repeat.
No Towns bigger than 100000. No structures over one story. Sajuaros not palm trees. God forbid Oleanders.
When i was born world population about 2 billion after a few million years.
83 years later almost 8 billion. Groan Malthus rolls over.

[Cal Lash]

Lake vs Sinema.
Kristen has the upper hand.
Because she has the deal with the 12 Dudes and the corporate money.
" I can handle Russell."

But if Sinema goes for VP instead then its a whole nother thing.
Later.

Yesterday a Roadrunner used my garden patio for a killing field.
Big dinosaur bird vs a spiritual sparrow.

US, UK, Israel vs Palestinians and Iran.
God bless ??????¿?????
The gods 3000 year old
war games

[Derek]

You guys are still all talking partisan politics. You're surface scratchers.

Anglos (and other European-descended people) prefer to live in quiet, clean, orderly neighborhoods. We're unique in that respect.

When the vibrant diversity arrives (or is planted there) - with its gunshots, Norteno music, drag racing, and 7 rusty cars in the front yard - we move. Further and further into the desert.

So sue us!

[Roberta Perry]

AZ politics. U.S. politics. World politics.

Madness. Sheer Madness.

[Cal Lash]

Roberta: Madness evolution:
The shift from Hunter/gatherer to agriculture to villages, to towns, to cities, to mega cities, to Mars.
Elon Musk and his 9 or 10 kids will seed new planets.
Madness indeed.

[Cal Lash]

And almost 8 billion and counting

[Cal Lash]

Will we embrace the
15 mintue village?

[Bobson Dugnutt]

@DoggieCombover: Nope. Sinema is toast.

Next year's senate race will be about whether you are for Kari Lake or against her.

Sinema played 4D chess with herself and lost. Her going independent reveals she has no constituency. The voters that powered her to victory in 2018 are lining up behind Ruben Gallego, and recent polls show him first in a plurality.

The snarky liberal Substack Wonkette, setting aside the snarkiness and liberalism, does pepper this article with doses of reality and Sinema is facing strong headwinds:

https://www.wonkette.com/p/what-was-even-the-point-of-kyrsten

For one, the GOP establishment is already lining up behind Lake, including senate colleagues who've worked with Sinema. Two, Sinema has not formally declared her re-election, and it has hurt her fundraising. Gallego is outraising her 4:1.

Three, the race is going to be decided by a couple thousand folks in Maricopa County. The votes are going to break like the Hobbs-Lake gubernatorial race. Tucson, Flagstaff and Indigenous voters are going to go for the Democrat, the rural counties are going to go for the Republican, and Maricopa County will be very close. Again, because Gallego and Lake are known quantities.

Most Sinema voters supported her because she was the Democrat, not because she was Sinema. Most disaffected Democrats are supporting Gallego. He also has won elections and his House district is racially and ethnically diverse. His service as a Marine makes him closer to a Mark Kelly than an AOC.

[Cal Lash]

Bobson, logically accurate.
But I'll wait as Arizona is illogical. Still other happenstances floating in the fog.

[AzRebel]

Yup, it will be up to Maricopa, Tucson and Flagstaff.

Rural AZ is toast. Too crazy, too angry. Too far gone. The good news is that rural AZ is old, old, old. Soon pushing up daisies.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Rural Arizona is also growing like crazy. Places like Kingman, Bullhead City and Yuma are small but adding population like mad. And they are very red.

I can't think of the county names offhand, but there are a couple of rural blue counties that are essentially Indigenous reservations.

In the Hobbs vs. Lake contest, one thing that discredited Lake's claims of election fraud was that the votes continued trends consistent of previous elections, and all counties except Maricopa had 10+% margins for one candidate or the other. Maricopa was the only one that flipped Democratic, it was also by just a few thousand votes and the votes tracked closely with the statehouse split (GOP holds a slight advantage among the Maricopa delegation).

[Cal Lash]

Bobson. I'm not smart enough to disagree with your logic.
But until we know what way switch hitter Kristen decides to go there are three looking at LDS support.
Gabby Giffords once told me she had to pull 33 percent of the LDS votes to win.

[Joe Schallan]

Blue and Red counties in AZ in 2022, visually:

https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/results/arizona

Deep Blue: Coconino (Flagstaff), Apache, Pima (Tucson), Santa Cruz (Nogales).

Light Blue: Maricopa

Deep Red: Mohave (Kingman), Yavapai (Prescott), La Paz, Pinal (far flung, white metro Phx exurbs), Gila (Payson), Graham (LDS), Cochise, Greenlee

Light red in some state races: Navajo

[Salvatore by way of southern europe]

Yo Derek, bet you’re a displaced tookie.

It has been proven through DNA sequencing that persons with names ending in Z, I or E have a propensity to park cars in their yard. So sue them.

Anglo - European descended? You mean EVERYONE except Native Americans?

[Cal Lash]

Cities vs Rural
Interesting read,

"Beyond the Myth
of Rural America"
by Daniel Immerwahr.

When numbers matter.

[Cal Lash]

"Anglos are Unique"
Sounds familiar.
Eve was not Anglo?
But how about
Adam from NE Europe?

Lots of US history about Anglos invading the Americas in the name of their favorite god since about 1450.

But then there's the "story" i like about the
"Zuni Enigma."
A book.

Seems about 4000 years ago some folks "possibly" from what we call Japan started building villages about 700 AD in what is now New Mexico.
So in 1539, the God of Spain gave Antoino de Mendoza his blessing to rid the Zunis of their spiritual beliefs.
That led to the head of the expedition, Moorish Slave, Estavancio to be killed by Zunis. In the long run Spains priest/soldiers quit.

What's unique about Anglos is shared by about 80 percent of humans.
The mythical belief in gods.
Many different gods.
And also unique is the continuing habit of murdering in the name of their gods.

My mom named me Calvin as she belived John Calvin and other Manifest Destiny folks had to tame the heathen savages because her god said.

Still no wooden nickel under my pillow this morning. One we think at 83 i would quit looking.

[Helen Highwater]

I'm guessing a rattlesnake wouldn't bite Lake, Ward, Rogers, Gosar, Biggs et al, out of professional courtesy.

[AzRebel]

Rogue, having had three near misses with rattlesnakes in my life, could you maybe change out the snake photo and put up a photo of a teddy bear or something like that.

Since the thread is winding down thank you in advance for your cooperation.

[2002 subaru outback]

When people worry about Phoenix becoming “another LA” they’re quite obviously concerned with the negatives: endless sprawl, freeways everywhere (both things that have been criticized on this page), pollution, crime, homelessness, political climate (this one’s subjective as to whether or not you see it as a negative, I think both cities have their flaws in that regard). And while Los Angeles has amazing cultural amenities, it still remains one of the most racially segregated metros in the country, something which their progressive politics still have not found a way to mend. I’ve spent a couple of weeks in south central, and there is nothing in Phoenix that compares. It made me grateful that the “bad parts of town” here really aren’t that bad on a relative scale.

From a completely apolitical perspective, every time I’m in Los Angeles, it’s enjoyable for about two hours. Then all i can think about is how much I want to leave. It feels suffocating. Many of the supposed things that make Los Angeles “good” are mostly class restrictive, and are better enjoyed as a tourist than as a resident. I would take being a working class prole in Phoenix over being a working class prole in Los Angeles any day. I am envious of their weather though.