Phoenix AZ – Economy, Culture, Cuisine, Sports,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.

Amelia Earhart

 

 

Economy

The early economy of Phoenix was primarily agricultural, dependent mainly on the “5Cs” which were copper, cattle, climate, cotton and citrus. In the last four decades most of the farmlands have been turned into suburbs, and the economy has diversified as swiftly as the population has grown. The construction boom collapsed in 2008, as the financial crisis of 2007–2010 began; housing prices plunged. As Phoenix is the state capital, many residents in the area are employed by the government. Arizona State University has also enhanced the area’s population through education and its growing research capabilities. Numerous high-tech and telecommunications companies have also recently relocated to the area. Due to the warm climate in winter, Phoenix benefits greatly from seasonal tourism and recreation, such as the golf industry.[52]

Phoenix is currently home to four Fortune 500 companies: electronics corporation Avnet, mining company Freeport-McMoRan, retailer PetSmart and waste hauler Republic Services.[53] Honeywell‘s Aerospace division is headquartered in Phoenix, and the valley hosts many of their avionics and mechanical facilities. Intel has one of their largest sites here, employing about 10,000 employees and 7 chip manufacturing fabs, including the $3 billion state-of-the-art 300 mm and 45 nm Fab 32.

American Express hosts their financial transactions, customer information, and their entire website in Phoenix. The city is also home to the headquarters of U-HAUL International, a rental and moving supply company; as well as Best Western, the world’s largest family of hotels; Apollo Group, parent of the University of Phoenix; and utility company Pinnacle West. Choice Hotels International has its IT division and Operations Support Center in the North Phoenix area. US Airways relocated it Corporate Headquarters to Metro Phoenix area (Tempe) in 2005 after being acquired by America West Airlines. US Airways is the largest carrier at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Mesa Air Group, a regional airline group, is headquartered in Phoenix.[54]

Despite the housing collapse, Phoenix is seeing an improvement in its rental housing. “Commercial-property owners are counting on apartment buildings to lead the Phoenix area’s real-estate market toward recovery, based on a recent rebound for units rented and buildings sold.”[55] The military has a significant presence in Phoenix with Luke Air Force Base located in the western suburbs. At its height, in the 1940s, the Phoenix area had three military bases: Luke Field (still in use), Falcon Field, and Williams Air Force Base (now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport), with numerous auxiliary air fields located throughout the region.[56]

Foreign governments have established 30 consular offices and eleven active foreign chambers of commerce and trade associations in metropolitan Phoenix.[57][58]

See also: List of corporations in Phoenix

Culture

Phoenix and the surrounding area have several cultural activities, including the performing arts, museums, and events.

Performing arts[edit source | editbeta]

Several music venues take place around Arizona, but primarily in and around downtown Phoenix and in Scottsdale. One such venue is the Phoenix Symphony Hall, where performances from groups such as the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Youth Symphony Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona often occur. Another venue is the Orpheum Theatre which is home to the Phoenix Metropolitan Opera. Concerts also regularly make stops in the area. The largest downtown performing art venue is the Herberger Theater Center, which houses three performance spaces and is home to resident companies Actors Theatre of Phoenix and Arizona Theatre Company.

Venues for concerts include the US Airways Center and the Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix, Cricket Wireless Pavilion in Maryvale, Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, and Gammage Auditorium in Tempe. Since 2002, Phoenix has also seen a rapid growth in local arts through Artlink Phoenix. Several smaller theatres including Trunk SpaceSpace 55 and Modified Arts support regular independent musical and theatre performances.

Phoenix has been home to numerous popular musicians, mostly of the country and rock genres. Solo artists originally from the area include Duane EddyStevie NicksWilly NorthpoleBuck OwensWayne NewtonJordin SparksMarty Robbins,CeCe PenistonDierks Bentley, and Linkin Park‘s Chester Bennington. Several prominent rock groups have come from the Valley, including Sacred ReichFlotsam and JetsamThe Mainethe FormatMeat PuppetsAndrew Jackson JihadThe RefreshmentsJimmy Eat WorldMr. MisterGin Blossoms, Several Members of the Coasters, The Tubes and Fun.’s Nate Ruess are also from the area. Phoenix is becoming a musical hot spot as more established artists like George Benson,Steve GaddBob HoagJoey DeFrancescoSamuel David Moore have moved to the city, drawn by the lower cost of living and comfortable climate.

Several television series were set in Phoenix, including the current top-rated Medium, the 1960–1961 syndicated crime drama, The Brothers BrannaganAlice and the CBS sitcom, The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1971 to 1974.

Museums[edit source | editbeta]

Several museums exist throughout the Valley.

