Commercial Landscapes in Phoenix, Arizona

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Se Venden Aquí
Commercial Landscapes in Phoenix, Arizona
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• This chapter explores the recent Latin American
  impact on the city of Phoenix by looking to the
  changes in commercial enterprise. It begins by
  characterizing the Southwest as being a
  combination of Anglo, Hispanic and Native
  American heritage and cites cities such as Santa
  Fe, Albuquerque and El Paso as prime examples for
  their Spanish influenced architecture and
  culture.
• Phoenix differs in that its Mexican and Mexican
  American residents have a commercial history that
  goes back decades, not centuries like that of
  other Southwestern cities.

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Latinos in Phoenix

• Latinos were first attracted to Phoenix and the
  surrounding area due to its agricultural
  employment opportunities. The construction of a
  series of damns in the area created more farmland
  and thus resulted in more jobs for the Mexicans
  who crossed the border.
• Although Latinos have been present in Phoenix
  since the late 1800s, the Anglo influence
  managed to make these people an invisible
  minority and they maintained control over the
  power structure.
• After a series of floods, land around the Salt
  River became very inexpensive and this became the
  center of the Hispanic population in Phoenix.
  After the first half of the 19th century this
  area expanded into a series of barrios such as
  Golden Gate, Cuatro Milpas, and El Campito and
  collectively is referred to as Nuestro Barrio.

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• As the Latino population grew over time, the
  Hispanic community branched out into different
  parts of the city and became less concentrated.
• In 1980 the U.S. Census Bureau reported 13 of
  the population of Phoenix to be Latino and by
  1990 it had risen to 20 and by 2000 risen again
  34. This is the only city to have experienced
  this rapid of an increase of the Latino
  population in such a short time (14 increase in
  20 years).
• 83 of the Latino community in Phoenix is Mexican
  while the rest come from other Central American
  Countries. The census also shows that there is a
  growing increase of non Mexican immigrants coming
  to Phoenix and most of these people are coming
  from El Salvador and Guatemala.

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• Although the original reason for such a large
  group of Latino immigrants to come to Phoenix was
  the agriculture industry, now contemporary
  Latinos are coming in search of jobs in the
  growing service industry. Janitorial, food and
  Restaurant services positions are being filled by
  these newer immigrants to the area due to
  Phoenixs booming tourism.

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Latinos in the Commercial Economy

• The first form of the Latino commercial economy
  is check-cashing and money-wiring outlets, which
  are commonly associated with the urban
  underclass. Businesses such as this represent a
  group of working class people with low paying
  jobs.
• The author states that these businesses are more
  often associated with and found in immigrant
  communities, rather than areas of urban poverty.
• The majority of these businesses advertise in
  Spanish due to the fact that most of their
  clientele are Hispanic immigrants. They also
  advertise by hanging up posters in red, white and
  green, the colors of the Mexican flag, in order
  to attract attention.

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• There is a spatial relationship between the
  locations of these outlets and the Latino
  immigrant landscape. In the 31 census tracts of
  Phoenix that are said to be predominantly
  Hispanic, there are 46 different check
  cashing/money wiring outlets.
• There are 5 sections for the city where these
  businesses tend to cluster and each of these
  areas if predominantly Hispanic communities.
• These places are common in Latin American
  immigrant communities due to the fact that many
  work in the United States to be able to send
  remittances back to the home country. These
  businesses provide a place close to the community
  where they can quickly cash a pay check and
  immediately send a portion of it to a location in
  the home country.

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• The second form of the Latino commercial economy
  is the day laborer. The chapter states that
  there is no formal research on day laborers in
  the Phoenix area, so instead uses information
  about Los Angeles and equates it with Phoenix.
• These people are mostly younger Latino
  immigrants, that recently arrived in the US and
  do not have legal immigration status and most of
  which had arrived in the past 5 years from
  Mexico.
• Many of these people, who are single men around
  the age of 30, are constantly entering and
  exiting this form of work and see it as
  temporary. Some communities in southern
  California have established community areas for
  these laborers to gather without fear of police
  and neighborhood action against them.

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• Phoenix and its surrounding municipalities are
  currently trying to address the issue of day
  laborers in the area. There has been one site
  constructed for the laborers but activists groups
  are asking the city to build more to facilitate
  the growing number of immigrants in the Phoenix
  area.
• There have been many debates among city officials
  and groups such as the Day Labor Task Force,
  which asks that the cities comply with the
  States effort to create a form of legalized work
  for these immigrants. Many times these efforts
  are postponed by city councils in order to
  further understand this issue in Phoenix.
• This issue is a great example of the relationship
  of long time residents and the newly arrived
  immigrants in the area. Local and state
  officials understand the importance of these
  people to the citys economy but at the same time
  do not want to sanction their activities and
  sites due to their illegal status.

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Latino Business Enterprise

• For merchants and business owners in Phoenix, its
  very easy for them to acquire specialized
  products due to their close proximity to Latin
  America. Many new small businesses have appeared
  in Phoenix that cater directly to the immigrant
  community.
• Over time strip malls and mini marts have
  transformed into Mexican bakeries and Latin
  American restaurants and this trend has been
  spreading across the city and is still
  continuing. These places also serve as
  indicators to others as to the ethnic makeup of a
  particular area of Phoenix.
• By looking at the location of these places you
  can better understand the nature of the community
  and the people in which they serve.
• One example of this are carnicerias, which sell
  fresh cuts of meat, groceries and other general
  store items. These stores cater directly to the
  immigrant community by carrying many things that
  they could not find at the local supermarket.

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• Carnicerias also serve as a connection for people
  within the same immigrant community or in
  abutting neighborhoods. Here they can keep in
  touch, exchange information and make community
  events known.
• Another business commonly found in the Latin
  American communities of Phoenix are discotecas,
  which sell Latino music. Most of these
  establishments were found in census tracts that
  were 25 or more hispanic.
• Panaderias specialize in bakes goods for the
  Latino community such as tortillas, breads, and
  wedding cakes. Unlike carnecerias and
  discotecas, panaderias are not as prevalent in
  the hispanic community due to the fact that many
  people choose to do their own baking and use
  panaderias for special occasions such as weddings
  or parties.
• The last form discussed are llanteras which sell
  wheel rims and used tires. They advertise almost
  entirely in Spanish and all of the llanteras in
  Phoenix are found in Latino communities. This
  could be due to the fact that zoning regulations
  requires businesses such as these to be in the
  core of the city, which happens to also be the
  largest area of Latinos in Phoenix.

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Business Landscape as an Indicator of Hispanic
Populations

• All of these Hispanic business landscapes
  demonstrate the continually growing Latino
  population in Phoenix and also serve as
  indicators of age and size of a certain areas
  Latino population.
• These landscapes also serve as indicators of
  origin and state. There are many new groups
  emerging in Phoenix and the surrounding areas,
  but the Mexican population remains the largest
  and also has the most heterogeneity.
• Some businesses can even show specific states of
  origin through types of products which are
  commonly seen in certain regions and states of
  Mexico and other countries.
• Over time, the dominant Mexican population will
  be challenged by the growing amount of immigrants
  moving to the Phoenix area from El Salvador and
  Guatemala, and as guest worker programs begin to
  be applied, the population will most likely
  undergo another increase in Latino population.