Phoenix metropolitan area Valley of the Sun | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
State | Arizona |
Largest city | Phoenix |
Other Major Cities | • Maricopa County • Pinal County |
Area | |
14,598.63 sq mi (37,810.27 km2) | |
• Land | 14,565.76 sq mi (37,725.14 km2) |
• Water | 32.87 sq mi (85.13 km2) |
• Urban | 1,146.6 sq mi (2,969.6 km2) |
Highest elevation | 4,890 [2] ft (1,490.5 m) |
Lowest elevation | 735 ft (224.03 m) |
Population (Census 2020) [3] | |
4,845,832 | |
• Density | 332.7/sq mi (128.5/km2) |
• Urban | 3,629,114 |
• Urban density | 3,165.2/sq mi (1,222.1/km2) |
GDP | |
• Metropolitan statistical area | $362.1 billion (2022) |
Time zone | UTC−7 (MST) |
ZIP codes | 850xx to 853xx, 856xx [5] |
Area codes | 623, 602, 480, 520, 928 |
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the city of Phoenix. It includes much of central Arizona. The United States Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defining it as Maricopa and Pinal counties. It anchors the Arizona Sun Corridor megaregion along with the second-most populous metropolitan area in the state, the Tucson metropolitan area. The gross domestic product of the Phoenix metropolitan area was $362 billion in 2022, 14th highest amongst metro areas in the United States.
As of the 2020 census, the two-county metropolitan area had 4,845,832 residents, making it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation by population. Metro Phoenix grew by 652,945 people from April 2010 to April 2020, making it one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. This also contributed to the entire state's exceptional growth; the area is home to just over two-thirds of Arizona's population. The population of the Phoenix metropolitan area increased by 45.3% from 1990 through 2000, compared to the overall U.S. rate of 13.2%, helping make Arizona the second-fastest growing state in the nation in the 1990s behind Nevada. [6] The 2000 census reported the population of the metropolitan area to be 3,251,876. Water insecurity and drought in conjunction with climate change have become a significant concern for the metropolitan area's future growth prospects. [7]
The Phoenix–Mesa combined statistical area (CSA) was designated in September 2018 by U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and by the Census Bureau which consists of the entirety of the counties of Maricopa, Pinal, and Gila. [8] This includes the Phoenix metropolitan area and the Payson, AZ micropolitan statistical area.
As of April 1, 2020, the Phoenix–Mesa CSA had a population of 4,899,104, making it the fourteenth-most populous in the nation. [9]
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area comprises Maricopa County (2020 population: 4,420,568) and Pinal County (2020 population: 425,264). It is officially designated by the US Census Bureau as the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area. The total population for metropolitan Phoenix at the 2020 Census was 4,845,832. [10]
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area is hundreds of miles away from any other metropolitan area of similar population size. For instance, the closest metropolitan area with almost the same population size is the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area, which is 300 miles away.
