
Marcus was born in Tucson, educated at the University of Arizona, and spent 20 years as a national magazine writer before coming back to a state he had been explaining to outsiders his whole career. His byline has appeared in The Atlantic, Smithsonian, and a few others. He now lives in Sedona and writes about Arizona with the specific irritation of someone who loves a place that keeps getting misread. He is the writer editors call when a story needs more history than it thinks it does, and longer sentences than the editorial calendar would prefer.

Taiwan Semiconductor's Phoenix campus is now shipping AI chips at scale for Nvidia and Apple. The consequence is Halo Vista — a $7 billion, 2,300-acre development breaking ground next door. For homeowners across the metro, the geography of desirability is shifting.

