Daily News
Sinking Cities: Why Parts of Phoenix—and Much of Urban America—Are Slowly Dropping
A new study confirms Phoenix and 27 other U.S. cities are sinking—putting millions of people and buildings at long-term risk.
Phoenix is sinking. Not metaphorically, but literally. According to a 2025 study published in Nature Cities, Arizona’s capital is subsiding at an average rate of 0.8 millimeters per year, with some areas dropping by up to 2 centimeters annually. While that might sound minor, the implications are anything but.
The study, which analyzed satellite data across 28 major U.S. cities, revealed a troubling trend: every single city examined is experiencing some form of land subsidence. And the causes are largely human-driven.
📉 What’s Happening Beneath Phoenix?
The ground beneath Phoenix is slowly compacting due to a combination of natural and human-induced factors. Chief among them is groundwater depletion. Over the past century, large-scale pumping of underground aquifers caused the soil above to compress. While Arizona implemented the Groundwater Management Act in 1980, and water use has since stabilized, the lingering impact of past overuse remains.
Some areas in the Phoenix metro region have already experienced up to 18 feet of subsidence over the last 40 years, and the newly published data shows that areas housing 1.4 million people and 113,000 buildings remain at moderate to high risk of structural damage.
🌆 Sinking Cities Across the U.S.
Phoenix isn’t alone. The Nature Cities study revealed that nearly 34 million Americans live on land that is subsiding, and over 29,000 buildings nationwide sit in zones of high or very high risk.
Here are some key findings from other cities:
Houston, TX is the most affected, with 42% of its area sinking more than 5mm/year and localized zones dropping up to 5 cm annually. Dallas–Fort Worth, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver are also seeing significant ground shifts. Even cities you might not expect—Portland, Boston, and Philadelphia—are experiencing measurable sinking, largely due to natural geologic changes or compaction from development on soft soils.
🛠️ What Causes Subsidence?
There’s no single cause, but several primary drivers are contributing:
Groundwater Overuse: This is the dominant factor in most regions, especially in arid and agricultural areas. Oil and Gas Extraction: Particularly in Texas, removing underground fossil fuels causes the surface to sink. Post-Ice Age Rebound Effects: In northern cities like Chicago and New York, the land is still adjusting from glacial movement thousands of years ago. Urbanization: The weight of skyscrapers, concrete, and infrastructure can compress soft soils underneath. Landfill & Soil Compaction: Areas built on old lakes, wetlands, or landfills—common in coastal cities—are inherently less stable.
⚠️ What’s at Risk?
The consequences of even slow land subsidence can be serious:
Building damage: Foundations can crack, tilt, or become unstable. Infrastructure stress: Roads, pipelines, and electrical lines can be misaligned or fractured. Flood risk: As land sinks, especially in coastal cities, the risk of storm surge and sea-level rise intensifies. Water infrastructure: Subsidence can affect aquifer storage and groundwater recharge.
✅ What Can Be Done?
While stopping subsidence entirely is nearly impossible, smart urban planning and resource management can mitigate the damage:
Limiting groundwater use through stricter regulation and conservation. Investing in resilient infrastructure designed to adapt to ground shifts. Monitoring subsidence hotspots with regular satellite data. Educating the public and developers on long-term land risks before building.
🧭 Final Thoughts
Phoenix’s slow descent is a reminder that cities are not static—they live, breathe, and shift over time. As climate change and population pressures increase, the invisible motion beneath our feet demands more attention. Cities that plan for it now will stand taller in the decades to come—even if the ground beneath them doesn’t.
Related Articles:
Yes, Phoenix Is Sinking. What Does That Mean for the City? – Phoenix New Times
Cities Are Sinking Across the U.S. – CBS News
Why Houston and New York Are Sinking Fast – Business Insider
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News
Black Los Angeles Is Shrinking—and Spreading Across the West
Black Los Angeles has changed dramatically over the past several decades. Explore why its population declined, where families moved, and which neighborhoods continue to anchor the region’s Black community.
