Explore Phoenix,
the Valley of the Sun

Upon arriving in Greater Phoenix, visitors quickly discover a few of the hallmarks that make this region a premier destination — near-perfect weather, ease of transportation and genuine hospitality.

Greater Phoenix (which includes, among others, the cities of Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale and Tempe) is a metropolis that maintains a laid-back personality, where friendly people are in the majority, and where superior service is to be expected.

Phoenix, which covers 514 square miles, is the fifth-largest city in the United States.

Did you know ...

• Phoenix has an average annual rainfall of 7.66 inches and an average annual temperature of 72.6 degrees.
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is served by more than 20 airlines, and is a hub for two low-fare carriers: US Airways and Southwest Airlines. Sky Harbor serves more than 41 million passengers a year, ranking it among the 10 busiest airports in the nation.
• Phoenix is home to the largest municipal park in the world. South Mountain Park and Preserve covers more than 16,500 acres and has more than 50 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails.
• With an average age of 34, Greater Phoenix is the fifth-youngest metro region in the country with a diverse, well-educated labor force of more than 1.5 million people.
• Greater Phoenix serves as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurs. Global companies such as Honeywell Aerospace, Freeport McMoran, Avnet, and Republic Services call Phoenix home, while companies such as American Express, USAA, SUMCO Phoenix Corporation, Charles Schwab and Mayo Clinic have major operations.
• Greater Phoenix consistently ranks among the nation’s top cities in the number of Five- and Four-Diamond and Five- and Four-Star resorts.
• Greater Phoenix is home to spring training for12 Cactus League franchises: San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Anaheim Angels.
• Greater Phoenix is home to more than 200 golf courses, including ASU’s Karsten Golf Course on the Tempe campus and the Toka Sticks golf course on the Polytechnic campus. Four pro golf tournaments have regular stops in Phoenix: The FBR Open (PGA), the Safeway International LPGA Tournament, the Standard Register Turquoise Classic (LPGA) and the Nationwide Tour’s Gila River Classic. The FBR Open is played each February at the TPC Scottsdale.

Tempe Town Lake, on the northern border of the Tempe campus, provides water sports opportunities.

• There are six lakes within a 75-minute drive of Greater Phoenix.
Phoenix has museums for nearly every taste.
• The Heard Museum (historic and contemporary Native American)
• Desert Botanical Garden (the world’s largest collection of desert plants)
• Taliesin West (home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation)
• Phoenix Art Museum (the Southwest’s largest art museum)
• Fleischer Museum (American Impressionism)
• Hall of Flame (featuring the world’s largest collection of fire-fighting equipment)
Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park (historic Native American)
• CutlerPlotkin Jewish Heritage Center (the Valley’s first Jewish synagogue, constructed in 1921)
• Hoo-hoogam Ki Museum (focusing on the Salt River Pima- Maricopa Native American Community)
• Phoenix Zoo (the nation’s largest privately owned, nonprofit zoological park)
• Deer Valley Rock Art Center (a 47-acre nature preserve that contains more than 1,500 petroglyphs)
• Tovrea Castle and Carraro Cactus Garden (built in the 1920s, atop a cactuscovered hill, like a tiered wedding cake)
• Burton Barr Central Library (inspired by Monument Valley, resembling a curving copper mesa split by a stainless steel canyon)
• St. Mary’s Basilica (the oldest Catholic church in Phoenix and visited by Pope John Paul II in 1987)
• Mystery Castle (a native stone castle that has 18 rooms and 13 fireplaces, and is furnished with Southwestern antiques)
• Wrigley Mansion (built by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. as a 50th-wedding anniversary present for his wife, Ada)