Geograstrotrivial Question about the New York and Arizona Strips?

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

Question:

What is the difference between a New York Strip and an Arizona Strip?

Answer:

1.  The New York strip is cut of steak obtained from the short loin area of a cow.

2.  The Arizona strip is that portion of the State of Arizona north of the Colorado River.  Due to the Colorado River Valley being generally defined by the Grand Canyon, crossing the Colorado River in northern Arizona is pretty much limited to only one area, around Page, Arizona, at the Glen Canyon.  The Grand Canyon isolates the around 8,000 persons living in (on?) the Arizona Strip from their 5 million neighbors of the State of Arizona.

CROSSING THE COLORADO RIVER IN THE ARIZONA STRIP

Glen Canyon Dam Bridge 

The Glen Canyon Dam Bridge was originally built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to facilitate transportation of materials for the Glen Canyon Dam, which lies adjacent to the bridge just 865 feet upstream. Carrying two lanes of US89 across the Colorado River, the bridge rises over 700 feet (210 m) above the river and was the highest arch bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1959.

The Shadow of the Glen Canyon Bridge at Glen Canyon Dam

700 Feet Above the River

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Navajo Bridges

The first Navajo Bridge opened in 1929, but is now limited to pedestrian and equestrian traffic and some random native-American vendors.  The new Navajo Bridge opened in 1994.

Ironically, despite the 450+ foot height of the twin spans over the river, a river-level ferry crossing at Lee's Ferry was the only river crossing prior to the building of the bridge.

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The Arizona Strip

As access to the Arizona Strip is typically via Nevada or Utah, culturally, the Arizona Strip has much in common with the surrounding areas of Nevada and Utah.  For example, Since the area was first settled by Mormon Pioneers led by Jacob Hamblin in the mid-19th century, the Arizona Strip, and especially its largest community, Colorado City, has been one of the last strongholds of the nineteenth-century practice of polygamy, though this practice was disavowed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in 1890. Over the last century the region has been the subject of controversy because of the control minority polygamist Mormon offshoots exert within the region.

The Isolated Arizona Strip

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