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Chandler, Arizona
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Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, and is a prominent suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the south by the Gila River Indian Reservation, and to the east by Gilbert. The population was 240,595 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate. The city contains a large number of modest tract homes. It also has satellite locations for the technology companies Intel and Orbital Sciences Corporation.
891, Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory, settled on a ranch south of Mesa, studying irrigation engineering.
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Encyclopedia
Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, and is a prominent suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the south by the Gila River Indian Reservation, and to the east by Gilbert. The population was 240,595 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimate. The city contains a large number of modest tract homes. It also has satellite locations for the technology companies Intel and Orbital Sciences Corporation.
History
In 1891, Dr. Alexander John Chandler, the first veterinary surgeon in Arizona Territory, settled on a ranch south of Mesa, studying irrigation engineering. By 1900, he had acquired 18,000 acres (73 km²) of land, and began drawing up plans for a townsite on what was then known as the Chandler Ranch. The townsite office opened on May 17, 1912, the same year that Chandler High School was established. By 1913, a town center had become established, featuring the luxurious Hotel San Marcos, the first golf resort in the state.
Most of Chandler's economy was successfully sustained during the Great Depression (a second San Marcos hotel was canceled due to the Depression however), but the cotton crash a few years later had a much deeper impact on the city's residents. Later, the founding of Williams Air Force Base in 1941 led to a small surge in population, but Chandler still only held 3,800 people by 1950. By 1980, it had grown to 30,000, and it has since paced the Phoenix metropolitan area's high rate of growth, with vast suburban residential areas swallowing former agricultural plots. Some of this growth was fueled by the establishment of manufacturing plants for communications and computing firms such as Motorola and Intel, but despite the inclusion of many large businesses, Chandler is often considered a bedroom community for the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.
Geography
Chandler is located at (33.303237, -111.841328).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 58.0 square miles (150.2 km²), of which, 57.9 square miles (149.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.
Chandler has reached its physical limits save for some remaining county islands and cannot expand outward anymore due to being bound in by the Gila River Indian Community, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, and Phoenix.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 176,581 people, 62,377 households, and 45,410 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,050.5 people per square mile (1,177.7/km²). There were 66,592 housing units at an average density of 1,150.4/sq mi (444.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.19% White, 3.48% Black or African American, 1.20% Native American, 4.22% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 10.76% from other races, and 3.01% from two or more races. 21.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Following the 2000 census, Chandler has remained one of the fastest growing cities in America, reaching population growth above 20% since this time. Growth is expected to subside within the next ten years due to fixed borders with Pinal County and the Gila River Indian Reservation to the south, Mesa and Tempe to the north, Phoenix to the west, and Gilbert to the northeast.
There were 62,377 households out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 5.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $68,951, and the median income for a family was $77,412. Males had a median income of $44,578 versus $31,763 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,904. About 4.6% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
Elected officials
Chandler is represented by a mayor, a vice mayor and council members. The vice mayor is elected by the city council from among its members. The mayor, vice mayor and council members represent the entire city and are not elected from districts or wards.
Mayor: Boyd W. Dunn
Vice Mayor: Bob Caccamo
Council Members
- Trinity Donovan
- Rick Heumann
- Matt Orlando
- Jack Sellers
- Jeff Weninger
Culture
Chandler is noted for its annual . Initially, agriculture was the primary business in Chandler, based on cotton, corn, and alfalfa. During the 1910s, there were ostrich farms in the area, catering to the demand for plumes used in women's hats of the era. This demand ebbed with the increasing popularity of the automobile, but the legacy of the ostrich farms would be commemorated by the Ostrich Festival. The , a 1,500-seat regional performing arts venue, is located downtown, and the Arizona Railway Museum is at Tumbleweed Park.
Economy
Computer chip manufacturer Intel has an influential role in city growth strategies with four in the municipal area, including its first factory to be designated "environmentally sustainable" under current Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria. Other high-technology manufacturing firms have partnerships with the local government, their operations employing approximately twenty-five percent of non-government workers in 2007. Although per capita employment growth in the sector has been in decline in Arizona since 2000, semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing was largely unaffected; a series of customized grants for the training of net new employees, incorporating the Phoenix urbanized area (twenty-seven thousand workers now commute to work in other communities), resulted in a larger market share of (Californian) industry.
Since 2003, more than 2,900 jobs and investments totalling $3 billion have been created along the Price and Santan freeways, between Arizona Avenue and Gilbert Road in the so-called South Arizona Avenue Corridor. Three shopping malls provide a "strong attraction" to such an open-ended, high exposure trade area: the Chandler Fashion Center, opened in 2001, has spurred on several courts and laneway developments. In the southern end of the Corridor, Wal-Mart is expected to draw business from as far south as the Hunt Highway, bringing with it a "large consumer population" which will improve "the image and perception of the area" in the mindset of many Greater Phoenix residents and state commercial retailers. The northern portion is "attractive [enough] and possesses the historic character" for success, which "can be grown to the south".
