Growing. Congested. Small. Boring. 

Those were the four most common words that 585 voters used to describe the city of Maricopa recently. 

The answers are one small piece of the results of a survey conducted by the city for Maricopa’s general plan update, which started with a community workshop in March and will culminate in a public vote next year. 

Unsurprisingly, the respondents — about 4 in 10 were new residents who moved to Maricopa within the last three years — said their top priority was transportation improvements. 

The 44-page document, which was released to InMaricopa yesterday and will become public on the city website in the coming days, that contains the survey results is a trove of numbers, graphs and public comments. It can be a little overwhelming, so we decided to run the final 10 pages of comments — more than 100 of them in total — through AI to see Maricopa’s top concerns. 

The comments ranged from “traffic is scary” to “please avoid becoming a ghetto.” Here are the four prevailing themes in the comments, according to ChatGPT:

1. Improvements to State Route 347 

“Improve the 347!!” 

The biggest concern for Maricopa residents was inadequate infrastructure, especially regarding transportation.  

“ROADS!!! The traffic on the 347 is making me consider moving!” 

State Route 347 alone was mentioned more than three dozen times, followed by John Wayne Parkway. 

2. Lack of healthcare 

“Healthcare is practically nonexistent for emergencies.” 

Residents want a full-service hospital, specifically one with an emergency room and birthing center. Hospitals and access to healthcare were mentioned 38 times.  

“We need a real hospital.” 

3. More shopping and dining options 

“Hoping for walkable shopping like Scottsdale Quarter with large water splash area and nightlife.” 

Maricopa was developed as a bedroom community for Phoenix, but residents increasingly say they want urban commercial and entertainment hubs established within city limits. The survey respondents mentioned shopping and dining about 50 times, frequently evoking a word that’s never been in the Maricopa lexicon before: “downtown.” 

“Would love to see a walkable area like Downtown Gilbert with shops and restaurants and parks.” 

4. Too many apartments at expense of housing diversity 

“All you build are apartments and houses!” 

Overdevelopment was also a top concern. Residents left many comments asking for growth to be managed in a way that “preserves the character of the city’s neighborhoods and heritage,” according to the accompanying presentation.  

“Please just stop building. There are too many people.” 

At the same time, residents said in survey responses that they felt the city lacks housing diversity, especially when it comes to larger lots and pricier, custom homes.