Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 62% of Arizona's population, making Arizona one of the most centralized states in the nation. 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 and is the westernmost suburb in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The US Census estimates the population to be 79,620 as of 2019. It was the fastest-growing city in the United States for both 2017 and 2018.
Goodyear is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is a suburb of Phoenix and at the 2010 census had a population of 65,275. It was the third-fastest-growing city in Arizona between 1990 and 2000. The 2019 population estimate was 86,840.
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale and the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler on the south, and Mesa on the east. Tempe is also the location of the main campus of Arizona State University.
Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. With 58,125 residents as of 2020, Maricopa is the largest incorporated municipality in Pinal County which forms part of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city of Phoenix, that includes much of the central part of Arizona. The United States Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defining it as Maricopa and Pinal counties. As of the 2020 census, Metro Phoenix had 4,845,832 residents, making it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation by population. 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 $255 billion in 2018, 16th largest amongst metro areas in the United States.
The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), also known as Maricopa Community Colleges, is a community college district in Arizona with its headquarters in Tempe. It is one of the largest, serving more than 220,000 students each year in Maricopa County, Arizona. The district serves Maricopa County, the county that includes and surrounds Phoenix and is the most populous of the state's counties. The district's administrative headquarters are located in Tempe, Arizona.
Arizona State Route 303 or Loop 303, also known as the Bob Stump Memorial Parkway, is a freeway that serves the west part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The freeway, originally a two-lane rural highway, was maintained by Maricopa County until 2004 when the Arizona Department of Transportation again took control of upgrading the interim road to a freeway.
Joseph Michael Arpaio is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He served as the 36th Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, losing reelection to Democrat Paul Penzone in 2016.
Waddell is an unincorporated community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, northwest of the city of Phoenix. Waddell is named after Donald Ware Waddell, a native of Ohio, who was a partner in the New York City investment firm of Brandon, Gordon and Waddell. It was this firm that organized the private financing for construction of the dam for the water reclamation project that creates Lake Pleasant. The intended Waddell town site was laid out by Donald W. Waddell in 1935, on property he owned on the northeast corner of Waddell Road and Cotton Lane. Waddell moved to the area to oversee the firm's interests in the project. He served on the board of the Maricopa Water District and invested in land through his interests in the Arizona Citrus Land Company and the Waddell Ranch Company.
The metropolitan area of Phoenix in the U.S. state of Arizona contains one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing freeway systems, boasting over 1,405 lane miles (2,261 km) as of 2005.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) is the law enforcement agency that serves Maricopa County, Arizona, and is the largest sheriff's office in Arizona. The MCSO provides patrol services and criminal investigation to unincorporated areas of the county and operates the county jail system. It also serves as the primary law enforcement agency for any incorporated cities within the county that have contracted with the agency for law-enforcement services. The county sheriff is elected by the citizens and serves as the highest law enforcement official in Maricopa County. The current Sheriff of Maricopa County is Paul Penzone, elected in 2016. As a result of policies and practices under former sheriff Joe Arpaio the MCSO has received significant critical media coverage, federal investigation, and judicial oversight.
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.
Douglas Ranch is a proposed 33,800-acre (137 km2) community in Buckeye, Arizona, located 25 miles (40 km) west of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The project had been anticipated to break ground in 2012, but was delayed due to a housing crisis that overtook the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2008. Development resumed in 2019.
Rainbow Valley is a rural neighborhood south of the Gila River, United States. It is unincorporated, meaning it is not within the city of Buckeye but instead Maricopa County. It is a very spread out neighborhood with approximately 34 people per square mile. To the east of Rainbow Valley is a community called Estrella Mountain Ranch. The neighborhood has no hotels or stores so one must either go to Estrella Mountain Ranch in Goodyear or a few miles north to Buckeye. Rainbow Valley has many mountains.
Allenville was a community located in western Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, south of the town of Buckeye, on the edge of the Gila River, at an estimated elevation of 837 feet (255 m) above sea level.
Daniel E. Saban is the former police chief of Buckeye, Arizona, United States of America and three-time candidate for sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Saban ran as a Republican in 2004, as a Democrat in 2008, and again as a Republican in 2016.
John C. Giles is an American politician serving as the 40th mayor of Mesa, Arizona. Giles previously served as a member of the Mesa City Council from 1996 to 2000. Giles was elected mayor of Mesa in a special election following the resignation of then-Mayor Scott Smith.
The 2022 Arizona Secretary of State election will take place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Secretary of State of Arizona. Incumbent Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs declined to run for a second term to instead run to succeed term limited Governor Doug Ducey.