San Luis is a city in Yuma County,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. The population was 25,505 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Yuma

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. San Luis, located in the southwest corner of the state directly adjacent to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

's Federal Highway 2 at San Luis Rio Colorado, was the second fastest-growing city or town in Arizona from 1990 to 2000. According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 34,778.

History

The city was established in 1930 with the opening of a border-crossing station. In the last twenty years it has registered an accelerated population increase, going from 1,946 inhabitants in 1980, to approximately 20,000 in the year 2005. The city annexed over of land between 2006 and 2012, thereby increasing the availability of land for residential, commercial and industrial growth in the eastern part of town where the new commercial port of entry will be constructed.

Geography

San Luis is located at (32.496116, -114.768327). It stands on the U.S.-Mexico border, opposite San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. The lowest point in Arizona is located on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

in San Luis, where it flows out of Arizona and into Sonora. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.11%) is water. The Gulf of Santa Clara is located south of San Luis and sits on the northernmost point of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

, at its confluence with the Colorado River. Large holiday crowds converge here to ride all-terrain vehicles on of undeveloped beach.

Economy

Retail trade, agriculture and manufacturing form a large portion of the local economy. Another significant segment is the light industry located on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. San Luis is an excellent site for labor-intensive manufacturing and assembly plants. San Luis is contiguous with the neighboring San Luis, Sonora. The is the main transportation crossing between the two cities, connecting US Highway 95,

Mexican Federal Highway 2 Federal Highway 2 ( es, Carretera Federal 2, Fed. 2) is a free part of the Mexican federal highway corridors () that runs along the U.S. border. The highway is in two separate improved segments, starting in the west at Tijuana, Baja Califor ...

, and Sonora State Highway 40. Together they share the .

Top employers

According to the City's 2014 ''Comprehensive Annual Financial Report'', the top employers in San Luis are:

Scenic attractions

Visitor attractions within a 30-minute drive of San Luis include the old Territorial Prison, Fort Yuma and the 16th century Fort Thomas Mission. Laguna, Imperial and Morelos Dams and the California sand dunes are also nearby. Fishing, water skiing and swimming at lakes along the Colorado River attract residents of the area and tourists alike. Located across the border is San Luis, Sonora, Mexico, reputed to be Mexico's fastest-growing city with a population of approximately 200,000. This area has curio shops, night clubs and various other attractions for tourists.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 15,322 people, 6,525 households and 2,876 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 796.3 people per square mile. There were 3,325 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 63.2

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.3%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.5% Native American, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 2.8% from two or more races. 98.7% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 5,953 households, out of which 71.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.1% were married couples living together, 19.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 7.1% were non-families. 3.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.20 and the average family size was 4.33. In the city, the population was spread out, with 35.6% under the age of 18, 12.9% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 13.4% from 45 to 64, and 4.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 126.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 144.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,637 and the median income for a family was $22,368. Males had a median income of $20,770 versus $14,149 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $5,377. About 36.3% of families and 35.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 38.5% of those under age 18 and 44.3% of those age 65 or over.

Prison

The

Arizona State Prison Complex – Yuma Arizona State Prison Complex – Yuma is one of 13 prison facilities operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). ASPC–Yuma is located in San Luis, Yuma County, Arizona, 187 miles southwest from the state capital of Phoenix, Ari ...

is located on the corner of Avenue B and Juan Sanchez Boulevard, in San Luis. ASPC-Yuma provides housing to an average population of 2,279 convicted male felons. ASPC–Yuma is also a major employer in Yuma County, employing 755 full-time employees. Moreover, it is a provider of inmate work crews utilized by members of local, state and community organizations. Among other duties, ASPC-Yuma has a Wildland Fire Crew that consists of one sergeant, two correctional officers and twenty inmates that assists in fighting fires throughout Arizona. San Luis Detention Facility was opened in 2007. The facility is owned by the San Luis Detention Facility Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the city, and is operated by LaSalle Corrections. The facility is located on the eastern edge of the city near the Arizona State Prison Complex. It has 464 beds to hold detainees, primarily for violations of immigration laws, from federal authorities. Approximately 80 full-time employees are employed by the facility.

