Metro Phoenix Cities continue to grow and make national news. The Southeast Valley town of Gilbert added 13,860 between 2005 & 2006. Gilbert is not alone…other cities are fast approaching simular numbers.

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Mike Walbert
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 28, 2007 12:00 AM

It’s almost becoming a little bit of ho-hum news around Gilbert.

The town once recognized as the Hay Capital of the World has been named the fifth-fastest-growing municipality in America.

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released today show Gilbert added 13,860 people between 2005 and 2006, beefing up its total population to 191,500 people.

Gilbert wasn’t the only Arizona municipality on the list: Phoenix cemented its standing as the fifth-largest city in the nation and topped the 1.5 million mark; and Mesa is closing in on 450,000.

Gilbert routinely has appeared on the top-five growth list the past several years, including the No. 1 spot in the 2000 census.

Karen Rolph chuckled when she learned of Gilbert’s 7.8 percent growth.

Rolph moved to the southeast Valley community a dozen years ago from California, when Gilbert’s population was nearly 60,000 people.

“Where are all these people coming from?” Rolph, 71, said.

Phoenix also had the largest population increase (43,000) of all cities between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, according to estimates.

Mesa passed Kansas City, Mo. and Cleveland on its way to being the 38th-most-populous city nationwide.

City Manager Chris Brady said Mesa, which had a population of 447,541, is nowhere close to topping out.

“I think the best days for Mesa are still ahead,” he said.

Meanwhile, Peoria was the seventh-fastest-growing city, with its population increasing by 5.8 percent to 142,024 .

“What it confirms is that we are still in the growth stage of our community,” said Chad Daines, Peoria planning manager. “We need to ensure that the capital improvement program is properly aligned with that growth. How we project out the building of roads and other public facilities to support this growth is the key item.”

Mayor a proud ‘parent’ - Gilbert is a former farming town where residents are primarily young marrieds with children and where calling it a “city” is a local faux pas.

Mayor Steve Berman said he is proud to see Gilbert’s growth recognized and of how the town has managed it. Berman equated it to raising a gaggle of successful children.

“It’s no trick to have 10 kids,” Berman said. “The trick is to have 10 kids that go on to college and have meaningful lives.”

Berman pointed to recent national accolades, including CNN/Money Magazine ranking Gilbert as the 16th-best community to live in the country and a Morgan Quitno Press study labeling Gilbert as the 22nd-safest municipality in America.

Gilbert, which is still in the process of shedding its bedroom community reputation, has seen significant changes in economic development over the past five-plus years.

The town’s first and only freeway - Loop 202 - opened last summer and brought major retail along the corridor, three hospitals are open or under construction, and what will reportedly be Arizona’s largest auto mall has opened its dealership.

Gilbert’s growing pains - But, just like parents who butt heads with their maturing teenagers, Gilbert has experienced growing pains.

Since 2000, Gilbert has ballooned by 81,350 people, or a 74 percent increase.

The need for road improvements is a chief concern for town leaders and residents.

Edythe Jensen / The Arizona Republic, AZ / June 6, 2007

A big chunk of Chandler is getting a new ZIP code next month. Effective July 1, the United States Postal Service is assigning 85286 to addresses in the southcentral portion of the city. The change affects the northern parts of the existing 85248 and 85249 ZIP codes and requires residents and businesses to change their addresses or risk having mail returned to senders by summer 2008.

Postal Service spokesman Pete Hass said this is the first time since 1985 that a ZIP code has been created in Chandler. It’s one of nine created Valley-wide this year to keep mail sorting efficient in the wake of rapid growth. There’s no magic population number that triggers new ZIP codes, Hass said, but the Postal Service creates them only once a year and in July. The last time any were added in Maricopa County was in 2005 when Mesa, Queen Creek, Buckeye and Sun City received new codes. Affected residents and businesses are being notified by mail of the change this week, Hass said.

Some residents and business owners in the affected area covering more than 16 square miles are accepting the news with resigned frustration. “I just purchased new return-address labels - two packages of them,” said Cami James, who lives in the Carino Estates neighborhood north west of Queen Creek Road and Arizona Avenue. “We have to notify all the doctors, the banks . . . and I’m wondering if my 86-year-old mother will get her Christmas cards.”

Her mother will get the cards this year because change-of-address procrastinators get a year of free mail forwarding, Hass said. After July 1, 2008, the “return to sender” rubber stamp comes out. Former Mayor Jerry Brooks is worried this won’t be his last new ZIP code. “I’ve got 286 names in my address book, and I expect the way Chandler is growing they’re going to have to change it again in the near future,” said Brooks, who lives in the Arden Park subdivision south east of Germann and Alma School roads.

State Sen. Jay Tibshraeny R-Chandler, lives outside the new ZIP area, but said he is already getting calls from constituents complaining about the inconvenience. That could be because the letters residents are receiving from the post office this week are signed by David Martinez, a manager in the Phoenix office, but gives a toll-free number out of state. The person who answered it said she didn’t know Martinez or his phone number. City Councilman Jeff Weninger was surprised to learn that his Dilly’s Deli at Alma School and Queen Creek roads will be getting a new ZIP code. “You mean I have to call all my purveyors?” he said. “It’s a bureaucratic thing, but I guess it’s something we have to deal with.”

Todd Gretz, manager for Einstein Bros. Bagels near Alma School and Queen Creek roads, said most of the company mail goes to corporate offices outside the city, so his business won’t be inconvenienced. “Pretty much all we have to change are the business cards.” James said making all those address changes is a hassle and a frustration whether you are a business or a resident. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle,” she said. “It’s an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. If it’s going to improve service, just flow with it.”