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These captivating stories reveal moments in history that had a profound impact on cities and people. From deadly fogs in London to the mysterious day clocks stopped in Paris, these events still resonate today.
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00:00It was the flood of the century.
00:02A rainy summer and fall turned Paris into Venice,
00:06with people moving around in boats and thousands evacuated.
00:10The electricity failed, buildings were flooded,
00:13and the train tracks submerged.
00:16So engineers had to build wooden walkways.
00:19The floods lasted for two months,
00:21reportedly took the lives of five people,
00:24and even made all the clocks in the city stop at exactly 10.53.
00:32Before the end of the 19th century,
00:34time was hard to keep in Paris.
00:36Mechanical clocks drifted out of sync,
00:39and so it was impossible to be right on time
00:42for a business meeting or to catch a train.
00:45There were tower bells that rang every hour,
00:47but it wasn't enough anymore,
00:49as city dwellers wanted to know the exact time to the nearest minute.
00:54At the Paris Exhibition in 1878,
00:57two Austrian engineers,
00:59Victor Antoine Popp and his co-worker Wright,
01:03presented their invention, pneumatic clocks.
01:06They were installed in Vienna in public buildings
01:09and on lampposts in busy places,
01:11and were successfully working for a whole year.
01:14Paris municipal authorities loved the invention,
01:17and authorized the engineers to install public and private clocks,
01:21using the same principle in the French capital.
01:26All these clocks were part of one complicated system of underground pipes.
01:31Instead of using electricity,
01:33they were working on compressed air.
01:35A central station would send a pulse each minute through iron pipes
01:40to synchronize time all around Paris.
01:42There were clocks in hotels, train stations, schools, streets, and houses.
01:48This network, using air,
01:50was a much cheaper and more reliable option than electricity.
01:54A spring or weight provided energy.
01:57When it was released, gravity did its thing,
02:00spinning the clock's wheel.
02:02There was also a little contraption,
02:04kind of like a pendulum,
02:05that rocked back and forth,
02:07keeping the gears moving at just the right pace.
02:11By tweaking the length of the pendulum,
02:13you could speed up or slow down time.
02:16The Paris master clock had two sides,
02:19one for telling time,
02:20and the other for controlling bursts of air
02:23to sync up all the clocks in the city.
02:25It managed to stay accurate,
02:27thanks to another super-precise clock in the Paris observatory,
02:31updated daily with star observations.
02:35The master clock opened and closed valves
02:37at just the right moments
02:39to send that air to thousands of clocks.
02:44The system had an awesome ability to reset itself.
02:48A little pipe connected to the master clock
02:50pumped compressed air back into the pistons on the side,
02:54giving them a boost.
02:55These pistons then lifted levers
02:58attached to both clock systems,
03:00hauling those weights back up
03:02and resetting everything in a smooth cycle.
03:05The air from the master clock
03:07split into ten different pipes,
03:09each heading to different parts of Paris.
03:11These pipes snaked their way
03:13through the city's tunnels,
03:15covering hundreds of miles
03:16from the sewage to the metro tunnels.
03:19It took up to a minute
03:20for the pressure wave to reach the farthest clocks.
03:23The clocks were pretty plain.
03:25The minute hand was hooked up to a gear
03:28with exactly 60 T,
03:30matching the number of minutes in an hour,
03:33when the air hit the clock,
03:35it pumped into the bellows,
03:36which puffed up like a balloon
03:38and pushed a rod upward.
03:40This rod lifted a lever
03:42that nudged the gear forward
03:44with one tooth at a time,
03:46while another tooth held it in place
03:48so it wouldn't slide back.
03:50Once the bellows deflated,
03:52a little weight kept that tooth engaged
03:54with the gear
03:55until the next minute came around.
03:58This setup ensured that each puff of air
04:00would nudge the gear forward
04:02by exactly one minute.
04:04The system wasn't just for fancy public clocks
04:07or train stations.
04:09You could have one of these clocks
04:10in your own house
04:12for just 30 cents a day in today's money.
04:17The system would work for years without a hitch.
04:21But in 1910,
04:22things went out of control.
04:25Parisians used a statue of a soldier
04:27at the Alma Bridge
04:28to check the height of the river.
04:30When the water reaches the soldier's feet,
04:33the river is closed.
