At the end of the Second World War, Phoenix began a process of growth and development that transformed it from a modest sized city into a great American metropolis. The capital of a state still regarded as close to the frontier, Phoenix began with an economy dominated by agriculture, tourism, and health-seekers. Within a few years, it was a leading competitor in the emerging new economy of electronics and high technology. This book describes how Phoenicians met the challenges of the postwar era and took advantage of both national trends and local opportunities to build a growth machine that has continued until today Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States. From 1944 to 1973, Phoenix's political economy was largely under the control of a local business and civic elite. Although not homogeneous, this leadership successfully imposed its growth-oriented vision of the city's future on the larger population. Contrary visions were all too often effectively ignored or suppressed. Touching on nearly all aspects of the city's development, The Emerging Metropolis demonstrates how many seemingly separate strands of growth were vitally interconnected. Political, economic, and social trends and events did not occur in isolation from each other. Each of these sectors compelled change elsewhere while at the same time constraining opportunities. Not merely the story of change and progress, this book also gives due regard to the limitations and failures that prevented the leadership from entirely attaining their envisioned metropolis. Not the least of these was the eventual loss of local control over Phoenix's economy. Still, the achievements of this era included monumental strides in the development of many cultural, educational, social, and economic institutions. Perhaps its greatest legacy, both for good and ill, was an irrepressible momentum towards future development'a political economy that is a juggernaut of growth.