Maricopa Seeds of Change
Maricopa
Maricopa County is located in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of July 2008, its population was 3,954,598, which ranks fourth among the nation's counties and is greater than the population of 24 states. The county seat is Phoenix, which is Arizona's largest city and capital. The center of population of Arizona is located in Maricopa County, in the town of Gilbert. It is by far Arizona's most populous county, encompassing well more than half of the state's residents.
The population explosion is evident in a 2007 Forbes study which ranked four of Maricopa County's municipalities in the top ten fastest-growing cities in the nation. Those included Buckeye as the 2nd-fastest-growing city, Surprise and Goodyear as 3rd and 4th, and Avondale as 9th. All four of these cities are located in the booming "West Valley" which is the area of Maricopa County to the west of the city of Phoenix.
There are five Indian reservations located in the county. The largest of these are the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community (East of Scottsdale) and the Gila River Indian Community (South of Phoenix), both of which have casino gambling.
Maricopa California
Maricopa is a rural town in Kern County, California, United States. Maricopa is located 6.5 miles (10 km) south-southeast of Taft, at an elevation of 883 feet (269 m). The population was 1,111 at the 2000 census. Maricopa lies at the junction of Route 166 and Route 33. The Carrizo Plain is northwest of the town, and the enormous Midway-Sunset Oil Field, the third largest oil field in the United States, is adjacent to the town on the north and east.
With only one Shell gasoline station, Subway, Maricopa Inn, and a preschool-through-12th grade school, Maricopa is a fairly small town in the southwest San Joaquin Valley which retains its rural country flavor.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), all of it land. Maricopa is in the extreme southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley, on the first rise of land into the foothills of the Coast Ranges, with the Temblor Mountains, following the San Andreas Fault, trending northwest of town, and the San Emigdio Mountains to the southeast. The climate of the area is hot and semi-arid, with summertime temperatures routinely exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezes occur in the winter, with the mean period without freezes being about 275 days. About six inches of rain falls annually in Maricopa.
Maricopa Arizona
Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in the U.S. state of Arizona. Incorporated in 2003, it is the seventeenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 44,691 as of July 2009. Maricopa is the most populous incorporated city in Pinal County and forms part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, the 12th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Maricopa has had three locations over the years: Maricopa Wells, Maricopaville and Maricopa Junction which gradually became known as Maricopa. Each stage of its life has contributed greatly to the growth and development of the Southwest. Its conception took place at a series of watering holes eight miles north of present day Maricopa, and about a mile west of Pima Butte. It was called Maricopa Wells. Several of Arizona's rivers, the Gila, Santa Cruz, Vekol and Santa Rosa provided this oasis in the desert with an ample supply of water during this period of time.