04:34That year,
04:35because of the flood,
04:37the water got all the way to his shoulders.
04:39It was the highest the Seine had ever been.
04:43The river had flooded the compressed air plant
04:45and made all the clocks stop at the same moment.
04:49Engineers managed to repair the system.
04:52And the clocks continued to work
04:54for over 15 years
04:55until the invention of accurate mechanical
04:58and electric clocks.
05:00But you can still find signs
05:02of where these clocks
05:03once stood all around Paris.
05:07It looks like humans
05:08used the natural cycles
05:10of the sun and moon
05:11to track time
05:11long before recorded history.
05:14Scientists have found
05:16ancient artifacts
05:17like bone and stone
05:18with marks
05:19that could have followed lunar cycles
05:21from around 20,000 years ago.
05:25Agricultural societies
05:26needed to know
05:27what season it was
05:28for planting and harvesting.
05:30So they had to come up
05:31with a more sophisticated system
05:33of observations
05:34of celestial movements.
05:36Around 5,000 years ago,
05:38long before the first clocks
05:40were designed,
05:41ancient civilizations
05:42like the Babylonians
05:43and Egyptians
05:44were already using calendars
05:46to organize their activities
05:48and planting and harvesting cycles.
05:51They based their calendars
05:52on three natural cycles,
05:54the solar day,
05:55the lunar month,
05:56and the solar year,
05:57making sure they stayed in sync
05:59with the rhythms of nature.
06:02Depending on where you lived,
06:03your calendar
06:04could be a bit different.
06:06Near the equator,
06:07lunar cycles
06:08were more important
06:08than seasons.
06:09But up north,
06:11where farming
06:11was a big deal,
06:13folks cared more
06:14about the solar year.
06:16As the Roman Empire
06:17was growing,
06:18it arranged its calendar
06:19mostly around the solar year.
06:22The Egyptians
06:23had their own system.
06:25Their civil calendar
06:26had 12 months
06:27of 30 days each,
06:28with an extra 5 days
06:30tacked on
06:30to match up
06:31with the solar year.
06:33They used special constellations
06:35called decans
06:36to mark each period
06:37of 10 days.
06:38They even divided the day
06:40into temporal hours,
06:41which varied
06:42based on the changing length
06:44of daylight
06:44throughout the year.
06:46There were also sundials
06:47that used the sun's shadow
06:49to tell time,
06:50and water clocks
06:51took over at night.
06:55The first known
06:56weight-driven
06:57mechanical clock
06:58was installed in England
06:59at the end
07:00of the 13th century.
07:01It had to do
07:03with the church,
07:04as they needed
07:04a reliable way
07:05to keep track
07:06of service times,
07:07and clock tech
07:08was the answer.
07:10Soon,
07:11artisans were crafting
07:12more clocks
07:13across France and Italy.
07:14The name clock
07:15comes from the Latin word
07:17for bell,
07:18cloaca,
07:19because these early
07:20timekeepers
07:20struck a bell
07:21to announce the time.
07:23The mechanical clock
07:25was perfect
07:25for keeping equal hours,
07:27but people couldn't agree
07:28on when to start counting.
07:31So they ended up
07:32with a bunch
07:32of different systems.
07:34Italian hours
07:35kicked off at sunset,
07:37Babylonian hours
07:38at sunrise,
07:39some large public clocks
07:41in Germany
07:41at midnight,
07:42and so on.
07:44But eventually,
07:45they settled on
07:46what we now know
07:47as French hours.
07:48It means splitting the day
07:50into two 12-hour periods
07:52starting at midnight.
07:53A couple of centuries later,
07:56clockmakers started
07:56adding minutes
07:57and seconds
07:58to their timekeepers.
07:59They weren't quite
08:01accurate enough
08:02until the late 17th century
08:03when the pendulum clock
08:05came into play.
08:06Minutes and seconds
08:08come from
08:08the Babylonians'
08:09astronomers' love
08:10of dividing things
08:11into 60 parts.
08:13Now,
08:14not everyone loved
08:15the idea,
08:16and in France,
08:17they tried to go decimal
08:19with the hours,
08:20minutes,
08:20and seconds,
08:21but it didn't stick.
08:25Back in the 15th century,
08:27more and more folks
08:28wanted clocks
08:29of their own,
08:30not just relying
08:31on the clock tower.