Education
Elementary and secondary
Most of Chandler is served by the Chandler Unified School District. Chandler west of Loop 101 is served by the Kyrene Elementary School District and the Tempe Union High School District. The area east of Loop 101 and north of Warner Road is served by Mesa Public Schools. The San Vincente neighborhood in Chandler is served by Gilbert Public Schools.
Education alternatives include charter schools, Christian schools, parochial schools, magnet schools, as well as "traditional" academies.
Post-secondary
The two-year Chandler-Gilbert Community College, serving 13,000 students, is located in the east of the city near the Gilbert border. Private educational institutions Western International University and Apollo Group subsidiary University of Phoenix have locations here. Arizona State University is located from downtown in Tempe.
Chandler Public Library
The serves Chandler and the greater Phoenix East Valley. The main branch is located in downtown Chandler, with three additional branches located throughout the city: Sunset, Basha High School, and Hamilton High School. Basha and Hamilton branches are shared-use facilities located on high school campuses.
As part of a family literacy project to encourage literacy and library use among families who live in public housing, the Chandler Public Library visited three public housing locations to offer a four-week series of programs at each.
Chandler Community Services
The Chandler Community Services Department serves Chandler residents in a variety of ways by providing recreation, fitness, cultural, artistic and educational opportunities along with classes, programs and special events. The Community Services Department, located in Old Downtown Chandler, operates the community center, senior center, dozens of local neighborhood and community parks, two recreation centers and six aquatic centers.
Chandler's recreational offerings provide residents and visitors with different interests and skill levels with the facilities to participate in many sports, activities and hobbies. The department publishes a quarterly recreation magazine called Break Time that is distributed free at many city facilities, through a free subscription service, and at five Fry's Food and Drug stores in Chandler.
A sampling of programs available through the City of Chandler Community Services Department and its Recreation and Aquatics Divisions include: swim lessons; Arizona Travel Series; junior tennis clinics and leagues; youth classes and programs; youth sports; after-school teen recreation centers; summer youth sports camps and arts camps; fitness classes; group aerobics and dance classes; nature and sustainable living courses; adult classes, sports leagues and outdoor recreation programs; senior adult classes and programs; therapeutic recreation and Special Olympics programs for disabled youths and adults.
The City's regional Tumbleweed Park hosts a variety of special events throughout the year, including the annual Ostrich Festival, the Fourth of July Fireworks Festival and the second annual Day of Play that was held Saturday, October 18, 2008.
On Sept. 6, 2008, the national non-profit organiztiona Kaboom! based in Washington, D.C. announced that Chandler was a 2008 Playful City USA community. There were 67 cities selected nationwide and Chandler was one of 26 to repeat the honor from last year. Chandler was recognized for taking an innovative approaches to make play a priority throughout the city with its many recreational amenities, parks and aquatic centers.
The Environmental Education Center at the Chandler Heights Community Facilities, a shared-use site with the Municipal Utilities Division and the Chandler Police Department, recently won Valley Forward's prestigious Environmental Excellence Award in the category of "Site Development and Landscape for Parks."
The McCullough–Price House, a 1938 Pueblo Revival style home, was donated to the City by the Price-Propstra family in 2001. The City renovated and opened it to the public in 2007. As one branch of the Chandler Museums, it includes changing exhibits, the Chandler Visitors Center, and rental opportunities.
A list of the City of Chandler's other Recreational Division and Community Services Department facilities includes:
- Community Center
- Senior Center
- Snedigar Recreation Center
- Tumbleweed Recreation Center
- Tumbleweed Park
- Six Aquatic Centers, pools and spray pads
- Environmental Education Center at Veterans Oasis Park
- Chandler Museum
- McCullough-Price House
- Three teen centers
- Tennis Center
- Golf course at Bear Creek
- Neigborhood and community parks
- Three bark parks for dog walking
- A bike park
- A skate park
Transportation
Addressing
Most incorporated portions of Chandler, along with other East Valley cities Gilbert, Mesa, and Tempe have their own addressing system distinct from Phoenix and greater Maricopa County. The north-south meridian is Arizona Avenue, also known as State Route 87. Commonwealth Avenue, two blocks south of Chandler Boulevard is the east-west baseline. With the significant exception of the stretch of the city from Chandler Boulevard to Ray Road, address numbers follow in mile-long increments of 1000 along the grid. Modern remnants of county addressing from the city's rural agrarian days can be found in some neighborhood street names (90th Place, 132nd Street) and county islands surrounded by the city proper.
