Mark Brodie/KJZZ

Downtown Phoenix.

Phoenix is, once again, officially the fifth biggest city in the country by population.

New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show Phoenix edged ahead of Philadelphia — the city now has more than 1.6 million residents. Phoenix also added more new residents than any large city in the country between July of 2015 and last July — more than 32,000 people.

We have a couple of perspectives on these numbers, starting with Christine Mackayl. She’s Phoenix’s Community and Economic Development director.

Now, as you might imagine, things are not as cheery in the city of brotherly love. Phoenix bumped Philly out of the top five — but residents there are not drowning their sorrows in soft pretzels and Tasty Cakes. 

We also talked to Mark Dent, a reporter for the news website BillyPenn.com, who is accusing Phoenix of cheating. Before we addressed that accusation, Dentt talked abot the reaction to the Census numbers been among Philly leaders and residents.