08:32The problem
08:33was that these early clocks
08:34were not exactly portable.
08:36So,
08:37some clever inventors
08:38swapped out the weight
08:39for a coiled spring,
08:41making clocks
08:42way easier
08:43to move around.
08:44springs are super tense
08:46after winding them up.
08:48That's where
08:48the fusee comes in,
08:50a cone-shaped gizmo
08:52connected to the spring barrel.
08:54When you wound the clock,
08:56the fusee worked its magic,
08:58adjusting the tension
08:59of the spring
09:00so it wouldn't go haywire.
09:02The fusee stuck around
09:04for ages,
09:05even making its way
09:06into high-end timepieces
09:08like marine chronometers
09:09in the 20th century.
09:12On December the 5th, 1952,
09:15a nauseating yellow-gray fog
09:17engulfed London,
09:18claiming 12,000 lives.
09:21This wasn't mere mist.
09:23It stank of rotting eggs
09:24and stretched 30 miles wide.
09:27Buses halted,
09:28planes were grounded,
09:29and ambulances were trapped.
09:31For five days,
09:32the city vanished
09:33in the stench and sludge.
09:35Streets slipped
09:36with a black ooze.
09:37Those who dared
09:38ventured out
09:39stumbled blindly,
09:40smudging their faces
09:41while birds
09:42crashed into buildings.
09:44With visibility zero,
09:46thieves ran rampant,
09:47and even indoor shows
09:48were canceled.
09:49The great smoke
09:51sent over 100,000 people
09:52to hospitals,
09:54leaving a grim legacy
09:55of demise and decay.
09:59The causes of this tragedy
10:01started long into the past.
10:03Something called
10:04pea-soup fog
10:05became one of the symbols
10:06of London
10:07in the 19th century.
10:08Nature wasn't to blame
10:10for this fog.
10:11It was caused by people
10:12burning coal
10:13to heat their homes
10:14and run factories.
10:16In fact,
10:16London's air
10:17started getting smoky
10:18all the way back
10:19in the 13th century
10:21when people began
10:22widely using coal.
10:23It got worse
10:24as the city grew bigger.
10:26By the 17th century,
10:28people were already
10:29complaining about
10:30the dirty air.
10:31King James I
10:32tried to prevent
10:33so much coal burning
10:34with new laws,
10:35but nothing really changed.
10:37As more factories
10:38popped up
10:39during the Industrial Revolution
10:40in the late 18th century,
10:42the problem
10:43blew out of proportion.
10:45The air was full
10:46of tiny particles
10:47that water clung to
10:48and formed
10:49dark, heavy clouds.
10:50This mix
10:51of smoke and fog
10:52became so bad,
10:54people called it smog.
10:56Yep,
10:57this word was invented
10:58in London
10:58in the early 20th century.
11:00The smog
11:01got so thick
11:02sometimes,
11:02it could last
11:03for a whole week,
11:04and it made people ill.
11:06Some even passed away
11:07because of it.
11:08Even though the smog
11:10was harmful,
11:11people didn't want
11:12to stop using coal
11:13because it gave them jobs
11:14and kept their homes warm.
11:16So,
11:17the problem lingered.
11:19By the 20th century,
11:21thick fogs were happening
11:22less frequently,
11:23finally,
11:23because factories
11:24started moving
11:25away from the city.
11:27But,
11:27on that December day
11:28in 1952,
11:30an anti-cyclone
11:32appeared over London.
11:33This meant that
11:34the cold air
11:35near the ground
11:35got trapped
11:36under warmer air
11:37higher up,
11:38like a lid
11:39keeping everything
11:40underneath.
11:41Because of this,
11:42all the smoke
11:43from factories,
11:44cars,
11:44and home fireplaces
11:45couldn't float up
11:46and away like usual.
11:48Instead,
11:49it clung near the ground,
11:50mixed with water
11:51in the air,
11:52and produced
11:53an extremely thick,
11:54dirty fog.
11:55Plus,
11:56daylight in December
11:57is shorter,
11:57and it was really cold.
11:59So,
11:59people had to use
12:00even more coal
12:01for heating and lighting
12:02than they normally did.
12:04All this
12:05led to a disaster.
12:06It was clear
12:07that sulfur particles
12:09from the burning coal
12:10made the fog yellow
12:11and smell like rotten eggs.
