Phoenix Guides
Phoenix
Downtown Phoenix
The Valley's civic and sports core -- Chase Field, Footprint Center, and CityScape packed into a walkable grid, now home to 21,700+ residents in high-rise condo towers.
Arcadia
Ranch homes on sprawling, citrus-shaded lots between Camelback Mountain and the Arizona Canal -- one of Phoenix's most affluent, low-density enclaves.
Biltmore
High-rise condos and gated mansion streets around the landmark Arizona Biltmore, with Frank Lloyd Wright's fingerprints on the resort's Textile Block design.
North Central Phoenix
Grand early-1900s mansions along a canal-shadowed boulevard, with Central Avenue's best light-rail access outside downtown.
Laveen
A former farming and dairy village, cut off from Phoenix until Roosevelt Dam -- now 48 square miles of newer subdivisions bordering South Mountain Park.
Desert Ridge
A 1991 master-planned community built with employment centers and resorts alongside housing from the outset, anchored by Mayo Clinic and Desert Ridge Marketplace.
Ahwatukee
Called ‘the world's largest cul-de-sac’ for its limited road access -- a tucked-away community below South Mountain with about 83,000 residents.
Scottsdale & Paradise Valley
Old Town Scottsdale
Restored adobe storefronts, galleries, and patio bars in Scottsdale's dense, walkable historic core, dating to an 1888 Army-chaplain farm settlement.
North Scottsdale
Former cattle range turned master-planned golf country -- DC Ranch, Grayhawk, and Troon among the custom-home communities north of Shea Boulevard.
Paradise Valley
One of the wealthiest municipalities in the country, incorporated in 1961 specifically to avoid annexation -- Camelback and Mummy Mountains anchor its estate lots.
Fountain Hills
Built around industrialist Robert McCulloch's 1970 landmark fountain -- a retiree-heavy town (median age 60.8) with hillside estates and mountain views.
Cave Creek
A former gold-mining and ranching camp that's stayed rural and Western -- saloons and boot shops along Cave Creek Road, median household income over $100k.
Carefree
A 1950s master-planned desert retreat with whimsically named streets and a landmark 90-foot sundial -- over half its residents are 65 or older.
East Valley
Tempe
Home to Arizona State University's main campus -- dense student and young-professional housing around Mill Avenue and Tempe Town Lake.
Mesa
Arizona's third-largest city, founded by Mormon pioneers in 1878 -- now one of the Valley's most ethnically diverse populations, with light rail through downtown.
Gilbert
The most populous incorporated town in the U.S., built almost entirely from 1970s-era farmland into master-planned subdivisions around a restored Heritage District.
Chandler
A technology hub anchored by Intel's semiconductor campuses, built from a 1912 townsite with the historic San Marcos Hotel still downtown.
Queen Creek
One of the fastest-growing towns in the country -- population roughly tripled since 2020 -- still home to working farms like Schnepf Farms.
Apache Junction
Named for the historic meeting of the Apache Trail and US 60 -- gateway to the Superstition Mountains and the legendary Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.
West Valley
Glendale
Arizona's sixth-largest city, founded as a temperance colony in 1891 -- now best known for State Farm Stadium and the Westgate Entertainment District.
Peoria
Settled by Illinois transplants along the Arizona Canal in 1886 -- now Cactus League spring home to the Padres and Mariners, with Lake Pleasant nearby.
Surprise
One of the fastest-growing cities in the country, mixing active-adult communities like Sun City Grand with young-family subdivisions.
Goodyear
Founded as a company cotton farm for Goodyear Tire in 1917 -- now a fast-growing West Valley city and Cactus League spring home to the Guardians and Reds.
Avondale
A former farming community along the Agua Fria River, now home to Phoenix Raceway and new subdivisions along Loop 303.
Buckeye
One of the fastest-growing cities in the country -- master-planned subdivisions spreading across former farmland along I-10, backed by Skyline Regional Park.
Litchfield Park
A small, low-density company town built around Goodyear Farms cotton fields in 1916 -- home to the historic Wigwam Resort.
North Valley
Anthem
A 1998 Del Webb master-planned community at the base of Daisy Mountain -- family-oriented, unlike Del Webb's age-restricted Sun City communities.
Sun City
The nation's first large-scale age-restricted retirement community, opened in 1960 -- median age around 73, with seven recreation centers and eight golf courses.