Metropolitan Area Name [10] | Distance from Phoenix (miles) | Population (2020 Census) [10] | Urban Density (2010 Pop. per Sq. Mile) [11] |
---|---|---|---|
Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ Metro Area | 0 | 4,845,832 | 3,165.2 |
Tucson, AZ Metro Area | 105 | 1,043,433 | 2,385.4 |
Yuma, AZ Metro Area | 155 | 203,881 | 2,299.9 |
Las Vegas–Henderson–Paradise, NV Metro Area | 255 | 2,265,461 | 4,524.5 |
San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, CA Metro Area | 300 | 3,298,634 | 4,037.0 |
Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA Metro Area | 300 | 4,599,839 | 3,546.4 |
Albuquerque, NM Metro Area | 330 | 916,528 | 2,958.5 |
El Paso, TX Metro Area | 345 | 868,859 | 3,205.0 |
Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA Metro Area | 360 | 13,200,998 | 6,999.3 |
Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, CA Metro Area | 410 | 843,843 | |
Bakersfield, CA Metro Area | 420 | 909,235 | 3,785.0 |
Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area | 505 | 1,257,936 | 3,675.1 |
Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metro Area | 585 | 2,963,821 | 3,554.4 |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1880 | 8,733 | — | |
1890 | 15,237 | 74.5% | |
1900 | 28,236 | 85.3% | |
1910 | 43,533 | 54.2% | |
1920 | 105,706 | 142.8% | |
1930 | 173,051 | 63.7% | |
1940 | 215,034 | 24.3% | |
1950 | 374,961 | 74.4% | |
1960 | 726,183 | 93.7% | |
1970 | 1,039,144 | 43.1% | |
1980 | 1,600,093 | 54.0% | |
1990 | 2,238,480 | 39.9% | |
2000 | 3,251,876 | 45.3% | |
2010 | 4,192,887 | 28.9% | |
2020 | 4,845,832 | 15.6% | |
2022 (est.) | 5,015,678 | 3.5% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [12] 1790–1960 [13] 1900–1990 [14] 1990–2000 [15] 2010–2020 [16] |
As of the 2010 census, there were 4,192,887 people, 1,537,137 households, and 1,024,971 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 73.0% White (58.7% White Non-Hispanic), 5.0% Black, 3.3% Asian, 2.4% Native American or Alaska Native (virtually all Native American) and 16.2% of other or mixed race. 29.5% were Hispanic of any race. [19]
In 2010 the median income for a household in the MSA was $50,385 and the median income for a family was $58,497. The per capita income was $24,809. [20]
County | 2020 Census | 2010 Census | Change | Area | Density |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maricopa County | 4,420,568 | 3,817,117 | +15.81% | 9,200.14 sq mi (23,828.3 km2) | 480/sq mi (186/km2) |
Pinal County | 425,264 | 375,770 | +13.17% | 5,365.61 sq mi (13,896.9 km2) | 79/sq mi (31/km2) |
Gila County | 53,272 | 53,597 | −0.61% | 4,795 sq mi (12,420 km2) | 11/sq mi (4/km2) |
Total | 4,899,104 | 4,246,484 | +15.37% | 19,360.75 sq mi (50,144.1 km2) | 253/sq mi (98/km2) |
What follows is a list of places in Metro Phoenix (populations for incorporated places are as of the 2020 census). [21] The Office of Management and Budget defines a metropolitan area as the core city plus its county and any nearby counties that are economically dependent on the core city. However, Arizona has relatively large counties and a harsh, rugged desert landscape. For these reasons, much of the land that is part of the Metropolitan Statistical Area is rural or completely uninhabited. The core part of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area is the Phoenix–Mesa, Arizona Urban Area, which is far smaller than the Metropolitan Statistical Area. [22]
Places that fall completely or partially within the boundaries of the Phoenix–Mesa, AZ US are in bold below. [22]
Principal city
Places with 250,000+ inhabitants
Places with 150,000–249,999 inhabitants
Places with 75,000–149,999 inhabitants
Places with 30,000–74,999 inhabitants
Places with 10,000–29,999 inhabitants
Fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
Over 10,000 inhabitants
Under 10,000 inhabitants
As of 2020, the Phoenix Metropolitan area consists of Maricopa and Pinal counties, comprising a total area of about 14,600 square miles. Because of the size of counties in Arizona, even though Maricopa and Pinal counties together contain nearly 4.9 million people, most of the area is uninhabited, which gives the MSA an extremely low density compared to other major MSAs in the nation.
The average elevation in the city itself is about 1,100 feet (340 m), with the highest point being in South Mountain Park Preserve 2,704 feet (824 m).The highest point in the two county area is 7,657 feet (2,334 m) in the Four Peaks mountain range.
