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Scottsdale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. Scottsdale has become internationally recognized as a premiere and posh tourist destination, while maintaining its own identity and culture as "The West's Most Western Town." However, despite this motto, in the 1970s, most construction of new horse corrals was prohibited. What had, in the twentieth century been vacant desert, was converted to either urban and suburban environment. As of the 2000 census, the city is the 83rd largest city in the United States, with a population of 202,705. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 240,410, moving Scottsdale in to the 77th position on the 100 largest cities list.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Culture
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Scottsdale is known for its affluent culture and high society. The city boasts many luxury restaurants, bars, nightclubs, golf courses, art galleries, and other cultural diversions.
The West's Most Western Town prides itself in its rich Western cowboy history, preserving while heavily promoting its plethora of "western" activities and events. The renowned Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show has been a Scottsdale tradition since 1955. Today, the show attracts thousands of visitors and tourists, hoping to catch a glimpse of nearly 2000 purebred Arabian and Half-Arabian horses competing for various prizes and recognition. The show also features over 300 vendors and exhibitions, and over 25 demonstrations and shows.
Perhaps the most famous present-day cowboy event is the Scottsdale Jaycees Parada del Sol, an annual month long event held in Scottsdale since 1954. Originally named The Sunshine Festival, the PRCA Rodeo was added in 1956. Cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation converge in Scottsdale to participate in this cultural and historical event. The event begins each year with the Parada del Sol Parade, the world's largest horse-drawn parade with over 150 entries in any given year.
North Scottsdale hosts the Barrett-Jackson Auto Show, an auto enthusiast's and collector's auction, in January of every year. The show features many exotic automobiles, and attracts car enthusiasts from all over the world.
Scottsdale is home to more than 125 art galleries, The city has quickly become a center for art in the United States. Its galleries are most famous for western and Native American themed art. The Scottsdale Gallery Association sponsors a weekly Art Walk on Thursday evenings, featuring many prominent artists.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Education
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Public education in Scottsdale is provided for primarily by the Scottsdale Unified School District. A minority of the outlying parts of town fall under other school districts in the Phoenix Metro Area, including the Cave Creek Unified School District, Paradise Valley Unified School District, Phoenix Union High School District, Tempe Union High School District, and the Balsz Elementary School District.
There are five major high schools in Scottsdale: Arcadia High School, Chaparral High School, Coronado High School, Desert Mountain High School, and Saguaro High School.
The primary institution of higher education in the city is Scottsdale Community College. Many students also commute to nearby Arizona State University in Tempe.
Scottsdale is also home of the International School of Arizona, a non-profit bilingual school that teaches children classes in a foreign language (French, Spanish or German).
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Employment
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The tourism industry is Scottsdale's primary employer, accounting for 39% of the city's workforce. In 2005, 7.5 million visitors stayed in the city, providing an economic impact of $3.1 billion. The city is home to more than 70 resorts and hotels, with four of them listed as AAA Five-Diamond hotels in 2005 (The Phoenician, Scottsdale Camelback Inn, Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, and the Fairmont Princess Resort and Spa). Scottsdale also boasts the highest number of resort spas per capita of any city in the U.S, earning the city a national recognition as an ideal destination for relaxation. The city's year-round warm weather is a great factor in its appeal, as many tourists from the midwest (known locally as "snowbirds") flood the community during the winter season, and many also purchase second homes in the area.
Several popular restaurant chains are also headquartered in Scottsdale, including Cold Stone Creamery, In-n-Out Burger, Peter Piper Pizza, Kona Grill, and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. Movie theater chain Harkins Theatres is also based in Scottsdale.
The city is also home to several technology firms, such as Motorola Research and Development and Medical Operations, General Dynamics C4 Systems, Taser International, and internet company Go Daddy. Mayo Clinic also has one of its three major locations in Scottsdale, as well as a hospital.
The aviation industry has also grown in Scottsdale, with the Scottsdale Airport, which opened in the 1960s. By 2004, the airpark area around the airport employed nearly 50,000 people, and housed 2,200 businesses with a combined economic impact of $3 billion annually.
Other companies based in Scottsdale include Allied Waste Industries (Fortune 500), ClubJenna, The Dial Corporation, Discount Tire Company and Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes History
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Scottsdale was originally inhabited by Hohokam. From circa 300 BC to 1400 AD, these ancient civilizations farmed the area and built some of the most ingenious irrigation canals the world has ever known. The name Hohokam translates as "vanished," as the civilizations mysteriously disappeared without a trace.
The Hohokam's truly unbelievable legacy was in their creation of more than 125 miles (200 km) of canals to provide water for their agricultural needs. The remnants of this ancient irrigation system were adapted and improved upon in 1868 by the first Anglo company to stake a claim in the Valley of the Sun, when Jack Swilling set up the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company.
