She mentions the surge in population during World War II and after the invention of air-conditioning. “There were training fields all around Phoenix. Glendale had Thunderbird Field, which turned into a school and we had a field in Mesa where the Air Force trained,” Suggs says. “There were just all types of uniforms down town, even British uniforms, and planes overhead all the time.”

Before air-conditioning, many people would sleep outside, and never feared of burglary or trespassing. “I never remember anything bad happening to anybody,” Suggs recalled. “Now, we’re behind walls and gates and don’t have a freer feel about it in that respect.” She tells a story of driving between the alfalfa fields in south Phoenix to produce a “natural cooling” sensation in the warmer months.

But few things have always stayed the same in the culture surrounding the Valley. “As I looked back on it and have noticed through the years, I think it’s something that still applies, when you come here not knowing people, you’re accepted right away,” Suggs remembers from experience. “I think it’s because so many people here have come from other places. It’s a very easy city to move into, and I think that’s still true. There are people here from everywhere.”