Phoenix Special Reports

Special Reports

Since homebuilding is Arizona's main economic engine - and since a home is the biggest investment that most local families will make - you might assume that government officials take great pains to make sure construction here is done right. You'd be wrong. Fact is, thousands of Valley homeowners have been affected by bad soils here. This special report reveals that most of the problems that result from the soils in question are highly preventable, but builders take shortcuts that save them a few grand per house, at the most. They've learned that if they screw up a new home, the only discipline they have to face is, eventually, fixing it. And that's only if the homeowner decides to take on a fight.

Stories found

Feature
Cracked Houses
Homes all over Arizona are falling apart. Blame the bad soil -- and the lousy construction

By: By Sarah Fenske -

Published: March 16, 2006
Feature
Soiled Hands
It's no surprise that builders take shortcuts to make money. What might shock you: Government officials -- from regulators to legislators -- do little to stop them

By: By Sarah Fenske -

Published: March 23, 2006
News Sidebar
Through the Cracks
Municipal building inspectors may not catch soil problems

By: By Sarah Fenske -

Published: March 23, 2006
News Sidebar
Survey Says . . .
Are new homes shoddy? Depends who you ask

By: By Sarah Fenske -

Published: March 23, 2006
News
House Arrest
A Sun City couple beat Del Webb in court. So why is their house still a mess?

By: By Sarah Fenske -

Published: August 24, 2006

From the Print Edition

The Life of a State: A Timeline of Arizona's History

By Paul Rubin and Amy Silverman

Long before we were officially a state, Arizona was making history — and not all of it bad, though some of it certainly borders on the unbelievable. In 1910, a… More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, February 9th, 2011

PRINCESS VICTORIA Victoria herself responds: Most interesting thing to me is that [inside the article] in an Arizona paper, the close-up photo of my ukelele case (with a bumper sticker that… More >>

Ask a Mexican on Ron Paul and Science Fiction

By Gustavo Arellano

My family for six generations have been born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. Everyone speaks Spanish most of the time. Right now, almost every Republican in the state is trying… More >>

Businessman Brian Weymouth Gets on the Wrong Side of His Celebrity Partners

By Paul Rubin

To get on the bad side of Hall of Fame rocker Alice Cooper, Mexican boxing idol Julio Cesar Chavez, and a man who scaled Mount Everest takes some doing. But Brian… More >>

Super Bowl Prostitution Hoax: Indianapolis Mobilizes for an Epic Battle with an Urban Legend

By Pete Kotz

Indianapolis is bracing for war. It's Super Bowl week, after all. Time for the Annual Invasion of the Hookers, which promises to be as harrowing as the Ottoman Empire's advance… More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, February 2nd, 2011

GET OUT THE VOTE Thanks for the hope and inspiration: Great piece! As an old student activist (and former member of the Maricopa County Community College District governing board), I'm proud… More >>

Ask a Mexican on Ethnocentric Idiocy and Etymology

By Gustavo Arellano

My cousin had put a picture on Facebook that said, "I will not be forced to learn a foreign language to accommodate illegals in my country." He's Mexican-American. Our family… More >>

Victoria Jackson Goes From Comedy Heights to Being the Tea Party's Princess

By Gus Garcia-Roberts

Victoria Jackson hurtles through intersections and down side streets while using her left hand to hold a Flip cam to her face. The inside of her car — a weathered… More >>

Richard Carmona Promises AZ Dems a U.S. Senate Seat

By Stephen Lemons

The big-applause lines from former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona's address at Democrats' recent winter meeting in Tucson conveyed two important messages: He can beat Republican Congressman Jeff Flake in a… More >>

Feedback from the Issue of Thursday, January 26th, 2011

DIRTY JOE A culture of corruption: This is a great article with plenty of historical perspective on the culture of corruption that is Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County ("Coddling Joe," Michael Lacey,… More >>

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