The City of Mesa 

Profile of Mesa, Arizona
Progress is the word describing Mesa. Throughout every part of town, it's a common sight to see construction crews applying the finishing touches to new retail centers, restaurants, housing developments rising in-new subdivisions as well as Mesa's two new state of the art facilities, the Mesa Art Center and the new Mesa Aquatic Center - both soon to be showpieces in their own right.  

Mesa, AZ founded in 1878, with a population to-date of 440,404 offers a quality urban experience supported by a diversified economic base, educational institutions of excellence, professional local government, sophisticated infrastructure and a superior workforce. A rapid-growth community, Mesa recently surpassed Cincinnati, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; St. Louis, MO; and Oakland, CA to become the 45th largest city in the nation.

Mesa is located 12 miles south of Phoenix and covers more than 122 square miles. It is situated on US Highway 60 and AZ Route 87. Mesa is growing rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999 the population grew by 18.9%, compared to a national average of 9.4%. By 2004 it is expected to grow an additional 6.7% compared to a US average of 4.2% 

Princible Economic Activities
Mesa's economic base consists of aerospace/aviation, agri-business, automotive, business services, education services, electronics, health services, manufacturing, retail and transportation services. Mesa has seven regional employment centers and/or corridors including Downtown Mesa, Falcon Airpark, Fiesta Quadrant, Superstition Springs, Williams Gateway Airport, Superstition Freeway Corridor, and Union Pacific Business Corridor.
Downtown Mesa will be home to 2 new state of the art facilities, the Mesa Arts Center in 2004 and Mesa Indoor Aquatics Center in 2003. The new Mesa Arts Center will feature four theaters, an arts "studio" building and a gallery complex. The theaters will include a 1,600-seat Lyric Theater, a 550-seat Repertory Theater, a 200-seat Playhouse Theater and a 99-seat Studio Theater. Mesa Contemporary Arts will occupy a five-gallery complex that will also include meeting spaces and a lecture hall. The new facility will be located on the southeast corner of Main and Center Streets in downtown Mesa.  

Williams Gateway
Mesa is home to 2 airports Falcon Field and Williams Gateway. Falcon Field is one of the top ten general aviation airports in the nation, with a direct on-airport facility revenue exceeding $595 million annually, and is the second-highest revenue generating aviation facility in the state. 

Williams Gateway Airport offers complete local aviation facilities to industrial land commercial development. With three 10,000-foot runways, the airport acts as a reliever for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and ranks third in the state in the direct on-airport facility revenues. Gateway also boasts a newly built 24,000 square foot passenger terminal, which is fully equipped and ready for business.  

Hiking trails are plentiful at Usery Mountain Recreation Area in northeast Mesa and Lost Dutchman State Park near the Superstition Mountains. 

Tubing on the Salt River was named "Best Family Experience" in Arizona by Frommer's 1999 Arizona Guidebook. The nearby Apache Trail is also listed as "Best Scenic Drive," which includes
Goldfield Ghost Town, Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flat Saloon & Restaurant. Within an hour's drive are 5 multi-purpose recreation lakes. 

Baseball fans flock to Mesa's HoHoKam Stadium each spring to watch the Chicago Cubs defeat other Cactus League teams. 

Scenic Attractions
The Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area is one of only 11 cities in the nation to host teams in all four major professional sports: Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns; Phoenix Coyotes; and Arizona Cardinals.
 

The City of Paradise Valley 

There are actually two Paradise Valleys. The first is the more secluded Town of Paradise Valley, comprised mainly of high-dollar homes nestled against the sides of Sonoran Desert hills or hidden behind oleander-covered estate walls. Commerce here is limited almost entire¬ly to a handful of award-winning desti¬nation resorts. The town's country club atmosphere creates a sense that this is paradise found. 

The second is Greater Paradise Valley, a larger, more diverse community that en¬compasses newcomers and longtimers, the young and the old, and businesses large and small. At its core is Paradise Valley Mall, the regional shopping center. 

The Town of Paradise Valley, located just north of landmark Camelback Moun¬tain, is almost entirely residential. Among its amenities enjoyed by residents and visitors alike are Marriott's Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, Marriott's Mountain Shadows Resort, Doubletree's La Posada Resort and the exclusive shops and restaurants located near the town's border with Scottsdale, Cave Creek and Phoenix. 

There is no postmark that reads "Greater Paradise Valley." The community, well within Phoenix city limits, is considered a distinct "village." Encircling the shopping mall are retail develop¬ments, apartments and condominiums and health-care facilities. Paradise Valley Hospital is here. A major high¬tech industry, Sitix of Phoenix, which produces silicon wafers, opened in 1997 and the Mayo Clinic Hospital opened in 1998. 

Outside this core are townhomes, sin¬gle-family homes, small estates with horse privileges and a handful of golf courses. The area is known for its above average housing, excellent schools and overall family quality of life. 

