Buckeye, Arizona


Buckeye is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, and is the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The US Census estimates the population to be 79,620 as of 2019. It was the fastest-growing city in the United States for both 2017 and 2018.

History

In 1877, Thomas Newt Clanton led a group of six men, three women, and ten children from Creston, Iowa to Arizona, where they settled in the Buckeye area.
Early settler Malie M. Jackson developed of the Buckeye Canal from 1884 to 1886, which he named after his home state of Ohio's moniker, "The Buckeye State". The town was founded in 1888 and originally named "Sidney", after Jackson's home town in Ohio. However, because of the significance of the canal, the town became known as Buckeye. The name was legally changed to Buckeye in 1910. The town was incorporated in 1929, at which time it included. The town's first mayor was Hugh M. Watson, who founded the Buckeye Valley Bank. Today, Watson Road is the site of the city's commercial center.
In 2008, Buckeye was featured on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer as part of a week-long series entitled "Blueprint America."
A vote to change the town into the City of Buckeye became effective in 2014.
In May 2019, population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau placed Buckeye as the fastest growing city in the United States by percentage from 2017–2018, growing by 8.5%.

Geography

Buckeye is located approximately west of downtown Phoenix.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all of it land.

Neighborhoods

The original Buckeye was built around downtown's main street, Monroe Avenue. There are currently nearly 30 master planned communities planned for Buckeye. Such master planned communities under development in which homes are occupied include Riata West, Sundance, Verrado, Westpark, Tartesso and Festival Ranch.
Other unbuilt planned communities within Buckeye include Douglas Ranch, Sun Valley Villages, Spurlock Ranch, Trillium, Elianto, Westwind, Silver Rock, Sienna Hills, Henry Park, Southwest Ranch and Montierre.
Sundance Towne Center, a shopping center developed by Vestar Development in the Sundance community, opened in 2007.

Climate

Buckeye has a hot desert climate, with abundant sunshine due to the stable descending air of the eastern side of the subtropical anticyclone aloft and at sea level over the southwestern United States. Summers, as with most of the Sonoran Desert, are extremely hot, with 121.0 afternoons reaching and 181.6 afternoons getting to. The record high temperature of occurred on July 28, 1995, and temperatures above may occur in any month. Less hot weather may occasionally occur during summer, but such periods are no less unpleasant as they result from monsoonal weather with its attendant higher cloudiness and humidity; however actual rainfall from the monsoon is much more infrequent than in Flagstaff, Nogales or even Tucson. The heaviest daily rainfall has been on September 2, 1894, but between 1971 and 2000 no month had more rainfall than in December 1984.
The winter season from November to March is warm to very warm during the day, not much cooler than during a typical afternoon, but 20.2 mornings typically fall to or below, though no snowfall was recorded during the 1971 to 2000 period, and only twelve afternoons did not reach. The coldest temperature recorded in Buckeye was on January 8, 1913.

Demographics

Buckeye first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as a precinct of Maricopa County. It appeared again in 1920 as the 48th precinct of Maricopa County. It incorporated as a town in 1929 and has appeared on every successive census. On January 1, 2014, Buckeye upgraded to city status.
In 2015, the population of the city was 62,582 people living in 21,628 households.
As of the census of 2010, there were 50,876 people residing in 16,499 households in the city. The population density was 135.6 people per square mile. There were 18,207 housing units. 10.8% of the population were born overseas.
In terms of age brackets, the population was spread out, with 9.1% under the age of 5; 30.6% under the age of 18; 53% aged between 18 and 64 and 6.7% were 65 years of age or older. 45.4% percent of the population are women.
From 2012 to 2016, the median income for a household in the town was $58,711. The per capita income for the town was $20,446. Both of these numbers are in 2016 dollars. About 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line.

Parks and recreation

A popular recreation destination in Buckeye is the Buckeye Hills Recreation Area. It is located south of downtown Buckeye on State Route 85. A Buckeye Lake is planned. The City of Buckeye's Skyline Regional Park is an mountain preserve located in the southern White Tank Mountains. The park features of trails for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians, picnic areas and camping. Entry to the park is free. By the end of September 2016, an additional of trails will be constructed for a total of of trails.

Education

The City of Buckeye is served by the following school districts:
Estrella Mountain Community College recently renovated the original historic Buckeye Union High School building on Eason Avenue near 9th Street, also known as the "A" Wing, and started holding classes in this new satellite facility in the Fall of 2011. Named the Buckeye Educational Center, this facility provides academic courses, job training programs and community education classes.

Media

There are several local newspapers including the West Valley View, Arizona Republic's Southwest Valley edition and the Buckeye Valley News.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Buckeye is served by five highways, a municipal airport and several nearby airports, and the railroad.

Roads

Major roadways serving the city include:
Buckeye is served by Valley Metro via a rural bus line connecting Phoenix–Goodyear–Gila Bend–Ajo.

Rail

In 1910, the Arizona Eastern Railroad came to Buckeye; the first car in 1911; a steam rail line connected it to Phoenix by 1912; and a state highway by 1915. The coming of the railroad was so significant that the business district was moved to accommodate the location of the railroad station. As a result, Buckeye was booming. By 1912, major buildings were constructed, along with expansion of the business community.
Union Pacific operates a rail line running east–west generally through the center of the city.

Air

The Buckeye Municipal Airport, is owned and operated by the city government.

Notable people