Climate

Education

The city of San Luis is served by

Gadsden Elementary School District Gadsden School District 32 is a school district in Yuma County, Arizona Yuma County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 203,881. The county seat is Yuma. Yuma Coun ...

#32,

Yuma Union High School District Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) is a high school district headquartered in Yuma, Arizona. Feeder elementary school districts include Crane Elementary School District, Gadsden Elementary School District, Somerton Elementary School Distric ...

#70, Harvest Preparatory Academy, PPEP TEC High Schools, Arizona Western College and Arizona State University. The elementary schools are: Gadsden Elementary, Rio Colorado Elementary, Arizona Desert Elementary, Ed Pastor Elementary, Cesar Chavez Elementary, and Desert View Elementary, San Luis Middle School and Southwest Jr. High. All the Gadsden elementary schools are Performing Plus Schools as identified by the state of Arizona rating system. Only Gadsden Elementary School is at the performing level. San Luis High School, part of the Yuma Union High School District, serves over 2,000 high school students from the Gadsden Elementary District. Harvest Preparatory Academy is a new addition to San Luis, which opened its doors in August 2009. Students in the 7th and 8th grades enroll in college courses through Arizona Western College with many students successfully completing college pre-calculus in the eighth grade. Gadsden students also attend various universities throughout the country during the summer in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University. In 2011, over 140 students qualified for university courses. In 2010, Gadsden students earned over $200,000 in college scholarships. In 2011, 21 students in 5th and 6th grades also qualified for summer university coursework. Gadsden Elementary School District serves over 5,000 pre-school through eighth students and is known for its marching band, jazz band and mariachi. The district has been recognized for 7th and 8th grade students taking the college level ACT college entrance examination. Arizona State University provides undergraduate and graduate education certification and degree program in partnership with Gadsden Elementary School District at Southwest Junior High.

Government

The city of San Luis uses a Council-Manager form of government, where the seven-member council appoints a city manager, city attorney, city engineer, city magistrate, chief of police and fire chief. From 1996 to 2006, the city was in a plagued by a wave of recalls. The City had six different mayors in a 10-year period and went through almost two dozen council members during that time. In January 2012, the city made national news when Alejandrina Cabrera, a city council candidate, was banned from running for office because it was claimed that she was not proficient enough in English. Yuma County Superior Judge John Nelson issued an order on January 25 stating that Cabrera's name be stricken from the ballot. Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla had filed a lawsuit requesting that the court determine Cabrera's qualification to run for office based on her English skills. Cabrera had previously launched two unsuccessful recall campaigns against Escamilla, after the council raised utility rates. She claimed that the lawsuit was politically motivated. The issue was of national importance because it was reminiscent of

Jim Crow Laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

enacted in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

between 1876 and 1965.

Media

Newspapers

''Bajo el Sol'' is a major weekly newspaper in the town, published every Friday. The parent company of the ''Bajo el Sol'', Freedom Publishers, Inc., also publishes ''The Yuma Sun'', ''The Super Shopper'' and ''New Homes''. ''The Yuma Sun'' is also a daily publication available in San Luis, as well as ''San Luis AZ News'', a local weekly publication that has informed the community for over 20 years. ''Diario Noticias'' is a daily publication from San Luis Rio Colorado that covers news from around the region and is also available.

Television

San Luis is served by these bilingual Yuma area/

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

American TV stations: * KVFA-LP Channel 6 (Spanish language religious) -

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índio ...

. *

KVYE KVYE (channel 7) is a television station licensed to El Centro, California, United States, serving the Yuma, Arizona–El Centro, California media market, market as an affiliate of the Spanish-language network Univision. It is owned by Entravisi ...

Channel 7 - (Univision)

El Centro El Centro (Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban are ...

, subchannel

LATV LATV (; originally pronounced on-air as from 2007 to 2014 and, since 2014, serving as a backronym for its on-air slogan, "Latino Alternative Television") is an American bilingual broadcast television network, digital publisher and media company ...

. * KECY Channel 9 (FOX/ABC) - Yuma. *

KYMA-DT KYMA-DT (channels 11 and 13) is a television station licensed to Yuma, Arizona, United States, serving the Yuma, Arizona–El Centro, California market as an affiliate of CBS and NBC. It is owned by Imagicomm Communications, which maintains a ...

