According to the 2004 census, the Polish population in Arizona has reached more than 5,000, a 50 percent increase since 2000.
In Phoenix alone, the census added, there are about 1,098 Poland-born immigrants and 2,000 Poles in the surrounding cities of Scottsdale, Mesa, Surprise, Chandler, Glendale, Peoria and Tempe.
Texas and Florida are also popular among Polish immigrants. Recently, however, the Polish population in those states has decreased slightly.
New immigration wave
“Polish immigrants have been settling in Arizona over the past three years, in recent months, the numbers have decreased due to skyrocketing real estate prices. Nevertheless, the influx is more significant than five years ago,” said Maria Frys, of the John Hall &Associates real estate agency.
A different type of Polish community
Real estate agents agree that Poles in Arizona make up a different type of Polish community, as compared with the ones in New York and Chicago.
“They are people who have been around for a while, who have achieved some level of success, who have sold their first houses, and who came here to look for their second chance,” said Zbigniew Galazka of Phoenix Property Realty, a Scottsdale-based real estate agency
The professional profile of Polish immigrants who settle in Arizona is also different. People who come here are not cleaning ladies, drivers or construction workers, although there are some of them do settle there.
Poles in Arizona are mainly businessmen and businesswomen, small investors, doctors and architects. As well, there is a strong presence of Polish immigrants in the hotel industry.
“My business is one of the 15 motels and hotels run by Poles in Arizona,” said Tomasz Wasniowski, owner of a Super 8 motel in Williams, located about 30 minutes north of Phoenix.
According to Wiktor Zolcinski, who is the host of the only Polish radio program in Arizona, aired on 1480 AM, many Poles who have settled in this state run houses for the elderly.
“About 20 percent of our community here supports itself this way,” said Zolcinski.
Poles who live in Arizona believe their compatriots are attracted to this region due to its climate.
“It is good for those who suffer from heart-diseases and rheumatism,” said Frys. Also real estate prices and the cost of living here are lower than in the North.
Poles don’t come to Arizona to retire. “The average age of those who have come here over the past three years, is 40,” said Zbigniew Galazka, who has prepared a database of Polish residents of the Phoenix area. The majority of Poles from the latest immigration wave come here from New York and New Jersey.
The characteristic feature of the Polish community in Arizona, similarly to other western states, is the fact that it’s very scattered.
“This is not New York or Chicago, where there are areas with Polish businesses and Polish immigrants concentrated in one place,” said Galazka. “Everything operates according to a different set of rules here. A life without a car is not possible.”
Poles are not the only immigrants settling in Arizona. According to Samuel Colon, a demographer, each year about 255,000 new people settle in Arizona, making it the second most dynamic state from a demographic point of view, after Nevada.