Phoenix Art Museum is the Southwest’s largest destination for visual art from across the world. Located at 1625 North Central Avenue, the 285,000-square-foot (26,500 m2) art museum stands at the intersection of Central Avenue and McDowell Road on the historic Central Avenue corridor. Phoenix Art Museum displays international exhibitions alongside the Museum’s comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design.

A community center since 1951, Phoenix Art Museum presents a year-round program of festivals, live performances, independent art films and educational programs. Visitors can also experience PhxArtKids, an interactive space for children; photography exhibitions through the Museum’s partnership with the Center for Creative Photography; the landscaped Sculpture Garden; dining at Arcadia Farms at Phoenix Art Museum; and shopping at The Museum Store. Children and adults alike will enjoy the interactive exhibits found in nearby Peoria’s Challenger Space Center, where individuals learn about space, renewable energies, and meet astronauts [59]

Another prominent area museum is the Heard Museum just north of downtown. It has over 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) of gallery, classroom and performance space. Some of the signature exhibits include a full Navajo hogan, the Mareen Allen Nichols Collection containing 260 pieces of contemporary jewelry, the Barry Goldwater Collection of 437 historic Hopi kachina dolls, and an exhibit on the 19th century boarding school experiences of Native Americans. The Heard Museum attracts about 250,000 visitors a year.

Other notable museums in the city include the Arizona Science Center, Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum, the Phoenix Zoo, the Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park, and the Children’s Museum of Phoenix. In 2010 the Musical Instrument Museum opened their doors, featuring the biggest musical instrument collection in the world.

Fine arts[edit source | editbeta]

The downtown Phoenix art scene has developed in the past decade. The Artlink organization and the galleries downtown have successfully launched a First Friday cross-Phoenix gallery opening.

In April 2009, artist Janet Echelman inaugurated her monumental sculpture, Her Secret Is Patience, a civic icon suspended above the new Phoenix Civic Space Park, a two-city-block park in the middle of downtown. This netted sculpture makes the invisible patterns of desert wind visible to the human eye. During the day, the 100-foot (30 m)-tall sculpture hovers high above heads, treetops, and buildings, the sculpture creates what the artist calls “shadow drawings”, which she says are inspired by Phoenix’s cloud shadows. At night, the illumination changes color gradually through the seasons. The large three-dimensional multi-layered form is created by a combination of hand-baiting and machine-loomed knotting, and is the result of a collaborative effort with an international team of award-winning[citation needed] engineers.

Author Prof. Patrick Frank writes of the sculpture that “…most Arizonans look on the work with pride: this unique visual delight will forever mark the city of Phoenix just as the Eiffel Tower marks Paris.”[60]

The Arizona Republic editorialized: “This is just what Phoenix need: a distinctive feature that helps create a real sense of place.”

Cuisine

Phoenix has long been renowned for authentic Mexican food, thanks to both the large Hispanic population and proximity to Mexico. But the recent population boom has brought people from all over the nation, and to a lesser extent from other countries, and has since influenced the local cuisine. International food, such as KoreanBrazilian, and French, has become more common throughout the valley in recent years. However, Mexican food is still the most popular food, with Mexican restaurants found all over the area.

Sports

Phoenix is home to several professional sports franchises, including representatives of all four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. – although only two of these teams actually carry the city name and play within the city limits.

The Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA) were the first major franchise in Phoenix, in 1968. They played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In 1992 the Suns moved to the America West Arena, which is now the US Airways Center. In 1997, the Phoenix Mercury was one of the original eight teams to launch the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Both teams play at U.S. Airways Center. The U.S. Airways Center was the setting for both the 1995 and the 2009 NBA All-Star Games. The Phoenix Flame of the International Basketball League began play in the spring of 2007. They play at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Arizona Cardinals moved to Phoenix from St. Louis, Missouri in 1988 and currently play in the Western Division of the National Football League‘s National Football Conference. The team, however, has never played in the city itself; they played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in nearby Tempe until 2006. Sun Devil Stadium held Super Bowl XXX in 1996 when theDallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cardinals now play at University of Phoenix Stadium in west suburban Glendale. University of Phoenix Stadium hosted Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008, in which the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots. It is also the home of the annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a college football bowl game that is part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The University of Phoenix Stadium will host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

Phoenix has an arena football team, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. Games are played at US Airways Center downtown.

The Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League moved to the area in 1996; they were formerly the Winnipeg Jets franchise. They play at Jobing.com Arena, adjacent to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

The Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (National League West Division) began play as an expansion team in 1998. The team plays at Chase Field (downtown). In 2001, the Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees 4 games to 3 in the World Series, becoming not only the city’s first professional sports franchise to win a national championship while located in Arizona, but also one of the youngest expansion franchise in U.S. professional sports to ever win a championship.