Metropolitan Phoenix is notable for its warm, desert climate. On average, the area receives about 9 inches of rain annually, with less than 1 inch of snow every decade. In total, the region will see about 32 days of measurable precipitation each year. The MSA is one of the sunniest major metropolitan areas, receiving 295 days of sunshine, compared to the national average of 205. The average July high is about 104 °F (40 °C), with the average January low being about 36 °F (3 °C), still above freezing. Bestplaces gives Metropolitan Phoenix a comfort index [a] of 44/100, which is also the national average. [23]
Below is a chart showing climate data collected from Sky Harbor Airport. Due to the vast area covered by the MSA, climates vary throughout the valley.
Climate data for Phoenix Int'l, Arizona (1991–2020 normals, [b] extremes 1895–present) [c] | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 88 (31) | 92 (33) | 100 (38) | 105 (41) | 114 (46) | 122 (50) | 121 (49) | 118 (48) | 118 (48) | 113 (45) | 99 (37) | 87 (31) | 122 (50) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 78.2 (25.7) | 82.1 (27.8) | 90.4 (32.4) | 99.0 (37.2) | 105.7 (40.9) | 112.7 (44.8) | 114.6 (45.9) | 113.2 (45.1) | 108.9 (42.7) | 100.7 (38.2) | 88.9 (31.6) | 77.7 (25.4) | 115.7 (46.5) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 67.6 (19.8) | 70.8 (21.6) | 78.1 (25.6) | 85.5 (29.7) | 94.5 (34.7) | 104.2 (40.1) | 106.5 (41.4) | 105.1 (40.6) | 100.4 (38.0) | 89.2 (31.8) | 76.5 (24.7) | 66.2 (19.0) | 87.1 (30.6) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 56.8 (13.8) | 59.9 (15.5) | 66.3 (19.1) | 73.2 (22.9) | 82.0 (27.8) | 91.4 (33.0) | 95.5 (35.3) | 94.4 (34.7) | 89.2 (31.8) | 77.4 (25.2) | 65.1 (18.4) | 55.8 (13.2) | 75.6 (24.2) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 46.0 (7.8) | 49.0 (9.4) | 54.5 (12.5) | 60.8 (16.0) | 69.5 (20.8) | 78.6 (25.9) | 84.5 (29.2) | 83.6 (28.7) | 78.1 (25.6) | 65.6 (18.7) | 53.7 (12.1) | 45.3 (7.4) | 64.1 (17.8) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | 36.0 (2.2) | 40.0 (4.4) | 44.4 (6.9) | 50.1 (10.1) | 58.4 (14.7) | 69.4 (20.8) | 74.4 (23.6) | 74.2 (23.4) | 68.3 (20.2) | 53.8 (12.1) | 42.0 (5.6) | 35.4 (1.9) | 33.8 (1.0) |
Record low °F (°C) | 16 (−9) | 24 (−4) | 25 (−4) | 35 (2) | 39 (4) | 49 (9) | 63 (17) | 58 (14) | 47 (8) | 34 (1) | 27 (−3) | 22 (−6) | 16 (−9) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.87 (22) | 0.87 (22) | 0.83 (21) | 0.22 (5.6) | 0.13 (3.3) | 0.02 (0.51) | 0.91 (23) | 0.93 (24) | 0.57 (14) | 0.56 (14) | 0.57 (14) | 0.74 (19) | 7.22 (183) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 33.4 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 50.9 | 44.4 | 39.3 | 27.8 | 21.9 | 19.4 | 31.6 | 36.2 | 35.6 | 36.9 | 43.8 | 51.8 | 36.6 |
Average dew point °F (°C) | 32.4 (0.2) | 32.2 (0.1) | 32.9 (0.5) | 31.6 (−0.2) | 34.3 (1.3) | 39.0 (3.9) | 56.1 (13.4) | 58.3 (14.6) | 52.3 (11.3) | 43.0 (6.1) | 35.8 (2.1) | 33.1 (0.6) | 40.1 (4.5) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 256.0 | 257.2 | 318.4 | 353.6 | 401.0 | 407.8 | 378.5 | 360.8 | 328.6 | 308.9 | 256.0 | 244.8 | 3,871.6 |
Percent possible sunshine | 81 | 84 | 86 | 90 | 93 | 95 | 86 | 87 | 89 | 88 | 82 | 79 | 87 |
Average ultraviolet index | 3.1 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 10.9 | 11.0 | 10.1 | 8.3 | 5.6 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 7.0 |
Source 1: NOAA (dew points, relative humidity, and sun 1961–1990) [24] [25] [26] , Weather.com [27] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: UV Index Today (1995 to 2022) [28] |
