Metro Phoenix is well known as simply “the Valley.” It’s even a moniker the Phoenix Suns sometimes wear on their jerseys. But what’s not so well known is what — exactly — is “the Valley” referring to?
Through our Q&AZ reporting project, we’ve gotten questions about both the geography and the boundaries of this ubiquitous nickname.
The standard definition of a valley is a low-lying area of land between mountains or hills — and Phoenix has an abundant supply of those.
But so do other cities. It's a general enough description that other metro areas throughout the U.S. refer to themselves as the Valley too. But here in Arizona, the reference generally means the greater Phoenix area.
Duncan Shaeffer, an ASU geography professor and Arizona resident of over 30 years, said he tends to cringe at how general the term is.
“We're really the Valley of The Sun, I mean that’s a promotional term that goes back to the 1930s,” Shaeffer said. “Technically, if you want to be technical about it were the Salt River Valley.”
According to the Arizona Republic, the term Valley of the Sun was originally coined in 1935 by a local advertising agency for the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
But outside of slogans, Shaeffer said the Valley and its perimeter can be defined by key mountain ranges such as the Estrellas, the White Tanks, the Superstitions and the McDowells.
“Those are pretty definitive ranges in terms of defining where the Valley is located,” Shaeffer said.
However, Shaeffer said mapping the Valley from a geographic sense does become a little fuzzy. Heading north, the area blends into the Bradshaw Mountains of central Arizona. And it’s not a perfect or complete ring in any direction.
For example, South Mountain is a prominent southern boundary for portions of Phoenix, but isn’t particularly visible to residents in, say, Gilbert.
south mountain
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South Mountain Park in Phoenix.
But Shaeffer thinks one good thing about a term as loose as the Valley is that people don’t tend to set hard boundaries.
“You're an outsider or you're an insider. You know, I don't think people really think in those terms,” Shaeffer said.”
And defining the Valley is only one aspect of the regional geography. The area is distinctly divided into two sub regions — the East and West valleys.
For Dave Wiley, a Tempe resident, there’s a very clear line of demarcation.
“If it's west of the I-17 then it's West Valley. If it’s east, then I guess it’s East Valley,” Wiley said.
Interstate 10
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Some of the East Valley’s biggest municipalities include Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe and Queen Creek.
The West Valley lays claim to Glendale, Avondale, Goodyear, Peoria and Surprise.
But Wiley has noticed wherever people may draw the line, they tend to identify with one side or the other, with no hesitation.
“People definitely define a difference without a doubt like in their head,” Wiley said. “They would say, I am East Valley or I am West Valley.
Wiley said he doesn't subscribe to that same belief and just views it all as the Phoenix metro area. But where, exactly, the outer limits of the Valley extend to — and where exactly East is divided from West — will probably depend on who you ask.