Channel 13 (NBC/CBS) - Yuma. * KYUM-LD Channel 15 (Spanish language religious) -

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

. * KYAZ-CA channel 16 (PBS) - transmitter of

KOCE KOCE-TV (channel 50) is a PBS member television station licensed to Huntington Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's secondary PBS memb ...

now part of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

TV market area. * KXYZ-CA channel 17 (Azteca America) - transmitter from

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. * K19CX-D Channel 19 (PBS) (

KAET KAET (channel 8), known as Arizona PBS, is a PBS member television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, owned by Arizona State University and operated by ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. KAET's studios are ...

)

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. * KPAZ Channel 21 (TBN-religious)

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part ...

. *

KESE-LD KESE-LD (channel 35) is a low-power television station licensed to Yuma, Arizona, United States, serving the Yuma, Arizona–El Centro, California market as an affiliate of the Spanish-language Telemundo network. It is owned by the News-Pres ...

Channel 35 (Telemundo) - Yuma. *

KAJB KAJB (channel 54) is a television station licensed to Calipatria, California, United States, serving the Yuma, Arizona–El Centro, California media market, market as an affiliate of the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is owned by Calipatria ...

Channels 36/54 (Telefutura) -

. * KPPX Channel 45 (ION) -

, subchannels

My Network MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network, television broadcast syndication, syndication service and fo ...

and

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. Additionally by these Mexican TV Stations broadcast solely in Spanish: * XHAQ Channels 1/5 (Azteca Uno) -

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...

. * XHBC Channels 3/4 (Televisa regional) -

. * XHMEX Channels 5/32 (Televisa XHGC) -

. * XHBM Channel 14 (Televisa XEW) -

. * XHEXT Channel 20 (TV Azteca 7) -

. * XHILA Channels 26/66 (CNI) -

. *

XHMEE Nueve (English: Nine) (stylized Nu9ve) is a Mexican free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The primary station and network namesake is Channel 9 of Mexico City (also known by its call sign XEQ-TDT), though the network has na ...

Channel 38 (Televisa XEQ) -

. * XHLRT Channel 44 (Televisa XHTV) - San Luis Rio Colorado. * XHRCS Channel 50 (Telemax) - San Luis Rio Colorado.

Sports

San Luis has become the new home of an

Arizona Winter League The Arizona Winter League was an independent instructional winter baseball league. Arizona Winter League games were all played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona. The league was founded in 2007. It disbanded in 2013 due to parent league, th ...

independent professional baseball franchise, the San Luis Atleticos, which began play in January 2009. The team represents not only their home city, but

as well.

Transportation

San Luis is served by

Yuma County Area Transit The Yuma County Area Transit (YCAT) system is a public transportation system based in Yuma County, Arizona. Since 1990 the agency has grown from a new transit service offering paratransit to the current mix of fixed-route and demand-responsiv ...

, which connects with

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

in Yuma.

U.S. Route 95 US Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highways, US Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland from the Pacific Coast ...

connects the city to Yuma, as does

Arizona State Route 195 State Route 195 (SR 195) (nicknamed the Robert A. Vaughan Expressway by the Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization in honor of their executive director at the time) is a State highway#United States, state highway in Yuma County, Arizona, Yuma ...

. The

San Luis Port of Entry The San Luis Port of Entry has been a busy US port of entry since the early 1900s. It connects San Luis, Arizona, to San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora. It connects to U.S. Route 95 on the north and Mexican Federal Highway 2 as well as Sonora State ...

and the San Luis II Port of Entry for trucks and commercial vehicles connect the town to

San Luis Río Colorado San Luis Río Colorado is a city and also the name of its surrounding municipality in the state of Sonora, Mexico. In the 2020 census, the city had a population of 176,685. The city is the fourth-largest community in the state, and the munici ...

, Sonora,

. Also several

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

companies operate within the city boundaries. Taxis are operated by individuals under company concession and under authority of the police department.

Notable person

References

External links

City of San Luis Official Page
{{authority control Cities in Arizona Cities in Yuma County, Arizona Mexico–United States border crossings Communities in the Lower Colorado River Valley Lowest points of U.S. states Populated places established in 1930