Who are we? And where are we going?

About 40 years ago, executives with McCulloch Properties were looking at ranch land on the eastern slopes of the McDowell Mountains, wondering if a city could be built there.

Those development visions obviously came to fruition, and today a thriving Town of Fountain Hills exists where once cattle roamed.

But change is in the air.

As the community has gone through a series of transitions, the question remains as to exactly what “stage” Fountain Hills is currently in.

Fountain Hills was a “brand new” community in the 1970s, starting out with big dreams but slow growth.

The area was beginning to be discovered in the 1980s, with new construction taking off and the decade culminating with incorporation for local government control in 1989.

One word can sum up the ‘90s – growth – and lots of it. Fountain Hills was rapidly becoming a town unto itself, full of families with babies, retirees and everyone between.

We, like everyone else, survived Y2K, but as this decade has progressed, a different “vision” seems to have taken hold.

But what is it? Or is it just more growing pains?

Due to economic and other factors, growth has definitely slowed here. Housing prices had skyrocketed. Construction slumped. Property values have since dropped slightly, though not as much as most other cities in the Phoenix metro area.

School enrollment has dropped for the third straight year, something which has never occurred here. The once thriving Pop Warner youth football program has now become a part of the Scottsdale program due to lack of participation.

Are there more “snow birds” than there used to be? Are full-time residents occupying those gargantuan multi-million dollar hillside homes in FireRock and Eagles Nest?

Local retailers are suffering through a miserable summer for sales.  Churches and volunteer organizations seem to be feeling the pinch, too.

Where is everyone?

Sure, we have a Strategic Plan, but what will Fountain Hills be like next decade?

The Times this week is launching a series that explores some of the shifting demographics in town.

The year 2008 is more than half over. What will we be like in 2018?

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The Arizona Republic in 2006 published a comprehensive story exploring the life cycles of various Valley cities.

The feature examined various “stages of life” for larger cities and looked at what needs to happen to build or maintain well-rounded, economically stable communities.

The Town of Fountain Hills no longer is an infant on diapers, dependent on Maricopa County for such major services as police protection and planning and zoning.

No, those services were taken over by the Town of Fountain Hills after incorporation was approved by voters.

The Republic’s model suggested that cities and towns experience four stages of life – infancy (waking up); childhood (rapid growth); young adulthood (finding identity); maturity (maintaining health).

The metro paper suggested two years ago that cities such as Apache Junction and Florence (Pinal County) were still in Stage 1, with decades of growth ahead of them.

“Stage 2” municipalities included Buckeye and Surprise on the Valley’s west side. Glendale was in Stage 3, building an identity around Arizona sports and related growth. Phoenix and Mesa were labeled as Stage 4 cities.

At what stage is Fountain Hills? Have we found our identity, as implied by a “Stage 3” or young adulthood phase? Or are we stuck in Stage 2?

Fountain Hills is clearly a much smaller municipality than any of the above.

Yet it is also clear that Fountain Hills is beyond its 1970s infancy – when vast stretches of desert were seen on the horizon between single-story residential rooftops.

Beginning in the late 1980s and stretching through 2000 or 2001, Fountain Hills could have easily been identified as a “Stage 2” town, a young child experiencing sudden growth and perhaps some wobbly knees.

Such developments as SunRidge Canyon, North Heights, Eagle Mountain and smaller tract-home subdivisions along with several apartment and condominium projects quickly moved Fountain Hills from Stage 1 into Stage 2.

Voters’ sound approval of the Target center in two separate elections – and the relative success of that strip mall – definitely said something about commercial wants and needs in Fountain Hills.

But where are we now?

A young and lanky punk? A town teenager? A “twenty something” out of college and settling down with goals, determination and a mature eye toward the future?

Kate Zanon, the assistant to Town Manager Rick Davis who served as interim town manager for more than six months, feels we are in what could be described as the most difficult stage of life – that period between the teenage years and early adulthood.

In her mind’s eye, Fountain Hills is transitioning somewhere between Stages 2 and 3.

Zanon is a planner by trade and serves as economic development coordinator for the town.

“We still have some growth ahead of us, but our boundaries are set and we know pretty well where our build out population will be, about 35,000,” Zanon said.

Fountain Hills is maturing as a community, but it is still at a tipping point between development of new infrastructure and ongoing maintenance of existing amenities.

Zanon cites work with town parks as an example. The town just completed a major improvement project to Fountain Park, the town’s oldest, which included installation of a complete new irrigation system for turf.

At the same time the town is moving forward with development at Desert Vista Park (the newest that will include brand new facilities for the town), which already includes a dog park, skate park and soccer facility.

Fountain Hills is at a point of balancing the upkeep of the old with building new, Zanon said.

The same applies to residential growth.

The Ellman Cos. – or some future developer – will at some point build in northern Fountain Hills, adding 1,000-plus dwelling units to the population.

MCO Properties still owns Adero Canyon, a box canyon secluded in the McDowells that will likely yield high-end custom homes.

But that’s where it ends.

There is some “infill” development to be completed in various Fountain Hills neighborhoods, but that’s it for growth.

And, because of economic trends and other factors, many homes built here in the 1970s and ‘80s have already seen their fair share of upgrades, renovations, additions and changes.

Many of the so-called “old” homes have already been upgraded to look like “new.”

(Next week: Additional trends are explored in local government and demographics.)