The Willo Neighborhood is home to nearly 1,000 historic homes.

PHOENIX — A walk through the historic Willo neighborhood is like taking a walk down memory lane.

“Once they’re gone, there’s no way to rebuild them or replace them,” Save Historic Arizona Co-Chair Opal Wagner said. 

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Sitting in the heart of Phoenix, stretching from McDowell to Thomas Road and Central and 7th Avenue, Willo is home to nearly 1,000 historic homes dating back to 1878.

“We have the most beautiful preserved examples of architecture going all the way from the early 1900s to the 1950s. That’s our period of significance,” Wagner said. “It was a time when people built individually, hired individual architects and really had their own, made their own little house on their own lot.”

Currently, the City of Phoenix has protections to preserve these homes, but a new law that takes effect next year threatens their existence. 

HB 2721, the middle housing bill, requires cities and towns with at least 75,000 people to allow development of homes with up to five units on lots originally zoned for single families.

“We’re concerned that it would incentivize losing everything we’ve worked for here through tear-downs and that homes will be bulldozed and that homes will be replaced with fourplexes,” Wagner said.

Save Historic Arizona is asking lawmakers for an exemption that would protect all historic homes in the state from being torn down.

“We believe that Phoenix’s future can be built without destroying its past, it’s rich past,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the community understands the need for more housing, but doesn’t believe it should come at the cost of historic homes. 

They’re hoping lawmakers will see the same value in preserving these houses that they do.

“It was preserved for us, and we’d like to preserve it for the next generation,” Wagner said.

The law is set to take effect in 2026.


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