Last Updated on August 21, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Black Los Angeles?
For much of the 20th century, South Los Angeles was the center of one of the most influential Black communities in the western United States. Neighborhoods such as Watts, West Adams, Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park produced political leaders, musicians, entrepreneurs and cultural movements whose influence reached far beyond Southern California.
That community has not disappeared, but it has become smaller and considerably more dispersed.
Census figures show that Los Angeles has experienced a sustained decline in its Black population, particularly within the city and the older communities of South Los Angeles.
A decades-long population decline
In 1990, approximately 454,000 Los Angeles residents identified as non-Hispanic Black alone, representing about 13% of the city’s population. By the 2020 Census, that number had fallen to approximately 323,000—or about 8.3% of the population.
The same pattern is visible across Los Angeles County.
The county’s non-Hispanic Black population declined from approximately 935,000 in 1990 to about 761,000 in 2020. Between 2010 and 2020 alone, it fell by nearly 55,000 people, even as the county’s total population increased.
These numbers do not include everyone with partial Black ancestry or those identifying as multiracial. Nevertheless, the figures reveal a clear geographic and demographic shift.
Black Los Angeles has not simply vanished. It has spread outward.
Why have Black families left Los Angeles?
Housing costs are one of the most important factors.
As rents and home prices rose, many working- and middle-class families found it increasingly difficult to remain in neighborhoods where their families had lived for generations. Redevelopment and gentrification placed additional pressure on renters and homeowners, particularly in areas near downtown Los Angeles and new transit investments.
Older homeowners could sometimes benefit from rising property values, but their children often could not afford to purchase homes nearby. Selling a Los Angeles property also gave some families enough equity to buy larger or newer homes elsewhere.
Researchers at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center found that Black households were disproportionately represented among lower-income residents leaving the Los Angeles region.
Employment changes also contributed. Los Angeles lost many of the manufacturing, aerospace and industrial jobs that had helped support Black working-class families during the postwar period. Meanwhile, metropolitan areas in other states offered lower housing costs and growing professional communities.
Where did people go?
A significant portion of the movement remained within Southern California.
Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley attracted families from South Los Angeles, Compton and Inglewood. Others moved east into Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Between 1990 and 2021, Riverside County’s Black population grew from approximately 64,000 to more than 156,000. San Bernardino County’s Black population increased from approximately 115,000 to 174,000 during the same period.
The Urban Institute concluded that many Black residents leaving Los Angeles County likely settled in these neighboring Inland Empire counties.
Other families left California entirely. Las Vegas and Phoenix became important destinations for people seeking comparatively affordable housing while remaining relatively close to Southern California.
Farther away, Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston and Charlotte have attracted Black professionals and families as part of what researchers call the “New Great Migration”—a movement of Black Americans toward metropolitan areas in the South.
Where are the remaining Black population centers?
The strongest concentration within the city continues to run through the Crenshaw district and surrounding neighborhoods.
Leimert Park remains the symbolic and cultural heart of Black Los Angeles. Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Vista, Hyde Park, West Adams and Crenshaw also retain important Black institutions, churches, businesses and homeowners.
Immediately outside the city, View Park–Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights remain two of the county’s most prominent Black middle- and upper-middle-class communities. Recent American Community Survey estimates indicate that approximately 55% of Ladera Heights residents identify as Black.
Inglewood remains another major center of Black cultural and commercial life, despite its transition into a predominantly Latino city. Central and northern Inglewood, particularly areas near Morningside Park, View Park and Hyde Park, retain substantial Black populations.
Farther south, Black communities remain in Westmont, West Athens, Carson, Gardena, North Long Beach and portions of Compton. Most of these places are no longer majority-Black, but they continue to contain significant populations and long-established community institutions.
Lancaster and Palmdale now represent one of the county’s largest suburban concentrations of Black families. Unlike the compact neighborhoods of historic South Los Angeles, however, the Antelope Valley population is distributed across a much larger area.