12:13But scientists
12:14couldn't figure out
12:15why and how
12:15these particles
12:16turned into
12:17sulfuric acid.
12:19Decades later,
12:20an international team
12:21of researchers
12:22recreated
12:23that scary fog
12:24in a lab.
12:25They used samples
12:26of air
12:26and atmospheric measurements
12:28from the fog
12:29in two large
12:30Chinese cities
12:31that have high levels
12:32of sulfur dioxide
12:33in the air,
12:34just like London
12:35during the Great Smoke.
12:37They learned
12:37that the thick,
12:38dirty air,
12:39called haze,
12:40doesn't form
12:41in the same way
12:42in London
12:42and in China.
12:44In London's fog,
12:45smoke from burning coal
12:47released two gases,
12:48sulfur dioxide
12:49and nitrogen dioxide.
12:52These gases
12:53mixed with water droplets
12:54in the fog,
12:55which made it harmless
12:56at first
12:57because the water
12:58diluted the harmful chemicals.
13:00But as the water
13:01evaporated
13:02and there was nothing
13:03to dilute the two
13:03dioxides,
13:05the fog became
13:05very acidic
13:06and hazardous to breathe,
13:08so it damaged
13:09people's lungs.
13:10In present-day China,
13:12things are a little different.
13:13A third chemical,
13:14ammonia,
13:15joins the mix.
13:17Now,
13:17ammonia,
13:17which comes from
13:18farms and cars,
13:20helps balance out
13:21the acidity of the fog,
13:22so it's less harmful
13:24than London's deadly fog.
13:25But the scientists
13:26found that
13:27cutting down
13:28on nitrogen dioxide
13:29and ammonia
13:30could still help
13:31China reduce
13:32its air quality problems.
13:34They hope
13:34that their discovery
13:35will help both
13:36understand London's
13:37past fogs
13:38and give China
13:39ideas for making
13:40its air cleaner.
13:41It could also save
13:43the health of millions
13:43of people around the world
13:45who are now living
13:46in cities
13:46with bad air quality.
13:49After the terrible fog
13:50of 1952,
13:52everyone realized
13:53how serious
13:54London's air problem was.
13:55Four years later,
13:57the British authorities
13:58created a law
13:59called the Clean Air Act
14:00to stop something like that
14:02from happening again.
14:03This law banned people
14:05from burning smoky fuels
14:06like coal
14:07in their homes
14:08or in factory furnaces
14:09in some parts of the city.
14:11To help people adjust,
14:13the authorities
14:13gave them money
14:14so that they could switch
14:16to cleaner heating options
14:17like oil,
14:18natural gas,
14:19or electricity.
14:20It took time
14:21for these changes
14:22to make a big difference,
14:23and sadly,
14:25another dangerous smog
14:26happened in 1962.
14:28But the Clean Air Act
14:29was a very important
14:30first step
14:31for protecting the environment
14:32and people's health.
14:35Almost a century
14:36before the Great Smoke,
14:38another smelly event
14:39happened to London,
14:40the Great Stink.
14:42Back then,
14:43people didn't have
14:43proper bathrooms
14:44or sewers,
14:45and all the waste
14:46from houses
14:47and factories
14:48went straight
14:49into the river Thames.
14:50When the weather
14:51got super hot
14:52in July and August,
14:53the water level
14:54in the river went down
14:55and piles of waste,
14:57sometimes six feet,
14:59popped up
14:59on the muddy banks.
15:01The smell was so terrible
15:02that even Queen Victoria
15:04and Prince Albert
15:05had to cancel
15:06their relaxing boat ride
15:07on the river.
15:08The politicians
15:09working in the brand new
15:10parliament buildings,
15:11which were right by the river,
15:13couldn't handle
15:14the smell either.
15:15The air inside
15:16was so terrible
15:17that they had to hold
15:18handkerchiefs
15:18over their noses
15:19to breathe.
15:20They even tried
15:21soaking the curtains
15:22in chloride of lime,
15:24hoping it would cover up
15:25the horrible odor.
15:26Many Londoners believe
15:28that the bad air,
15:29called miasma,
15:30caused horrible things
15:31like cholera,
15:32which had already
15:33taken the lives
15:34of lots of people.
