Seven Fridays in South Phoenix
Observations, Reflections, and
Photographs by Matthew Alan Lord
The More Things
Change, The More They Stay The Same, concl.
Mary Helen is a long-term resident
of this neighborhood. She shares that her shrine, a statue of the
Virgin Mary on a table draped with cloth banners extending down from
the roof and other accoutrements, is a temporary installation. She
“prays hard to her,” but hers is not the most elaborate on the
block. She leaves it up until the poinsettias die. The seasonal
displays peak around the December 12th observation of the
Virgin’s birthday. Mariachis and matachinas are part of the
celebrations. The animal lawn ornaments under and around the table
were put there by the children and are not part of the shrine.
Having duly investigated and collected the requisite facts, we shift
into a more conversational mode of interviewing as her grandchildren
swirl about. She and her husband moved into this house a couple
years ago after selling their home around the corner. She
repeatedly offers that the neighborhood, which dates to the 1950s,
has not changed. Subsequent generations remain, some moving into
the homes wherein they were reared after their parents pass away.
Despite saying the area has not changed, Mary Helen also says she
does not like the changes around. She misses the agricultural
fields nearby, and happily recounts how many of the residents keep
sheep, horses, chickens, and other farm animals on their ¾ acre
lots. She “cannot believe how expensive” and how big some of the
new houses are. She says this has not had an impact on the
neighborhood, but surmises it will. But when I ask her what she
thinks South Phoenix will be like when her grandchildren reach
retirement, she says “It will never change. Maybe newer houses,”
but that will be the extent of it.
As
we chatted with Mary Helen (for that is what it had become, a
relaxed chat), I felt more confident I could take some measure of
South Phoenix within the constraints of this class. As she spoke, I
readily connected our classroom discussions, films, and readings to
what she saw in South Phoenix. At one point she said “South Phoenix
was forgotten ninety percent of the time” and that it “hasn’t gotten
much.” Any number of the Arizona Republic articles we read
dealt with the area as a place suffering from “disinvestments,” even
if that term was not used. That things are changing now is a result
of many forces at work, but noteworthy among them are the City’s
efforts. The bus tours initiated by former Councilman Cody Williams
(see the November 23, 2000 Republic) are approaching
legendary status in planning circles as jump-starting development of
the region.
Mary Helen’s children have stayed
in South Phoenix, both in this neighborhood and in brand new
developments. This is in keeping with the census tract map in the
Morrison Institute’s Hits and Misses report that showed a
rising percentage of Hispanics in southeastern portions of South
Phoenix. For me, this is also anecdotal evidence that the changes
going on here are not merely gentrification, but something
different. No one has driven her family from their neighborhood.
In fact, the new developments provided an affordable means for her
children to live relatively nearby. Perhaps a parallel could be
drawn between South Phoenix’ namesake and Mary Helen’s seemingly
conflicting statements about change in the area. Could it be that
we are catching the Phoenix in the throes of its rebirth and do not
yet see that it will somehow emerge the same bird it has always
been?
