No mob in Phoenix ?

Something that has always puzzled me. Phoenix is a big city, but still it has no settled Mafia family.
How come ?

Arizona was always open territory, probably because there wasn't enough there to support a single large active family. Often mobsters moved there to retire, vacation, etc just like anyone else. The mob activity that did exist seemed to be shared by various people from Chicago, NY and Detroit.

Everything i have read says that mob activity is dead on the west coast, its all cartel activity.

pretty much dead other than a few made guys in las vegas, southern california, and arizona and the handful of remaining associates that work with them. total manpower is probably less than 25 total with less than 10 being made. also when you hear about any smal time activity in arizona it seems like its always in scottsdale rather than phoenix but thats just what i hear.

Paul "The Indian" Schiro was apparently the Outfit's rep in Phoenix; he was taken down in Family Secrets. I doubt if anyone has replaced him.

Generally speaking, there is very little LCN presence in the western states. That said, there is still some random stuff here or there at times. As far as Arizona...

LA family captain, Louie Caruso, owns an AC repair business in Arizona.

Back in 2000, there was an Outfit jewelry theft ring that had pulled scores in several states, including Arizona.

Back in 2007, there was a sports bookmaking bust in Arizona of over two dozen people. The operation had extended ties to the Gambino and Colombo families.

I wonder if these guys had to deal with Schiro somehow (tribute or at least permission) since they were operating in his area?

Schiro was actually one of the 8 people indicted in the case. Another was William Handhart, a former Chicago police detective. They had pulled jewelry heist jobs in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Texas, Arizona, and California that came to about $10 million.

Didn't the Bonanos' live there in 1960s, or where they elsewhere in the state?

They were in Tucson.

They had house in Tucson and legitimate business there.

Mobsters never did control Arizona:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/famous/articles/0518mafia.html