15:35Engineer Joseph Basilgetti
15:37solved the problem
15:38as he built
15:38a new sewer system
15:39that would move
15:40all the waste
15:41away from the city.
15:42His sewer system
15:43was so well designed
15:44that it still works today.
15:46Even though London
15:47has grown to over
15:488 million people.
15:51On the other side
15:52of the Atlantic,
15:53in the United States,
15:54there was also a day
15:55when you couldn't see
15:56your hand before your face,
15:57and it was impossible
15:59to breathe outside.
16:00But the reasons
16:01for this Black Sunday
16:03were very different
16:04from the Great Smoke of London.
16:05In 1931,
16:07it almost completely
16:08stopped raining
16:09in the southern Great Plains.
16:11This drought
16:11lasted for nearly 10 years.
16:13Without rain,
16:15the farms dried up
16:16and the soil
16:17turned to dust.
16:18Strong winds
16:19blew this dry dirt
16:20into the air
16:21and created
16:21huge dust storms.
16:23These storms,
16:24called black blizzards,
16:25made it hard to breathe
16:27and see anything.
16:28People tried
16:29to protect themselves
16:29by putting Vaseline
16:31in their noses,
16:32wearing masks,
16:33and sealing their homes.
16:34But the dust
16:35still made many
16:36of them sick.
16:37In 1934,
16:39things got even worse.
16:40It was the driest year
16:41in over a thousand years.
16:43Temperatures went
16:44over 100 degrees
16:45for weeks
16:46and the land
16:47became even drier.
16:48On April 14, 1935,
16:51after months
16:52of terrible weather,
16:53the sky finally
16:55looked clear
16:55and there was barely
16:56any wind,
16:57which was rare
16:58for this area.
16:59People came outside
17:00as they were hoping
17:01that the worst
17:02was finally over.
17:03When Oklahoma minister
17:05announced that
17:06a few good rainstorms
17:07would make the land
17:08fertile again.
17:09But unfortunately,
17:10that morning,
17:11a cold wind
17:12from Canada
17:13met warm air
17:14in the Dakotas
17:15and started
17:16a massive dust storm.
17:17The storm grew
17:18to hundreds of miles wide
17:20and thousands of feet tall.
17:21A sunny day
17:22instantly became
17:24completely dark.
17:25Drivers had to hide
17:26in their cars
17:27and other people
17:28went down
17:28into basements,
17:29found refuge
17:30in barns,
17:31fire stations,
17:32tornado shelters,
17:33and under their beds
17:35to stay safe.
17:36The storm
17:37didn't stop for hours
17:38and took at least
17:3920 lives.
17:40Many people
17:41couldn't stop coughing
17:42and one man
17:43went blind.
17:44The storm
17:45was so strong,
17:46it carried
17:46300,000 tons
17:48of dirt
17:48across the country
17:49and even reached
17:50the East Coast.
17:54Ah, Phoenix.
17:55This sizzling gem
17:56in the Sonoran Desert
17:58isn't just another
17:59American city.
18:00It's more like
18:01a giant oven
18:02where you can throw
18:02a party
18:03as long as you
18:04don't forget the ice.
18:05Seriously,
18:06if you find yourself
18:07here in the summer,
18:09brace yourself
18:09for some serious heat.
18:11We're talking
18:11about temperatures
18:12that regularly
18:13pass 100 degrees.
18:15And in 2024,
18:17Phoenix hit 110 degrees
18:1955 times
18:21during the summer,
18:22tying the record set
18:23just the year before.
18:25Now, I get it
18:26if you're not a fan
18:27of hot weather.
18:28But apparently,
18:30a lot of people
18:31love living in a sauna.
18:33Phoenix ranks
18:33as the fifth largest city
18:35in the United States
18:36and it is the capital
18:37and most populous city
18:39in Arizona
18:39with 1.7 million residents
18:42as of 2024.
18:43And if we're talking
18:44about the metropolitan area,
18:46also known as
18:47the Valley of the Sun,
18:49the population
18:49is almost 5 million.
18:52Yet, good luck
18:53finding someone
18:54actually born here.
18:55Out of every four
18:56Phoenix residents,
18:58three were born
18:59somewhere else.
19:00Believe it or not,
19:01Phoenix wasn't always
19:03this bustling,
19:04crowded place.
19:04It became one.
19:06A few decades ago,
19:07it was just a sleepy
19:09little dot on the map.
