NPR.

Whalen, do you ever fall into the time suck of looking at Zillow real estate maps and

sales that show these home listings that look too good to be true?

Like, surprisingly cheap with these really spectacular photos?

Well, hello Kirk's Siggler. NPR's Western correspondent. And yes, I've been known to you at

dabble in a little Zillow stocking here and there. Well, good. So take a look at this one that I

just pulled up for you. Okay. So we're in Arizona. We've got a seven bedroom for bath.

There is this very elaborate pool with a waterfall and they've got some pool noodles laid out in

the staging photo. Exactly. You don't even really see the house itself. Yeah, I'm starting to wonder

what the real story is here. Like, is there a catch? So this house is in a suburb of Phoenix called

Buckeye. I went out there to report on how that city, which by the way boasts that it's one of the

fastest growing cities in the country, can square all this growth with the fact that Arizona's water

supplies are shrinking fast. This is the indicator from planet money. I'm Whalen Wong.

And I'm Kirk Siggler. Today on the show, Phoenix is just one example of fast growing cities in the

southwest that keep expanding in a desert with little water places that rely on a Colorado river

that's running dry. Is it reckoning overdue and finally here? That's coming up after the break.

Kirk, I know you've been doing a lot of reporting in the valley of the sun asking tough questions

about how sustainable the growth is there. Yeah, I have. So what's striking is when you drive down

I 10, leaving downtown Phoenix and into what's known as the West Valley, it feels like business is

usual. I mean, there are all these signs advertising new developments. You know, join this VIP list

for first views and plan master communities with these curious names like Terrivalis and Prasada.

Do you ever feel like society is just running out of proper names for streets and towns in housing

...