Metropolitan Phoenix has historically been the center of the state's economy. As with the state of Arizona, the area relied on the 5 C's (copper, cattle, climate, citrus, and cotton) for its economic growth and expansion. However, after World War II, the area entered the manufacturing industry, which spurred the growth of what would eventually be one of the largest urban areas in the nation. Currently, the two largest industries are manufacturing and tourism. About 10 million people visit from other states and Canada each year, due to the area's mild winters and long, sunny days. The technology and service industries currently account for almost 77% of total employment in the region. [29] As well as a strong tourism industry, the Phoenix area has a significant business sector. Several Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies have their international headquarters in the area, including Avnet, PetSmart, Apollo Education Group, Republic Services, ON Semiconductor, Insight Enterprises, and Sprouts Farmers Market. Other Fortune 500 companies with significant presence include Banner Health, the state's largest private employer, American Airlines, which merged with Tempe-based US Airways, American Express, Wells Fargo, Boeing, and Intel, which has a large regional campus in Chandler. [30]
The Metropolitan Area ranks 5th in the nation in economic growth, which is a major comeback from the recession. [31] The unemployment rate of the area is 5.3%, lower than the national rate of 6.3%. It also has slightly higher recent job growth (2.0% compared to 1.2%) and higher projected job growth (38.7% compared to 36.1%). Although the area has significantly higher sales tax rates compared with the nation as a whole (8.3% to 6.0%), income tax rates are lower than the national average (3.4% to 4.7%). The largest occupation by population is in the office/administrative sector, comprising more than a quarter of all jobs in the region. [32]
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area is served by several controlled-access freeways, including:
New freeways are planned in the future, either through upgrades of existing roads such as SR 74, SR 85, and Northern Parkway; or through the construction of new freeways where no road existed before such as SR 24, SR 30, and I-11.
Most of the arterial roads in the Phoenix metropolitan area are laid out on a regular grid, following the section lines established in the Public Land Survey System. As a result, arterial roads in cities that had once been geographically separate may have been given different names while occupying the same section line. When these roads were extended to accommodate the growth in the area they eventually merged into a single road while the previous segments retained their existing names. This results in several cases of a road abruptly changing names; for example, Dunlap Avenue in Phoenix becomes Olive Avenue west of 43rd Avenue, in Glendale.
Another quirk of a grid system based upon the Public Land Survey System is due to the occasional corrections in the grid caused by the curvature of the Earth. This results in arterial roadways deviating slightly from a straight line, as can be seen in many locations where roads abruptly curve either just north or just south of Baseline Road to follow a new section line.
The majority of the cities in the metropolitan area, as well as unincorporated areas in Maricopa County, observe the addressing system employed by the city of Phoenix. A number of cities, however, retain their own addressing systems with differing reference points, creating the potential for multiple instances of a house number being found on the same named road.
In terms of numbering systems, some roads that continue through multiple cities will switch numbering conventions several times. Broadway Road, for example, starts and stops multiple times, passing through Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, and Apache Junction, each with their own reference point for address numbering. [33] Though the street does not curve, the direction changes from west to east in each city and back again when moving from one city to the next, causing considerable overlap in numbers.