19:10Back in the 1940s,
19:12the population
19:13was around 65,000.
19:15It wasn't even close
19:16to cracking the top 100 list
19:18of the largest U.S. cities.
19:20Now, at that time,
19:22Phoenix was mostly
19:23an agricultural hub,
19:24and its economy
19:25revolved around
19:26what they called
19:27the Five Cs.
19:28Cotton,
19:29citrus,
19:30cattle,
19:30climate,
19:31and copper.
19:32But things really
19:33started to change
19:34in the 1950s
19:35thanks to one
19:36life-changing invention.
19:38Drumroll, please.
19:40The air conditioner.
19:41Actually,
19:42it was the portable version
19:43that came out in 1945,
19:45created by an American inventor
19:47named Robert Sherman.
19:49Phoenix residents
19:50owe a lot to Robert
19:51for making life bearable
19:52during scorching summers.
19:54Before A.C.,
19:55people in Phoenix
19:56would literally
19:57move their beds outside
19:58and build sleeping porches.
20:01They'd protect
20:01that kind of outdoorsy space
20:03with light curtains
20:04or some kind of net
20:05to keep the dust
20:06and bugs out.
20:07Mmm, fun.
20:09Anyway,
20:09the point is
20:10that the air conditioner
20:11played a big part
20:13in making Phoenix
20:13an easier place to live.
20:15Since the 1940s,
20:17this city in Arizona
20:18has transformed
20:19from a dusty little town
20:21into a sprawling
20:22urban jungle,
20:23and it's still
20:24one of the top 10
20:25fastest-growing
20:26metro areas
20:27in the U.S.
20:28The best part is
20:29it looks like
20:30that won't change
20:31anytime soon
20:32since this 519-square-mile
20:35metropolis
20:35is surrounded
20:36by rolling desert
20:37with plenty of room
20:39to keep growing
20:39as far as the eye can see.
20:42So,
20:42who's dropping everything
20:43to move to Phoenix?
20:45Well,
20:45Californians
20:46are the city's biggest fans.
20:48According to a recent survey,
20:50a third of all new renters
20:51moving to Phoenix
20:52come from Los Angeles.
20:54Okay,
20:55that survey
20:56might not be
20:56the most reliable
20:57since it only applies
20:59to the source's clients,
21:00but it does line up
21:02with U.S. Census Bureau
21:03data from 2019,
21:05which says that
21:0670,000 Californians
21:07moved to Arizona
21:08in the previous year.
21:10The connection
21:11between Phoenix
21:12and L.A.
21:13is so strong
21:13that some people
21:14even call Phoenix
21:16the next L.A.
21:17You've got to give
21:18Phoenix credit
21:19for capitalizing
21:20on its proximity
21:21to Southern California.
21:22The city offers
21:24lower taxes,
21:25fewer regulations,
21:26and lower costs of living,
21:28which makes it a magnet
21:29for businesses,
21:30especially in high-tech
21:31and service industries.
21:33So,
21:33in the 90s,
21:34Phoenix was considered
21:35a non-stop generator
21:37of jobs.
21:38In the last few years,
21:39we've seen the number
21:40of jobs only go up,
21:42and the unemployment rate
21:43has dropped
21:43by nearly half,
21:45going from 6.3
21:46in January 2014
21:48to 3.4
21:50in the same month
21:51in 2024.
21:53Now,
21:53when it comes
21:54to big city problems,
21:55you can't avoid
21:56talking about traffic.
21:58But here's another reason
21:59why Phoenix
22:00is a dream city.
22:01It doesn't even come close
22:03to the traffic nightmares
22:04you find in places
22:05like L.A.
22:07Estimates show
22:08that people in Los Angeles
22:09waste about 119 hours
22:12a year
22:12just sitting in traffic.
22:14But in Phoenix,
22:15it's more like 61 hours.
22:17Huge difference,
22:18huh?
22:19And let's not even
22:20start talking about
22:21the money people waste
22:22just sitting in traffic.
22:24In L.A.,
22:25drivers burn through
22:26about $2,440
22:28worth of gas per year.
22:30In Phoenix,
22:31they waste 25 gallons
22:33of fuel,
22:33which ends up costing
22:35about $952.
22:37Yeah,
22:37that's still a lot of cash,
22:39but compared to L.A.,
22:40come on,
22:41that's a steal.
