Campaign looks to cool things down for Maryvale residents

What they're saying: The community initiative Rumbo surveyed more than 300 Maryvale residents over nine months. Here's what they heard:

• One woman described a kind of seasonal depression from the isolation of staying indoors when it's hot and the stress of high utility bills during the summer.
• "We need shade to survive, not just to be comfortable," read one quote in a presentation that summarized residents' responses.

State of play: Those responses are guiding the new Resilient Phoenix campaign led by Rumbo, which seeks to help Maryvale residents stay cool.

• Shaded public spaces, heat-proofed ways to get there and shaded parking were the top three asks from respondents.
• People want "systems and not silos" — more than just a splash pad at a park, Rumbo founder Luis Ávila said during a briefing Monday.

The big picture: Maryvale is one of the hottest parts of the Valley, along with south Phoenix, east Mesa, Sun City, El Mirage and Sunnyslope, per Ávila.

• It can get 4–7 degrees hotter than greener areas, organizer Dafne Cortez Jimenez said.
• Maryvale has less tree cover than cooler parts of Phoenix and suffers from "decades of underinvestment," Rumbo says.
• And Maryvale is the most populous and dense of Phoenix's urban villages, predominantly Latino, young and full of mixed-income families, making it an ideal place to start with heat mitigation efforts, Ávila said.

Ávila said they're working to connect residents with pre-existing resources like energy assistance programs and educating people about how to lower their utility bills.

• They're also connecting people with tree-planting resources and advising the city and nonprofits on "more equitable places" where pre-existing programs should focus, Ávila said, noting that in Maryvale those efforts often target areas that are already greener.

The intrigue: The coalition has more ambitious plans to transform areas that could become major destinations in the Valley.

• The "Maryvale Loop," a proposed project near Desert Sky Mall, would create a greener area with more trees and less pavement that people could use for walking and bicycling and to connect to the light rail.

Between the lines: To assist its efforts, the coalition assembled a finance committee that includes members from the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, city departments, the nonprofit sector and a housing developer.

• It's still early, but GPEC is "exploring how to best engage with the local business community and how we can best support the shaping of this process and evolution," spokesperson Logan Newman told Axios.

What's next: The Resilient Phoenix report will be released May 20.

• The coalition will launch a strategic plan in December that will include proposed policy changes.