Additionally, due to the favorable climate, fifteen Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in the metro Phoenix area in what is known as The Cactus League. The Cincinnati Reds were the last team to begin play in Goodyear, AZ as the 15th Cactus League team and share the stadium in Goodyear with the Cleveland Indians. Since 2011, the Cactus League has been based solely in greater metro Phoenix as the last two teams that had played in Tucson (The Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks) now share a spring training home near Scottsdale.

The Phoenix International Raceway is a major venue for two NASCAR auto racing events per season. Boat racingdrag racing, and road course racing are also held at Firebird International Raceway.Sprint car racing is no longer held at Manzanita Speedway.

Phoenix hosted the United States Grand Prix from 1989 to 1991. The race was discontinued after poor crowd numbers.[61]

Phoenix has also hosted the Insight Bowl at Chase Field until 2005, after which it moved to nearby Tempe, as well as several major professional golf events, including the LPGA‘s Safeway Internationaland The Tradition of the Champions Tour. Phoenix was originally scheduled to host the 2006 NHL All-Star Game, but it was canceled due to the 2006 Winter Olympics (the recently adopted NHLcollective bargaining agreement prohibits the All-Star Game to be held during Olympic years).

Phoenix has been named as a team in the WAMNRL which will begin in summer 2011.[62]

Phoenix’s Ahwatukee American Little League reached the 2006 Little League World Series as the representative from the U.S. West region. Phoenix is one of the three cities that hosts the annualRock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon in January. On March 28, 2010, the University of Phoenix stadium hosted WWE‘s flagship event, WrestleMania XXVI, which had broke the stadium’s attendance record with 72,219 fans which have been broken by the 2011 BCS National Championship Game with 78,603 fans. Phoenix has also hosted TNA Bound for Glory on October 14, 2012.

Professional Clubs

 

Phoenix (/ˈfnɪks/ fee-niksO’odhamS-ki:kigkYavapaiWathinka or WakateheWestern ApacheFiinigisNavajoHoozdohMojaveHachpa ‘Anya Nyava)[3] is the capital, and largest city, of theU.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populous city nationally, and is also the most populous state capital in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data.[4]

It is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area (also known as the Valley of the Sun) and is the 12th largest metro area by population in the United States with about 4.2 million people in 2010.[5][6] In addition, Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County and is one of the largest cities in the United States by land area.[7]

Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881, after being founded in 1861 near the Salt River close to its confluence with the Gila River. The city has a notable and famous political culture and has been home to numerous influential American politicians, including Barry GoldwaterWilliam RehnquistJohn McCainCarl Hayden, and Sandra Day O’Connor. Residents of the city are known as Phoenicians.

Located in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix has a subtropical desert climate.

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Phoenix,_Arizona_history

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix,_Arizona

 

 

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a little about me and my expertise – video

LAND SPECIALIST – LAND EXPERT – INVESTMENT BROKER – ARIZONA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPs3kpKR4nY

 

 

Feel free to contact Walter regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities and needs, your property or your Investment Needs for Comercial Investment Properties in Phoenix.

 

 

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Walter Unger CCIM, CCSS, CCLS

I am a successful Commercial Investment Real Estate Broker in Arizona now for 15 years and I worked with banks and their commercial REO properties for 3 years. I am also a commercial landspecialist in Phoenix and a Landspecialist in Arizona.

WHETHER YOU LEASE OR OWN

NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO EXPAND, UPGRADE OR INVEST.

 

we are at on the a rise of the cycle in Commercial Real Estate.  so there is only one way and it’s called we are going up and now is the time for you to expand, upgrade or invest in Commercial Properties in Phoenix.  The prices on deals I may get you will not be around forever.

 

WAITING TO SELL YOUR LAND ? TIMES CHANGE / IT’S TIME

  We barely could give land away the last few years, but times are changing.  Even in those meager years, I sold more land across the state than most other brokers. Before the real estate crash I was a land specialist in Arizona with millions of dollars of transactions, but then I had to change and also sell other commercial investment properties, which was fun, but I am a Commercial Landspecialist in Arizonal, a Commercial Land Specialist in Phoenix and love to sell land, one acre to thousands of acres.

 

If you have any questions about Commercial Investment Properties in Phoenix or Commercial Investment Properties in Arizona,  I will gladly sit down with you and share my expertise and my professional opinion in Commercial Properties in Phoenix or Commercial Properties in Arizona with you.Obviously I am also in this to make money, but it could be a win-win situation for all of us.

 

Please reply by e-mail walterunger@ccim.net or call me 520-975-5207 (cell)  602-778-5110 (office direct).

 

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Thank You

Walter

 

Walter Unger CCIM

Associate Broker

Kasten Long Commercial

2821 E. Camelback Road, Suite 600

Phoenix, AZ 85016

Cell:      520-975-5207

Direct:   602-759-1202

Office :  602-445-4141

Fax:      602-445-4188

walterunger@ccim.net

 

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