Airports
Chandler Municipal Airport is a two-runway general aviation facility located in the heart of the city south of Loop 202. Memorial Airfield in the Gila River Indian Community may serve the city in the future. The city is jockeying for membership in the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, several miles to the east, which only offers limited service to Chicago and Las Vegas, Nevada. Most area residents continue to use Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport from downtown Chandler.
City bus
Chandler has very limited bus service compared with other Valley Metro cities of similar size. Most local routes dead end a few miles from the city or have further limited service within its borders. Currently, two express bus routes leave from the city near downtown, and a new park and ride facility was recently completed further south. Faced with increasing congestion, the land-locked city is pursuing transportation alternatives including enhancement of the local bus system. This goal has partially been achieved through Proposition 400, which converts transit funding from city-based to county-based. The result has been increased frequencies on routes 72, 96 (since July 28, 2008), and 156, as well as Sunday bus service on these three routes. However, other routes have yet to be converted to "supergrid" status.
Freeways
Chandler is served by three limited access highways:
- Loop 202, the Santan Freeway, completed through the city in 2006, cuts through the midsection of the city along the Pecos Road alignment.
- Loop 101, the Price Freeway, was completed in 2001, dividing West Chandler from the rest of the city. A majority of the city's employment, over 10,000 people as of 2007, are along the city's Price Road Corridor. Air Products' industrial pipelines located there are unique to the metropolitan area. South of Pecos, the freeway borders the Gila River Indian Community.
- Interstate 10 is the city's westernmost border. Located on the other side is the Phoenix neighborhood of Ahwatukee.
Railroads
Heavy rail
Chandler is served by two single-track branch lines of the Union Pacific Railroad. One generally traverses the Kyrene Road alignment
and currently dead-ends at the Lone Butte Industrial Park. The other runs east of Arizona Avenue and dead-ends near the location of the former World War II company town of Goodyear. Commuter rail service on these lines is under study .
Light rail
No light rail lines have been approved in the city, although high-capacity corridors including light rail have been identified in other regional and local plans. City officials joined the regional light rail authority, METRO Light Rail, in 2007, expecting service perhaps in 2020. The initial route through the city will most likely be the Tempe South light rail line on Rural Road.
Radio and television licenses
Chandler has only one radio license: KMLE.
Famous people associated with Chandler, Arizona
- Louie Espinoza - Arizona's First World Champion Boxer Chandler, AZ.
- Adam Archuleta - professional football player, Chicago Bears.
- Clay Bellinger - former MLB player and coach of Chandler National LL in the 2007 Little League World Series.
- Melissa Buhl - downhill and mountain-cross cycling champion.
- T.J. Clark - NASCAR driver.
- Leonard Davis - professional football player, Dallas Cowboys.
- Andre Ethier - professional baseball player, Los Angeles Dodgers. Attended Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
- Zora Folley - former heavyweight boxer. Folley Street is named for him.
- Channing Frye - NBA basketball player, Portland Trail Blazers.
- Alexa Havins - actress, All My Children.
- Antony Hämäläinen - lead singer of melodic death metal band Nightrage.
- Ice-T - rapper and actor, lives in Chandler with his wife as part-time residents.
- Waylon Jennings
- Tank Johnson - professional football player, Dallas Cowboys.
- Mike Kruczek - former professional football player, offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals.
- Matt Leinart - Arizona Cardinals quarterback, former star quarterback at USC.
- Dary Matera - author, columnist.
- Donovan McNabb - professional football player, Philadelphia Eagles, lives in Chandler during NFL offseason with his wife and kids.
- Shawn Michaels - professional wrestler, World Wrestling Entertainment, born in Chandler.
- John O'Callaghan - Lead singer of The Maine (band)
- Alberto Alvaro Rios - poet, writer, academic.
- Brenna Sakas - Miss Arizona USA 2006.
- Terrell Suggs - professional football player, Baltimore Ravens. Graduated from Hamilton High School.
- In Tam - Cambodian politician.
- Lindsay Taylor - WNBA player, Seattle Storm.
- Brian Urlacher - professional football player, Chicago Bears.
- Greg Vanney - MLS player, DC United.
Miscellaneous
- The street signs in Chandler are brown-colored instead of the more traditional green (similar to Berkeley, California).
- Chandler has two In-N-Out Burger Restaurants and is home of the Heart Attack Grill. It is one of 18 cities outside of California where In-N-Out has located.
- Chandler was the spring training home of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1986 to 1997; the stadium (Compadre Stadium), built in 1985, still stands as of 2008, unused and in a state of disrepair after only being used for twelve seasons.
- In 2009 Chandler was ranked as one of the most boring cities in America by Forbes.
External links
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- from the Chandler section of the Arizona Republic newspaper
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