[34] [35] Most communities in Maricopa County use the Phoenix-County numbering system, with the point of origin at Central Avenue and Washington Street. In the Phoenix-County system, north-south numbered roads labeled "avenue", "drive", and "lane" are West of Central Avenue, while those labeled "street", "place" and "way" are east of Central Avenue. Starting with 579th Avenue [36] in the west near Tonopah the avenues count down with approximately 8 numbers per mile to 19th Avenue and count up again to from 16th Street to 228th Street [37] near Queen Creek in the east. They go, in order from west to east (although not all necessarily exist):
This has been a source of confusion for a few newcomers, who might end up, for example, at 91st Avenue and Thunderbird Road, when in fact they intended to go to 91st Street and Thunderbird Road, between 30 minutes and an hour away from one another depending on traffic.
One beneficial quality of this arrangement for unfamiliar travelers is that the major north-south arterial roads are rarely similarly named; the "avenue" arterials in the West Valley are all odd-numbered and the "street" arterials in the East Valley are even-numbered, with the exception of 7th Ave. & 7th St., both being major roadways running parallel and each one-half mile from Central Ave.
Communities in Maricopa County that have their own street numbering systems include:
Community | Point of Origin |
---|---|
Apache Junction (Pinal County) | Idaho Road & Junction Drive |
Avondale (historic downtown only) | Central Avenue & Western Avenue |
Buckeye (historic downtown only) | Monroe Avenue & 1st Street |
Chandler | Commonwealth Place & Arizona Avenue |
Gilbert | Gilbert Road & Elliot Road |
Litchfield Park | Old Litchfield Road & Wigwam Boulevard |
Mesa | Center Street & Main Street |
Goodyear (historic district only) | Western Avenue & Litchfield Road |
Tempe | Mill Avenue & the Salt River |
Wickenburg | Center Street & Frontier Street |
Wittmann (core area only) | Center Street & Grand Avenue |
Additional confusion can be encountered in Mesa in its urban core, with east-west numbered avenues and drives counting down from 11th Avenue north towards Main Street), [38] and numbered streets and places counting down from 11th Place south towards Main Street. [39] Then, in the eastern part of the city, north-south streets and places count up from 22nd St east of Gilbert Rd, [40] to 112th Street on the Apache Junction border. [41] Numerous trailer parks inside the city limits run their own contradictory variations of the numbered street system. [42]
Most communities in Pinal County use the Pinal County street numbering system, whose point of origin is at SR 287 and 11 Mile Corner Road (the intersection of which is known as "11 Mile Corner"). Exceptions include:
Community | Point of origin |
---|---|
Apache Junction | Idaho Road & Junction Drive |
Casa Grande | Ash Avenue & Center Street |
Coolidge | Central Avenue & Union Pacific Railroad |
Eloy | Alsdorf Road & Main Street |
Florence | Butte Avenue & Main Street |
Queen Creek | (follows Maricopa County) |
Stanfield | SR 84 & Stanfield Road |
Apache Junction continues Mesa's convention of numbered north-south street names by having the sequence continue east from 112th St while simultaneously having east-west numbered avenues south of Apache Trail and east-west numbered streets north of Apache Trail. [43]
In terms of safety, the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ metropolitan area has been ranked 16th most dangerous in the USA, based on its Pedestrian Danger Index, computed on the share of local commuters who walk to work and the most recent data on pedestrian deaths as found in a 2016 report released by Smart Growth America. [44]
Amtrak serves the Phoenix metropolitan area with their Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle trains—both of which stop in Maricopa, located about 40 miles south of downtown Phoenix. Amtrak's Stagecoach Express provides Amtrak Thruway service from Maricopa station to both Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Tempe station. Amtrak also provides additional Thruway Motorcoach service from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to Flagstaff station, which is served by the Southwest Chief .
Amtrak's Los Angeles-New Orleans Sunset Limited served the city of Phoenix directly from 1971 until it was rerouted on June 2, 1996, to a more southerly route between Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, in order to accommodate the Union Pacific Railroad's desire to abandon a portion of its Phoenix-to-Yuma "West Line." This made Phoenix one of the largest cities in the nation without direct passenger service.
