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Phoenix Metropolitan Area
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The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, is a metropolitan area that includes the city of Phoenix, much of the rest of Maricopa County, a large section of Pinal County, and small parts of southern Yavapai County. The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the US Census Bureau, includes all of Maricopa and Pinal counties.
The population of the Phoenix metropolitan area increased by 45.3% from 1990 through 2000, compared to the average United States rate of 15%, helping to make Arizona the second fastest growing state in the nation in the 1990s (the fastest was Nevada).
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Encyclopedia
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, is a metropolitan area that includes the city of Phoenix, much of the rest of Maricopa County, a large section of Pinal County, and small parts of southern Yavapai County. The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the US Census Bureau, includes all of Maricopa and Pinal counties.
The population of the Phoenix metropolitan area increased by 45.3% from 1990 through 2000, compared to the average United States rate of 15%, helping to make Arizona the second fastest growing state in the nation in the 1990s (the fastest was Nevada). The 2000 Census reported the population of the metro area to be 3,251,876. As of July 1, 2007 the MSA is estimated to be at 4,179,427.
Cities and Towns in the Phoenix metropolitan area
What follows is a list of places in the general vicinity of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. All of them are part of the actual Metropolitan Area according to at least one definition in use, but many of them are debatable. The Census Bureau defines a metropolitan area as the core city plus its county and any nearby counties that are economically dependent on the core city. However, Arizona has relatively large counties. For this reason, much of the land that is officially part of the Metropolitan Statistical Area is rural or uninhabited. The Census Bureau's most conservative definition of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area is the Phoenix--Mesa, AZ Urban Area, and is far smaller than the Metropolitan Statistical Area. Places that fall completely or partially within the boundaries of the Phoenix--Mesa, AZ UA are in bold below.
Incorporated Areas
1,000,000 or more inhabitants
100,000 or more inhabitants
10,000 or more inhabitants
Fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
Unincorporated Areas
Over 10,000 inhabitants
Under 10,000 inhabitants
Freeways and expressways
The Phoenix Metropolitan Area is served by several controlled-access freeways, including Interstate 10, Interstate 17, US 60, SR 51, Loop 101, SR 143, and Loop 202.
Many new freeways are planned to be built by 2025, either through upgrades of existing roads such as SR 74, SR 85, and Loop 303; or through the construction of new freeways where no road existed before such as SR 801, SR 802, and the South Mountain Freeway portion of Loop 202.
Arterial roads
In the Valley, many of the arterial roads have the same name across city and town borders. However, a common source of confusion is the fact that many roads may have either different names or numbering systems in different cities or areas.
For example, one east-west arterial is known as Glendale Avenue west of SR 51, but as Lincoln Drive to the east of the freeway.
In terms of numbering systems, some roads that continue through multiple cities will switch numbering conventions several times. A drive eastward along Broadway Road, for example, will pass through Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, and Apache Junction, each with their own reference point for address numbering. Though the street does not curve, the direction changes from west to east in each city and back again when moving from one city to the next, causing considerable overlap in numbers.
Other instances of confusion come from the same physical road changing names abruptly, as is the case for Scottsdale Road becoming Rural Road in the city of Tempe. Some other roads are known to change names abruptly within city limits.
Bell Road is known as Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard in Scottsdale, and this is a frequent source of confusion as there is actually a Bell Road in Scottsdale as well, located nearby, but which does not go through to the Bell Road of Phoenix.
Rail
A light rail system (dubbed the "METRO Light Rail") runs more than 20 miles from suburban Mesa, through Tempe and into Phoenix, traveling through the downtown area, offering access to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and linking two of the four metro area campuses of Arizona State University. The light rail began public operation on December 27, 2008, and it is projected to initially accommodate 26,000 boardings a day, or more than 8 million boardings in its first year.
Expansions to the METRO system are currently in the early planning stages.
Aviation
In 2005, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was the 14th busiest passenger facility in the world and the 8th busiest in the United States, with more than 41 million passengers using the facility. With three terminal buildings encompassing 120 gates, more than 20 airlines offer daily non-stop flights to destinations throughout the world.
The Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport started commercial passenger flights in 2004. The airport currently provides service to over 10 destinations.
There are several municipal and regional airports in the metropolitan area, however none of them are currently used by commercial airlines for passenger flights.
Street numbering systems
Most communities in Maricopa County use the Phoenix-County numbering system, with the point of origin at Central Avenue and Washington Street. In the Phoenix-County system, north-south numbered roads labeled "avenue", "drive", and "lane" are located West of Central Avenue, while those labeled "street", "place" and "way" are located east of Central Avenue. They go, in order from west to east (although not all necessarily exist):
2nd Avenue - 1st Dale - 1st Glen - 1st Lane - 1st Drive - 1st Avenue - Central Avenue - 1st Street - 1st Place - 1st Way - 1st Terrace - 1st Run - 2nd Street
This has been a source of major confusion for some newcomers, who might end up, for example, at 91st Avenue and Thunderbird Road, when in fact they intended to go to 91st Street and Thunderbird Road, between 30 minutes and an hour away from one another depending on traffic.
One beneficial quality of this arrangement for unfamiliar travelers is that the major north-south arterial roads are rarely similarly named; the "avenue" arterials in the West Valley are all odd-numbered and the "street" arterials in the East Valley are even-numbered, with the exception of 7th Ave. & 7th St., both being major roadways running parallel one mile apart.
Communities in Maricopa County that have their own street numbering systems include:
| Community | Point of Origin |
|---|
| Apache Junction | Idaho Road & Junction Drive | | Avondale | Central Avenue & Western Avenue | | Buckeye (historic downtown only) | Monroe Avenue & 1st Street | | Chandler | Commonwealth Place & Arizona Avenue | | Gilbert | Gilbert Road & Elliot Road | | Litchfield Park | Old Litchfield Road & Wigwam Boulevard | | Mesa | Center Street & Main Street | | Goodyear (historic district only) | Western Avenue & Litchfield Road | | Tempe | Mill Avenue & the Salt River | | Wickenburg | Center Street & Frontier Street | | Wittmann (core area only) | Center Street & Grand Avenue |
Since some streets are shared between several cities, the different numbering systems have sometimes caused confusion, including occasional mishaps with emergency services. For example, "620 E. Southern Avenue" is the address of multiple locations in different parts of the metro area: one between Central Avenue and 7th Street in Phoenix, one between Mill and Rural Roads in Tempe, one in Mesa between Mesa Drive and Stapley Drive, and one in Apache Junction between Idaho Road and Tomahawk Road.
Most communities in Pinal County use the Pinal County street numbering system, whose point of origin is at SR 287 and 11 Mile Corner Road (the intersection of which is known as "11 Mile Corner"). Exceptions include:
| Community | Point of origin |
|---|
| Apache Junction | Idaho Road & Junction Drive | | Casa Grande | Ash Avenue & Center Street | | Coolidge | Central Avenue & railroad tracks | | Eloy | Alsdorf Road & Main Street | | Florence | Butte Avenue & Main Street | | Queen Creek | (follows Phoenix-County) | | Stanfield | SR 84 & Stanfield Road |
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