Twenty years later Scottsdale's future would turn sharply upwards, when a U.S. Army Chaplain, Winfield Scott, paid the paltry sum of $2.50 an acre for a 640 acre stretch of land where the city is now located. Winfield's brother, George Washington Scott, was the first resident of the town that was then known as Orangedale and later changed to Scottsdale in 1894.
In 1937, internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright set up his "winter camp" at the foot of the McDowell Mountains, creating what is now known as Taliesin West. Scottsdale, and the rest of Phoenix, have seen an everlasting influence from Frank Lloyd Wright. Many buildings throughout the region were designed by the famous architect. Today, a Frank Lloyd Wright memorial stands in North Scottsdale and a major street bears his name.
During the 1950s through the 1970s, several large manufacturing companies in the Scottsdale and Tempe areas used the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) in their manufacturing and operating processes. In 1981, TCE began to show up in two Scottsdale drinking wells, and in 1983, the Indian Bend Wash superfund site was listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List. Physical construction of cleanup systems was completed by 2006, with soil cleanup expected to be completed in five years and groundwater cleanup completed in 30 years.
In 1951 the Town of Scottsdale was officially incorporated with a population of 2000. Since then it has grown to a 2004 Census estimate of 221,792. It is now Arizona's fifth-largest city, and one of its most celebrated. Scottsdale is commonly defined by its high quality of life, and in 1993 was named the, "Most Livable City," in the United States by the United States Conference of Mayors. This title is notoriously lampooned across the state because of the high cost of living in Scottsdale. It is continually ranked as one of the premier golf and resort destinations in the world, with a sizable portion of tax revenue being derived from tourism. It is also home to the FBR Open Golf Tournament held at the Tournament Players Club, which carries the distinction of the best-attended event on the PGA Tour. In 2006, Scottsdale will begin hosting a second PGA Tour event, known as the Fry's Electronics Open. The city continues to see rapid growth, mainly in the northern areas of the city.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes News
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Search for "Scottsdale AZ" - Lee County Housing Prices - Gulf Returns
| The buzz at the still open Starbucks around Lee County is that the real estate market is on its way back. |
- Shell Vacations Offers Penny Sundays in Arizona - Street Talk
| PHOENIX, AZ: It's the HOT time of year in Arizona, a time when tourism is generally "soft" even among timeshare resorts. |
- Chandler, AZ Has Another Ghost Development? - Housing Doom
| For more than two years, the skeleton of the Elevation Chandler project has stood near the Chandler Fashion Mall, a monument of sorts to the late, great real estate market in Phoenix. |
- Speakers lined up for Arizona Marian Conference - East Valley Tribune
| Eight speakers will address Arizona Marian Conference 2008 Aug. 22-24 at the Double Tree Paradise Valley Resort, 5401 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. |
- Scottsdale police seek downtown merchants' input - Scottsdale Tribune
| Scottsdale police are seeking updated information on downtown business owners in the event that emergencies or crime trends emerge close to their establishments. |
- Moving Real Estate In A Down Market - EIN News
| Moving Real Estate In A Down Market "MOOVEST.com : A strange name...but a great site" Scottsdale, AZ - July 2, 2008 - As temperatures soar well over the 100 degree mark, a small group of real estate ... |
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Recreation
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There are no major league professional team sports in Scottsdale. Many residents follow the teams in nearby Phoenix and Glendale. The city is the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants, who practice at Scottsdale Stadium. Scottsdale Stadium also hosts the Scottsdale Scorpions, a minor league baseball team in the Arizona Fall League.
Scottsdale is widely known as a premier destination in the United States for golf. The FBR Open Golf Tournament is held annually each spring at the Tournament Players Club, and the city is home to more than 200 area courses offering layouts that range from the rolling green fairways of traditional courses to desert golf designs. In 2006, the Robb Report cited Scottsdale as, "America's Best Place to Live for Golf." The Boulders Resort & Golden Spa and Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North were selected in 2005 as the second and fourth best golf resorts in the nation by Travel & Leisure Golf Magazine. Other notable golf courses in the area include Desert Mountain, Grayhawk, and Desert Highlands.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Transportation
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Scottsdale is located along Arizona State Route 101, which provides access to nearby Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and other cities in the metro area. The speed limit on Route 101, as well as on many city streets, has been enforced since February 2007 by photo radar.
Commercial air travel is served primarily by Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX) in Phoenix. The city is also home to Scottsdale Municipal Airport (IATA: SDL, ICAO: KSDL), a single-runway airport with over 500 operations per day. While the airport serves some tour and commuter flights, the plurality of aircraft operations are transient general aviation traffic.
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Scottsdale Luxury Homes Weather
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Scottsdale's climate is hot and arid. Winters are mild to moderate, and summers are hot. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the city is 19.0°F, on February 20, 1955, and the highest temperature ever recorded is 119.0°F, on June 26, 1970 and August 2, 1972.
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