A light rail system (dubbed the "METRO Light Rail") runs more than 20 miles from suburban Mesa, through Tempe and into Phoenix, traveling through the downtown area, offering access to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and linking two of the four metro area campuses of Arizona State University. The light rail began public operation on December 27, 2008, and it was projected to accommodate 26,000 boardings a day, or more than 8 million boardings in its first year. Valley Metro Rail boardings has experienced constant growth since the beginning. In the year 2012, the light rail boarded just over 14 million people.
Many expansions to the METRO system are currently in the early planning stages, and others are under construction. The Central Mesa extension project, which extends the Main Street line 2+1⁄2 miles from Sycamore to Mesa Drive in Downtown Mesa, finished construction and opened on August 22, 2015. [45] The Northwest rail project opened March 2016. The project extended the 19th Avenue track from its former terminus at Montebello Ave to Dunlap Avenue, 3 miles north. [46] Many more extensions are funded, with further projects being studied for feasibility.
In 2023, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was the 33rd busiest passenger facility in the world and the 14th busiest in the United States, with more than 48 million total passengers [47] . With two active terminal buildings encompassing 117 gates, more than 25 airlines offer daily non-stop flights to destinations throughout the world.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport began commercial passenger flights in 2004. The airport provides service to over 40 destinations.
There are several municipal and regional airports in the metropolitan area that are not used by commercial airlines for passenger flights. They include, but are not limited to, Glendale Airport, Phoenix Deer Valley Airport, Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Scottsdale Airport, Falcon Field, Chandler Municipal Airport, Buckeye Airport, Phoenix Regional Airport, Pleasant Valley Airport, Estrella Sailport, Stellar Airpark, Skyranch at Carefree, Gila River Memorial Airport, Pegasus Airpark.
Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,662,607 residents as of 2024. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States and the most populous state capital in the country.
Maricopa County is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and the most populous county in Arizona, and making Arizona one of the nation's most centralized states. The county seat is Phoenix, the state capital and fifth-most populous city in the United States.
Buckeye is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizona's largest city by area, and it is the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,502, up from 50,876 in 2010, and 6,537 in 2000. It was the fastest-growing city in the United States for 2017, 2018, and 2021.
Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the fourth-most populous city in Arizona, after Mesa, Tucson, and Phoenix. Chandler is considered to be a part of the East Valley.
Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson, the 36th-most populous city in the U.S., and the most populous city that is not a county seat. The city is home to 504,258 people as of 2020. It is the most populous city in the East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler and Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, and Apache Junction on the east.
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott, a retired U.S. Army chaplain, the city was incorporated in 1951 with a population of 2,000. At the 2020 census, the population was 241,361, which had grown from 217,385 in 2010. Its slogan is "The West's Most Western Town". Over the past two decades, it has been one of the fastest growing cities and housing markets in the United States.
Arizona State Route 101 or Loop 101 is a semi-beltway looping around the Phoenix Metropolitan Area in central Arizona, United States. It connects several suburbs of Phoenix, including Tolleson, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler. Construction began in the late-1980s and was completed in 2002.
Arizona State Route 202 (SR 202) or Loop 202 (202L) is a semi-beltway circling the eastern and southern areas of the Phoenix metropolitan area in central Maricopa County, Arizona. It traverses the eastern end and the southern end of the city of Phoenix, in addition to the cities of Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert, and is a vital route in the metropolitan area freeway system. Loop 202 has three officially designated sections along its route; the Red Mountain Freeway, the SanTan Freeway, and the Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway, also known as the South Mountain Freeway. The Red Mountain Freeway runs from the Mini Stack Interchange with Interstate 10 (I-10) and State Route 51 (SR 51) in Phoenix to the SuperRedTan Interchange with U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Mesa. The SanTan Freeway runs from there to an interchange with Interstate 10 (I-10) in Chandler. The Congressman Ed Pastor Freeway runs from there to I-10 in western Phoenix.