Greater Paradise Valley's median age is 35; its median income is just over $50,000. Housing, which runs the gamut from high-rise condos to fairway homes, has a median value of $180,000.
A major new master-planned area development called Desert Ridge is being developed in the north section of the Greater Paradise Valley area. With over 5,700 acres, it will include resi¬dential housing, an 800-room resort, two 18-hole golf courses and a 1,000¬acre commerce park.
The interim outer loop access road (Pima Freeway) from Interstate 17 to 56th Street was completed in 1999; the final roadway will be completed in 2002. The Squaw Peak Parkway has been extended to Bell Road and will be extend¬ed to the outer loop (Prima Freeway) by 2003, giving better access to Sky Harbor Airport and downtown Phoenix. 

The Paradise Valley Community College has a large, expanding full campus; and there are branches of Ottawa University, University of Phoenix, and Rio Salado Community College. 

The City of Peoria 

The City of Peoria was established in the 1880’s when William J. Murphy’s vision of fertile farmlands fed by water from the Salt River became a reality with the completion of the Arizona Canal in 1885. Once the canal was completed, Murphy went East to interest people in settling in the new community. Mr. Murphy was successful in catching people’s attention. Over 5,000 acres of land in the new district were purchased by citizens from Peoria, Illinois. Four families from Peoria, Illinois were among the first to move to Arizona to occupy and work their land. 

Residences in the new community sprang up, and a school and post office were established by 1889. More people followed the original families and Peoria continued to grow as a farming community. Farmlands were fertile and the people made a good living, despite having to battle swarms of red ants and the occasional rattlesnake in the kitchen. 

Peoria was incorporated in 1954, with boundaries covering one square mile of land. The warm climate and small town atmosphere of Peoria continued to attract people and still do today. Currently, Peoria covers 140 square miles, and is home to over 100,000 residents. The eighth fastest growing city in the nation, Peoria’s population is projected to top 125,000 by the year 2005. 

From a simple visionary farming community, Peoria, Arizona, a dynamic city, has grown. 

Vistancia Community
 

The City of Phoenix 

Look carefully and quickly around the city of Phoenix. It has not looked like this for very long and the future promises progress and more change. 

Phoenix has exploded to become the nation’s seventh most populous city with about 1.5 million residents. That’s up from 100,000 people in 1950. Unlike other cities that have grown slowly over time, Phoenix catapulted to this position in relatively short order. From a modest 17 square miles in 1950, Phoenix has grown to encompass more than 430 square miles. 

Before World War II, Phoenix was a sleepy little southwestern town best known for having a climate that offered relief to asthmatics. 

Cotton, cattle, citrus and copper, known locally as the “Four Cs”, were the cornerstones of its early twentieth-century economy. In 1940, the cities population was a mere 65,000 and the largest of the surrounding towns was Mesa with 7,000 people. 

With the advent of WWII and the ensuing military build up, defense contractors went searching for land, water and a willing work force, all of which they found in fledging Phoenix, En masse, they moved in, bringing educated employees and a wealth of new jobs. Farmland and desert scrub were cleared to build massive plants that flew the banners of Goodyear Aircraft Corp, AiReseaarch, Motorola, Sperry Rand and General Electric, some of which are still counted among the city's largest employers today. 

During the post-war years, word be¬gan to spread that, contrary to those Sat¬urday matinee Westerns, Phoenix was a civilized city with abundant sunshine and recreational pleasures to spare. Phoenix is a tapestry of neighborhoods that are as diverse as the colors in a Navajo rug. The historic homes of the Encanto District are favored by suc¬cessful professionals; the cozier, antique adobe houses of the Willo District are fixer-uppers with flair. A country-club lifestyle encircles the famed Arizona Biltmore Hotel, while some of the city's most expansive estates line the lightly wooded, curb less streets of north Central Avenue. 

Driving SUVs instead of covered wag¬ons, another wave of families wanting a fresh start began to move west. And they're still coming – only now driving mini-vans and sport utility vehicles. But new residents aren't the only ones who flock to Phoenix. Tourism is one of the metropolitan area's leading industries employing 220,000. That's good news for Phoenicians who have at their year-round disposal the restaurants, retail centers and recreational outlets targeted to tourists.
 

The Phoenix calendar is filled with festivals and events that reflect residents' Hispanic, African-American, Oriental, Native American and Anglo cultures. The Fiesta Bowl Football Classic, played at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium, is preceded by more than fifty special events. 

ACTIVE, OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE
While economically, ethnically and culturally diverse, Phoenicians have two things in common: an appreciation for sun¬ny weather and an active, outdoor life-style. Phoenix is considered one of the sunniest cities in the country, enjoying sunshine more than 300 days each year. 

The largest municipal park in the world, the 16,500-acre South Mountain Park, serves as the city's southern bor¬der. A mecca for hiking, biking and horseback riding, South Mountain Park is the largest link in the chain of desert mountain parks, known as the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, that encircle the city. After-work hikes to the top of Squaw Peak and Camelback Mountain are a popular pastime. Another 1,700 acres of traditional city parks, some with golf cours¬es, serve as oases of green throughout the city. 

DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE
True to its namesake – the mythical Phoenix bird that rose from its own ashes to new-found youth — downtown Phoe¬nix is being transformed from a nonde¬script commercial core into a hub for busi¬ness, sports and the arts.

The latest and biggest development is Bank One Ballpark. The Arizona Dia¬mondbacks opened play in 1998 in this 48,500-seat stadium that features a retractable roof and natural grass playing field. 

In the wake of this renaissance, high-lights of downtown Phoenix include the Herberger Theater, which invites patrons in for brown-bag lunch performances, the restaurants of the Arizona Center and the America West Arena. This home of the Phoenix Suns serves as a concert and sports venue for 200 events each year. 

Next door to the arena is the Phoenix Civic Plaza, where large-scale conven¬tions and trade shows are held. The con¬vention and meeting industry is an im¬portant one, injecting over $5 billion into the area economy, according to the Phoe¬nix and Valley of the Sun Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Just beginning is Collier Center, a $500 million mixed-use development located north of America West Arena. Phoenix city government consolidat¬ed its offices by constructing a new City Hall as part of a downtown area known as the Phoenix Municipal Government Center. The center includes the Phoenix Municipal Building, Historic City Hall and the City Council Chambers. The 20-story City Hall was built at a cost of $83 million. 

The new City Hall wraps around the Orpheum Theatre. Built in 1929, the theater was once considered the most luxurious playhouse west of the Mississippi River. This $11 million pro¬ject has restored the ornate Spanish Baroque Revival Theater to be used for performing arts, community and civic events. 

The downtown revitalization included the $12 million Margaret T. Hance Deck Park, a 29-acre greenbelt stretching from Third Street to Third Avenue, just south of McDowell Road above the Inter¬state-10 tunnel. 

A host of centers have recently com¬pleted renovations or new construction in the downtown area. These include the Phoenix Civic Plaza, the five-story Central Library which houses over one million volumes and seats up to 800 patrons, and the Phoenix Art Museum. The Phoenix Central Library is an architectural show-case that cost $43 million. 

Downtown Phoenix is just one of the city's commercial centers. Corporate and regional headquarters are located along the Central Avenue and Camelback corridors. Many high-tech manufacturers includ¬ing Bull Worldwide Information Systems are based in northwest Phoenix. Others such as Honeywell are located near Sky Harbor International Airport and in south Phoenix. Others are located elsewhere, like Sitix of Phoenix in Paradise Valley to the northeast. 

AFFORDABLE LIFESTYLE, ABUNDANT AMENITIES
With a cost of living lower than most other major metropolitan areas, Phoenix remains an affordable place to live. However, costs are rising with the economic boom. The median income is around $42,000; and the median age is 32.6. 

To combat the sense of isolation that can spring from urban sprawl, the Phoe¬nix City Council adopted an innovative concept known as the Village Plan. Intro¬duced in the 1970s, the zoning plan rec¬ognized distinct neighborhoods within the city and called for residential, retail and commercial development to take place in certain patterns to foster a stronger sense of neighborhood. Phoenicians may be laid back, but they support an active cultural scene. The last few years have shown great improvement in Phoenix's overall cultural package. 

The Phoenix Union High School District offers a magnet school program. Students with special interests in such diverse subjects as law, aero¬space, fine arts, science and sports receive concentrated instruction at selected schools, in addition to their normal high-school studies. Because students who live in Phoe¬nix are served by nearly thirty separate school districts (those of Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, among others), relocating parents can "shop" for the district that best suits their child. 

EASY TO GET AROUND
The streets of this car-dependent city are easy to navigate, thanks to their grid-like pattern. Think of Central Avenue, which runs north-south, as the dividing line. Parallel streets to the west are num¬bered as avenues – First Avenue, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, etc. Parallel roads to the east are numbered as streets – First Street, etc. East-west streets are named and easy to remember. This simple street pattern extends into neighboring cities. The freeway system is being expanded to handle greater traffic. With the constant influx of newcom¬ers to Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun come new ideas and new ambi¬tions, creating a vibrant atmosphere that frees people to pursue their vision of the American Dream. 

AREA STATISTICS
AREA: 430-plus square miles.
Maricopa County area – 9,127 square miles.
ELEVATION: 1,117 feet.
LIBRARIES: Phoenix Public Library: Central Library, 1221 N. Central Avenue, 602/262-4636 (there are 11 other branches throughout the city); Maricopa County Public Library. 17811 N. 32nd Street, 602/506-2957; Arizona State Library, 1700 W. Washington Street, 602/542-3701.
POPULATION: About 1,450,000. Metro area – about 3200,000.
SCHOOLS: Phoenix Public School Districts.
UTILITIES: Electric – Arizona Public Service Company and Salt River Project; gas – Southwest Gas; water/sanitation – City of Phoenix; and telephone – US West.