The parking lot lakes of old-time Phoenix


If you visit just about any parking lot in the Phoenix area that was built (created? laid?) before the 21st Century, after it rains, and for several days afterwards, you will see a typical Phoenix parking lot lake.

The one I walked past this morning was built in 1985 (and yes, I am calling 1985 "old time") in a suburb of Phoenix, Peoria. And as I walked by I got to thinking about how these parking lot lakes have always made me feel. Usually annoyed.

When I first moved to Phoenix, in the 1970s, it absolutely amazed me that the parking lots, and the streets, turned into lakes after a rain. Yes, it does rain hard in Phoenix, but not often, and certainly not as much as it does in Minneapolis, where I grew up. I pondered why parking lots turned into lakes, and thought that maybe the engineers out west didn't understand how to build drains, but now I realize that it's just a matter of economy. If I were an investor in old-time Phoenix, I doubt that I would have willingly paid the extra thousands of dollars it takes to build in drainage in a parking lot, I would have just smiled and said "Phoenix doesn't rain much, and it'll dry up!" - which is true. In a couple of days the water evaporates, even if it can't drain away. Phoenix is in a desert, after all.

But today as I walked, I looked at the parking lot lakes differently. I stopped to take some pics, and enjoyed the beauty of an Arizona sky reflected in the water. It was an early Sunday morning, so there were very few of the most common species seen in these areas - cars (automobilius run-red-lights-a-lota), but I saw grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) that were enjoying the water, and if I'd stopped and looked closer I would have seen more wildlife.

And if you're thinking that parking lot lakes are new to Phoenix, because of all of the asphalt and such, think again. Phoenix has always had a flooding problem, canals overflow, the Salt River overflows. But the sun comes out quickly, and it's quickly forgotten!

Thank you for visiting the parking lot lakes of old-time Phoenix with me!

The flood of 1891, Phoenix, Arizona.

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