22:43Phoenix being okay
22:44in terms of traffic
22:46might have a lot to do
22:47with how the city
22:48was designed.
22:49Just take a look
22:50at a map of Phoenix.
22:51You'll notice
22:52it looks like
22:52someone took a ruler
22:53and drew perfectly
22:55straight lines
22:55for the roads.
22:56That's because the city
22:58was laid out
22:58in a grid system.
23:00This setup makes it
23:01so much easier
23:02to get around,
23:03especially compared
23:04to cities full of
23:05confusing twists,
23:07U-turns,
23:07and one-way streets.
23:08It just simplifies things,
23:10whether you're a local
23:11or a tourist.
23:13Plus,
23:14Phoenix has nice,
23:15wide streets.
23:16Most cities have
23:17one major road
23:18and a bunch of narrow streets
23:19that just can't handle
23:21heavy traffic.
23:22But Phoenix has
23:23wide roads everywhere.
23:25So,
23:25when the freeways
23:26get jammed,
23:27you can just hop
23:28onto a parallel street
23:29and still get to work
23:30without stressing out
23:31too much.
23:33When you look
23:34at all the job opportunities
23:35and the relatively
23:36smooth traffic,
23:38it's no wonder
23:38people are willing
23:39to put up with the heat
23:40and move to Phoenix.
23:41But don't get it twisted,
23:43the heat is no joke.
23:45It is really,
23:46really hot
23:46and sunny out there.
23:48We're talking about
23:49300 days of sunshine
23:50on average,
23:51or about 85%
23:53daylight hours per year.
23:55But,
23:55once again,
23:56Phoenix has made
23:57the best of it.
23:58And all that
23:59constant sunshine
24:00has turned Phoenix
24:01into one of the top
24:02solar energy cities
24:03in the country.
24:05Now,
24:05you may be wondering,
24:06a city in the middle
24:08of the desert
24:08with barely any rain,
24:09do they actually
24:11have enough water?
24:12Well,
24:13they do.
24:14Phoenix has its water
24:15situation pretty well
24:17sorted out,
24:17thanks to multiple sources.
24:19I mean,
24:20they don't rely on rain alone,
24:22which is a good thing
24:23because,
24:23you know,
24:23desert life.
24:25Most of their water
24:26comes from way up north
24:27and east of the valley,
24:28where snow melts
24:29off the mountains
24:30and flows into
24:31giant reservoirs,
24:32storing it up
24:33for those dry years.
24:34But most of Phoenix's
24:36water comes from
24:37the Salt River Project,
24:38which brings water
24:39through canals
24:40and pipelines
24:41from the Salt
24:42and Verde Rivers.
24:43Then there is
24:44the Central Arizona Project,
24:46which transports water
24:47all the way
24:48from the Colorado River.
24:50They even get a bit
24:51of water
24:51from underground wells.
24:53And Phoenix
24:54doesn't want to
24:54waste a drop,
24:55so they're smart
24:56about recycling,
24:58reusing treated water
24:59to keep parks green,
25:00and even recharging
25:02their groundwater.
25:03Since Phoenix
25:04is all about sunny skies,
25:05nearly every day
25:07of the year,
25:07it's normal that people
25:09can get a little moody
25:10when it actually rains.
25:11But here's the thing.
25:13Phoenix always gets
25:14a surprise up its sleeve,
25:16even when it comes
25:17to bad weather.
25:18When it rains
25:19in the deserts,
25:20locals get treated
25:21to this unique,
25:22earthy smell.
25:23It's thanks
25:24to the creosote bush,
25:25a desert plant
25:26that releases
25:27an amazing fragrance
25:28when the rain hits it.
25:30People describe it
25:31as the smell of rain,
25:33and honestly,
25:34it's one of those
25:34fresh, clean scents
25:36that makes you forget
25:37you're in the desert
25:38for a second.
25:39And if you've never
25:40stopped to think
25:41about why Phoenix
25:42is called Phoenix,
25:43well, it's based
25:44on that famous legend
25:45of the bird
25:46that rises from the ashes.
25:48Now, after knowing
25:49all the special things
25:50about this city
25:51and its unique ability
25:52to turn challenges
25:53into advantages,
25:54we can say the name
25:56couldn't have been
25:57better chosen.
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