Altadena was another important center of Black homeownership before the January 2025 Eaton Fire. The community’s Black population had already declined from its 1980 peak, but west Altadena still contained generations of Black homeowners. The fire destroyed or seriously damaged many of those homes, leaving the community’s future uncertain.
A community transformed, not erased
Today’s Black Los Angeles is more fragmented and suburban than the community that existed during the second half of the 20th century.
Leimert Park, Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills remain culturally significant, but they are now part of a much wider network extending from Inglewood and Carson to Lancaster, Palmdale and the Inland Empire.
This transformation presents a challenge for maintaining political representation, neighborhood institutions and cultural connections. A population that once lived within a relatively concentrated area is now spread across multiple cities, counties and states.
The story, therefore, is not simply that Black Los Angeles declined.
It is that rising housing costs, economic changes and suburban migration redrew the map of Black life in Southern California.
Sources: U.S. Census data compiled by Los Angeles Almanac, Urban Institute, UC Berkeley Terner Center and Brookings Institution.
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Automotive
EV Interest Climbs as Gas Price Uncertainty Pushes Families Toward Electric SUVs
With ongoing uncertainty surrounding global oil prices, more U.S. consumers are buying and showing more interest in electric vehicles (EVs). The shift comes as car shoppers weigh fuel costs, improving affordability and a growing number of family-friendly electric SUVs.
EV Interest Climbs as Gas Price Uncertainty Pushes Families Toward Electric SUVs
(Feature Impact)With ongoing uncertainty surrounding global oil prices, more U.S. consumers are buying and showing more interest in electric vehicles (EVs). The shift comes as car shoppers weigh fuel costs, improving affordability and a growing number of family-friendly electric SUVs.
Watch this video to learn more
According to Spectrum News, EV sales increased in the first quarter of this year. In the same time frame, interest in new EVs increased 16% and interest in used EVs increased by 30%. As families look for opportunities to ditch the gas pump without sacrificing power or space, new all-electric options create a compelling argument for families to turn to EVs.
For those looking to offset their weekly fuel up, the 2026 Kia EV9 can save drivers around $1,800-3,400 per year compared to gas-powered SUVs. Cars.com named the 2026 Kia EV9 the Best Electric Vehicle of 2026 for the second consecutive year.
“The Kia EV9 stood out because it delivers everything we want from a modern electric SUV – strong real-world range, fast charging, excellent space and comfort, and smart flexibility across the lineup,” said Mike Hanley, Sr. Road Test Editor, Cars.com.
For those who aren’t ready to switch to a fully electric vehicle, Kia has expanded its hybrid options. The 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid adds horsepower and updated design features, while the Kia Telluride model offers a hybrid version for the first time with a total driving range of up to 637 miles on the Ex FWD-trim.
To learn more about the Kia EV9 and Kia’s hybrid models, visit Kia at kia.com.
SOURCE:
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SUVs and EVs Take Center Stage at the 2026 New York International Auto Show
(Feature Impact) The 2026 New York International Auto Show is shining a spotlight on the latest in automotive innovation, from advanced technology to the growing shift toward electric vehicles. One automaker, Kia, is using the show to highlight two versatile SUVs designed to offer more space, capability and flexibility for modern drivers.
Watch this video to learn more
The all-new 2027 Kia Seltos has grown in size, offering a roomier interior with additional legroom, headroom and cargo space. It also adds a hybrid powertrain, making it the only vehicle in its class with three powertrain options. The SUV comes packed with advanced safety features, a more capable all-wheel-drive system and premium interior touches, including dual 12.3-inch display screens and an available panoramic sunroof.
The automaker is also showcasing the all-electric EV3, a compact SUV designed to make electric vehicle ownership more practical. With an estimated range of up to 320 miles, fast-charging capability and optional all-wheel drive, it balances performance, technology and everyday usability. Its intuitive features and flexible design make transitioning to electric simpler for a wider range of drivers.
Both models represent Kia’s commitment to providing options that blend capability, innovation and style. To learn more, visit Kia.com.
SOURCE:
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