Look carefully and quickly around the city of Phoenix. It hasn't looked like this for very long, and the future promises progress and more change.

Phoenix has exploded to become one of the nation's most populous cities with over 1.5 million residents. Recent Census reports unofficially rank Phoenix as the 5th most populous city in the US, with an annual growth rate second only to New York. 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, while the cozier, antique adobe homes 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.

Great Place for a New Beginning

The Phoenix calendar is filled with festivals and events that reflect its residents' Hispanic, African-American, Oriental, Native American and Anglo cultures. The Fiesta Bowl Football Classic, played at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium, is preceded by more than fifty special events.

Active, Outdoor Lifestyle

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 in the chain of desert mountain parks, known as the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, that encircle the city. After work hikes to the top of Squaw 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.

Downtown Renaissance

The latest and biggest development is the new stadium for the Arizona Cardinals, an NFL team who, up to this point, had no official home of their own. Touted as the most technologically advanced sports facility ever built, the $450 million stadium has not only a translucent, retractable roof, but a retractable playing field as well, made of real grass. The Major League Arizona Diamondbacks opened play at the recently renamed Chase Field in 1998. The 48,500-seat stadium also features a retractable roof and a natural grass playing field.

In the wake of this renaissance, highlights of downtown Phoenix include the Herberger Theater, which invites patrons in for brown-bag lunch performances, the restaurants of the Arizona Center and the America West Arena. This home of the Phoenix Suns, indoor soccer team the Phoenix Sandsharks and hockey's Coyotes serves as a concert and sports venue for over 200 events each year.

Next door to the arena is the Phoenix Civic Plaza, where large-scale conventions and trade shows are held. The convention and meeting industry is an important one, injecting over $5 billion into the area economy, according to the Phoenix and Valley of the Sun Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Recently completed is the Collier Center, a $500 million mixed-used development, covering 2.5 city blocks located north of America West Arena.

The Phoenix city government consolidated its offices by constructing a new City Hall as part of a downtown area known as the Phoenix Municipal Government Center. The center includes the Phoenix Municipal Building, Historic City Hall and the City Council Chambers.

The 20-story City Hall was built at a cost of $83 million. The new City Hall wraps around the Orpheum Theatre. Built in 1929, the theater was once considered the most luxurious playhome west of the Mississippi River. A recent $11 million project has restored the ornate Spanish Baroque Revival Theater to be used for performing arts, community and civic events.

The downtown revitalization includes the $12 million Margaret T. Hance Deck Park, a 29-acre greenbelt stretching from Third Street to Third Avenue, just south of McDowell Road above the Interstate-10 tunnel.

A host of centers have recently completed renovations or new construction in the downtown area. These include the Phoenix Civic Plaza, the five-story Central Library that houses over one million volumes and seats up to 800 patrons, and the Phoenix Art Museum. The Phoenix Central Library is an architectural showcase that cost $43 million.

Downtown Phoenix is just one of the city's commercial centers. Corporate and regional headquarters are located along the Central Avenue and Camelback corridors.

Many high-tech manufacturers including Bull Worldwide Information Systems are based in northwest Phoenix. Others such as AlliedSignal are located near Sky Harbor International Airport and in south Phoenix. Others are located elsewhere, like Sitix of Phoenix in Paradise Valley to the northeast.

Affordable Lifestyle, Abundant Amenities

To combat the sense of isolation that can spring from urban sprawl, the Phoenix City Council adopted an innovative concept known as the Village Plan. Introduced in the 1970s, the zoning plan recognized distinct neighborhoods within the city and called for residential, retail and commercial development to take place in certain patterns to foster a stronger sense of neighborhood.

Phoenicians may be laid back, but they support an active cultural scene. The last few years have shown great improvement in Phoenix's overall cultural package.

The Phoenix Union High School District offers a magnet school program. Students with special interests in such diverse subjects as law, aerospace, fine arts, science and sports receive concentrated instruction at selected schools, in addition to their normal high-school studies.

Because students who live in Phoenix are served by twenty-eight separate school districts (those of Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, among others), relocating parents can "shop" for the district that best suits their child.

Easy to Get Around

With the constant influx of newcomers to Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun come new ideas and new ambitions, creating a vibrant atmosphere that frees people to pursue their vision of the American Dream.