City Profiles / Large Cities / Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, Arizona

Environmental Standards and Participation

The City of Phoenix has more than 70 sustainability initiatives and has had a citizen-based Environmental Quality Commission since 1987 that has helped to guide the city's General Plan. Its Brownfields Land Recycling Program is one example of the city's sustainable leadership, having cleaned up 270 contaminated acres, and created 3,000 jobs and $264 million in private investment. The Brownfields Job Training Program trains students and helps place them in environmental jobs.

Green Space

Phoenix, in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, is one of America's largest cities geographically, and it makes use of this space with nearly 35,000 acres of mountain and desert preserves and developed parkland. The city also offers trails in a canal system created to protect the city from flash floods, and boasts an urban fishing program in its lakes.