Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States, with almost 1.5 million residents within the city and over 3 million in the metropolitan area. With its continued population growth, new business opportunities, and sustained bright economic outlook, Phoenix is establishing itself as a hub of tourism, transportation, distribution and high-tech manufacturing.

Family Life
Phoenix’s warm weather, with 300 days of sunshine each year, provides a host of recreational and entertainment activities ideal for families. With an average daytime temperature of 82 degrees and seven inches of precipitation yearly, Phoenix provides year-round recreational opportunities, making it possible to relax by the pool or shoot a round of golf throughout the year.

Warm weather and short driving distances to recreational facilities and nearby parks and lakes make Phoenix an ideal location for family activities. The area’s 184 golf courses, 1,130 tennis courts, over 100 miles of hiking trails, and numerous parks make it easy and convenient to enjoy various recreational activities. The Desert Botanical Gardens showcases more than 20,000 specimens, including native flora and endangered plants.

Families also enjoy easy access to numerous cultural and educational resources in the area, along with restaurants, retail centers, and recreational outlets. The city’s twenty museums provide rich cultural opportunities for individuals of all ages. Phoenix’s Central Library is an architectural showcase and houses over one million volumes. The Herberger Theater Center supports the growth of the performing arts in Phoenix, and its Youth Outreach Programs bring live performances of dance and drama to 30,000 young people each year.

Night Life
Phoenix boasts a rich and varied night life, with cultural, shopping, dining and entertainment opportunities. Numerous high-quality restaurants and facilities contribute to the city’s night life. On any given night, one may find performances ranging from small-scale productions to larger well-known performances by such groups as the Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Some of the important cultural and entertainment venues include the following:

Symphony Hall: Home to the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera, and Arizona Ballet.
The Orpheum Theatre: Ornate Spanish Baroque Revival Theater built in 1929 that was recently restored for use by the performing arts and community and civic events.
The Celebrity Theatre: Venue for various concerts and popular entertainers.
Herberger Theatre Center: Site of 450 productions each year.
America West Arena: Sports and concert venue that hosts over two hundred events each year.

Entertainment and Festivals
Arts and cultural activities abound in Phoenix, with more than 20 museums in the metro area and numerous performing arts groups. A sampling of museums includes the following:

Phoenix Art Museum: Recently renovated and expanded, this art museum in downtown Phoenix has more than 13,000 works of art including a collection of Western art, a Chinese art selection and an extensive collection of contemporary work.
Heard Museum of Anthropology and Primitive Arts: This internationally renowned museum houses more than 75,000 artifacts of Southwestern Indian culture.
Arizona Science Center: This center displays 350 hands-on exhibits and features a giant-screen theater and state-of-the-art planetarium.

Because of the warm year-round temperatures, the Phoenix area hosts several hundred festivals annually. The season of festivals and major outdoor events begins in late October and runs through April. The area’s pleasant winters allow all kinds of holiday-related outdoor festivals, including the very popular Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo and Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden. Many festivals also celebrate different cultures, including Mexican-American, Native American, Japanese, Scottish and Greek, reflecting the cultural diversity of the area. The event calendar drops off in the summer, when the triple-digit temperatures arrive, but large celebrations are held for the Fourth of July.

Professional Sports
The greater Phoenix area is home to professional sports teams in the four major sports—football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Professional teams include the Arizona Cardinals (NFL), Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB), Phoenix Suns (NBA), Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) and Phoenix Coyotes (NHL). Additional professional teams include the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Sting of the National Lacrosse League.

Nine major league baseball teams conduct their spring training in the greater Phoenix area and play exhibition games almost daily from March through April. The Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, California Angels, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, and the Arizona Diamondbacks compete in a spring training league known as the Cactus League.

The Phoenix area also offers a rich variety of other spectator sports, including NASCAR and Indy Car racing and PGA and LPGA events. Other spectator sports available in the greater Phoenix include polo matches, horse races, dog races, and a variety of collegiate sports from Arizona State University. Of special note among the important national college football events is the annual Fiesta Bowl played in Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium.

Cost of Living
The cost of living in the Phoenix area is very reasonable, with a composite cost of living index of 97.1 for the first quarter of 2003, below the U.S. average of 100, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index. ACCRA bases its index on data it collects from 211 metropolitan areas in the US on the cost of consumer goods and services. With a cost of living below the national average, Phoenix is an affordable choice for people of all ages.

Housing
One of the major reasons that Phoenix’s cost of living is below the national average is because of its housing costs. Phoenix’s housing index is significantly below the national average, with an 85.7 index for the first quarter of 2003, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index. The average cost of a single-family home in the Phoenix area is $172,100. The housing is also newer than in most large metropolitan areas, with 30 percent of the housing built in the last ten years. The average price of a newly built home in Phoenix with 1,800 square feet of living space, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms is $199,097. This is considerably less than the $916, 000 average cost in New York City, the $327,200 in San Diego, and the $313,983 in Seattle (www.chandleraz.gov).

Schools
Students in the Phoenix area are served by twenty-nine separate school districts, providing students and parents with many choices and giving them an opportunity to choose the school that best meets their needs. The Phoenix Union High School District offers a magnet school program in which students with special interests in subjects such as law, aerospace, fine arts, science, and sports receive concentrated instruction at selected schools in addition to their normal high school studies.

The Greater Phoenix area offers a variety of opportunities in higher education. The Maricopa Community College System is the largest community college system in the country and offers educational opportunities for all interests. The Valley is also home to Arizona State University, which is known for its business and engineering programs. The Phoenix metropolitan is also home to many private educational institutions, including Grand Canyon University, University of Phoenix, Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management, Ottawa University, Western International University, Maricopa Skill Center, East Valley Institute of Technology, DeVry Institute of Technology, and Embry Riddle University.

Resources
Refer to the following Web sites for additional information about the Phoenix area:

Phoenix Chamber of Commerce: www.phoenixchamber.com

Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.phoenixcvb.com

Greater Phoenix: The Ultimate Guide to Living Here 2004:
www.azcentral.com/relocationguide04/

Greater Phoenix Area: www.chandleraz.gov