Arizona has secured a top slot in a new ranking looking at the condition of infrastructure in all of the country’s 50 states.
Compiled by the network CNBC in a report called America’s Top States for Business, the document ranks Arizona as a solid number two, behind only Georgia, for what it characterizes as an all-encompassing approach to infrastructure investment and building.
“The massive expansion of the semiconductor industry in Arizona would not be possible were it not for the Grand Canyon State’s superior infrastructure,” says the report.
“Not only does the state have vast sites available for development, but it also has one of the nation’s most reliable power grids,” continues the report, adding, “a respectable 24% of the state’s power comes from renewable energy, putting it in the top half of the states.”
Only one troubling note for Arizona is noted in the report: “The rapid growth in the middle of the desert is putting considerable strain on Arizona’s water utilities, however, with a 20-year repair bill of more than $12 billion.”
Arizona and Utah are the only states in the West to make the report’s top ten, a list dominated by states in the North and Midwest that have in recent years plowed billions of dollars into bridge, broadband, and road infrastructure.
Further down the list, Colorado was ranked at number twelve for the condition of its infrastructure, while Texas placed 26th and New Mexico came in at 39th.
The most recent rankings, compared with where things stood in 2018, show real growth on the part of Arizona, which then placed 13th. Colorado six years ago was at a significantly lower 35; Colorado in the top ten at eight; and New Mexico higher at 24.
While the rankings from year to year show in some cases remarkable changes in the infrastructure standings of the states, America’s Top States for Business suggests that there may be some alterations in the years to come, largely because of the billions of dollars coming out of Washington for both transportation and broadband projects.
Altogether, there are currently some 54,000 individual projects underway in the states that are being funded through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
By Garry Boulard
