How to stay cool in Phoenix

By Becky Bennett, Lynsie Brenner and Thomas Curran


Visitors may be shocked to see the mercury hit 110, but Phoenix residents have strategies for coping with the heat.

Arizona School for the Performing Arts students Benjamin Diego, Emily Pina and Jazlyn and Carissa Acosta frequently visit downtown Phoenix during their summer vacation.

"You kind of have to build an approach," Pina, 17, said.

She dresses in shorts, sandals and sunglasses to stay cool.

Jazlyn, 17, and Carissa, 12, are both from Peoria, Ariz., but their mother drops them off in Phoenix every day so they don't have to be cooped up at home all summer.

"I really like the things you can see here," Jazlyn said. "It's like going to different states when you go downtown. When I come down here, it's a totally different area."

Jazlyn added that she doesn't understand why people stay in their homes all summer.

"They lock themselves in their houses because they don't want to go out in the heat, but then you don't get to do anything," she said. "You just have to compromise and do what they want to do."

Even so, residents can become overwhelmed in late summer when the mercury really begins to climb. Diego, 17, said some days are just too hot.

"Just after late July, early August, about the time we have to go back to school," he said.

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High school students Benjamin Diego, Jazlyn Acosta, Emily Pina and Carissa Acosta stay cool on a hot day by dressing light, finding shade and good company in downtown Phoenix on June 17. (Photo by Becky Bennett)

Ample shade and a good book keep this man's mind off the heat at the Arizona Center on June 17. (Photo by Becky Bennett)