Lake Pleasant Regional Park is a large outdoors recreation area straddling the Maricopa and Yavapai county border northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. The park is located within the municipal boundaries of Peoria, Arizona, and serves as a major recreation hub for the northwest Phoenix metropolitan area. It is operated by the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department.
The Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, more popularly known as Valley Metro, is the unified public brand of the regional transit system for the Phoenix metropolitan area. Within the system, it is divided between Valley Metro Bus, which runs all bus operations, Valley Metro Rail, which is responsible for light rail and streetcar operations in the Valley. In 2023, the combined bus and rail system had a ridership of 36,374,000, or about 107,900 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
North/Northwest Phoenix is a region in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. While the area with this name has no official separate status, it usually refers to the Urban Villages of Paradise Valley, North Mountain, Deer Valley, Desert View, and North Gateway.
State Route 24, also known as the Gateway Freeway or the Williams Gateway Freeway, is a freeway in the extreme southeastern region of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The roadway is planned as a controlled-access highway to move traffic from the southeastern suburbs of Phoenix to planned ones in northwestern Pinal County. It is the lowest-numbered state route in Arizona. The first mile from Loop 202 to Ellsworth Road opened on May 4, 2014. An extension to Ironwood Drive opened in 2022, with the completion of "Interim Phase II"; the first mile of this extension from Ellsworth Road to Williams Field Road opened on April 1, 2022, with the remainder following on August 11. Planning for future sections has been halted until studies for the Pinal North-South Freeway are completed to confirm how the two freeways will intersect.
U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is an east–west United States Highway within Arizona. The highway runs for 369 miles (594 km) from a junction with Interstate 10 near Quartzsite to the New Mexico state line near Springerville. As it crosses the state, US 60 overlaps at various points: I-17, I-10, SR 77, SR 260, US 191, and US 180. Between Wickenburg and Phoenix, the route is known as Grand Avenue. From Tempe to Apache Junction, it is known as the Superstition Freeway.
The transportation system of Arizona comprises car, rail, air, bus, and bicycle transport.
The metropolitan area of Phoenix in the U.S. state of Arizona contains one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing freeway systems, with over 1,405 lane miles (2,261 km) as of 2005.
Transportation in Phoenix, Arizona is primarily via private cars. Public transport is run under the brand Valley Metro, and consists of buses, light rail, and a streetcar system.
Many arterial roads in the Phoenix metropolitan area have the same name in multiple cities or towns. Some roads change names or route numbers across town borders, resulting in occasional confusion. For example, the road known as Apache Boulevard in Tempe continues east as Main Street in neighboring Mesa and then as Apache Trail in Apache Junction. Although Broadway Road maintains the same name through Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, and Apache Junction, each town uses a different reference point for address numbers. Three arterial roads run continuously for over 40 miles. Four other arterial roads run continuously for over 30 miles.
Bell Road is a major east-west arterial road in the northern Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. It is one of the few roadways to cross the Agua Fria River in the northwestern part of the metro area, providing a vital link between the growing suburb of Surprise with Phoenix. As a result, the portion of Bell Road passing through Surprise and Sun City is the busiest arterial road in the state of Arizona.
The Arizona Sun Corridor, shortened Sun Corridor, is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of Arizona - comprising approximately 85 percent of the state's population. The Sun Corridor is comparable to Indiana in both size and population. It is one of the fastest growing conurbations in the country and is speculated to double its population by 2040. The largest metropolitan areas are the Phoenix metropolitan area – Valley of the Sun, and the Tucson metropolitan area – The Old Pueblo. The regions' populace is nestled in the valley of a desert environment. Similar to Southern California, the urban area extends into Mexico, reaching the communities of Heroica Nogales and Agua Prieta.
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area consists of a valley that has multiple city regions in it. The East Valley is a multi-city region within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of Arizona. East Valley is a loosely defined region, with various definitions of what constitutes it.
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