Metro Phoenix Relocation Guide 2008 - (Page 21) Phoenix The city is a tapestry of neighborhoods that are as diverse as the colors in a Navajo rug. L ook 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 sixth most populous city with about 1.5 million residents. 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 and the city’s population has grown fifteen-fold from 100,000 people in 1950. 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 city’s 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 buildup, defense contractors went searching for land, water and a willing work force, all of which they found in fledgling 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., AiResearch, 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 began to spread that, contrary to those Saturday 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 successful 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, curbless streets of north Central Avenue. area’s leading industries employing 250,000. 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. Great Place for a New Beginning Driving SUVs instead of covered wagons, 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 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 border. 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 Piestewa Peak and Camelback Mountain are a popular pastime. Another 1,700 acres of traditional city parks, some with golf courses, serve as oases of green throughout the city. 21 Relocation Guide™
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