There is no smart growth or sustainability when all my neighbors are having 5 kids and half the country is moving here. There will be "solutions" but as usual the solution (which is never mentioned by the politically correct) is less people. This place will be a true hell hole in 20 years and many of us would move now but because of the stupid conditions brought about by the same people who want "growth", we can't.
Mesa Az citizen

After living in the Valley for 4 years, I almost gagged to read that Phoenix is a "green-ish city."

While it's true that ASU has a school of sustainability, at this point, it's still figuring out a lot and not doing a whole lot (I worked for them).

The biggest problem is development - sprawling, nonsensical development. The reason water use has gone down in the valley is because cropland has been converted from agriculture to development. Since many areas were farming crops that were incredibly water intensive (i.e. cotton), when that land got developed, the people living in the houses use less than cotton, for sure. But it's still too much.

There is almost ZERO environmental consciousness - there's a recycling program in Tempe (and Phoenix and other places I'm sure) but most people don't konw how to use it - chalkboards are NOT recyclables people. The first thing that's going to have to change is the consumer mentality that is so overwhelmingly pervasive in this city. Go there and see for yourself.

Baby steps are not going to make it here - drastic change is needed.

And the Urban Farm? Good try - but still not going to cut it. The amount of water that Greg uses on his 1/3 acre is not sustainable for the whole valley - plus all that lawn? I applaud his effort - but I feel it's a far cry from what is necessary in this desert sink.

The Valley of the Sun is polluted by agriculture. The cotton grown here is terribly pesticided. No one is allowed to know when defoliation will commence near their houses, schools, etc. Instead, we all get sick and doctors cover up the posioning with it's allergies or the flu. In October? It's so ridiculous! Until agriculture isn't spraying pesticides all over the residents, kicking toxic dust up into the air, and using up most of the water, Phoenix will always be UN-green.

Combine that with WNV mosquito pesticide spraying and Phoenix should be categorized as a Superfund Site by the federal government!