Fun in the sun accentuates the excitement and spirit you’ll find in Tempe. The city is packed with history, culture, shopping, dining, nightlife, sports and special events. Treat yourself to an ASU Football Game game, have a shopping spree at Arizona Mills or Arizona's only IKEA, kayak on Tempe Town Lake, enjoy a Broadway performance at ASU Gammage, hike in the picturesque Papago Park or simply lounge by the pool. It is all here for you to enjoy.

The City of Tempe, Arizona, the state's seventh largest city, is located in the center of the Valley of the Sun with more than 160,000 residents calling it home. The City of Tempe, Arizona is bordered by Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler. Access to Tempe is a snap with the Loop 101, 202, US 60, I-10 and Hohokam Expressway serving Tempe, making us the most accessible city in the metropolitan area. And, we are only 10 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with taxi service and public transportation available seven days a week. The City of Tempe, Arizona offers more than 330 days a year of sunshine to its residents and visitors, and annual rainfall amounts to approximately 7.36 inches a year.

A business-friendly community, Tempe hosts the corporate offices of Insight Computers, Edward Jones, Medtronic, Motorola, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, and US Airways.  Talk to Tempe's Economic Development team to plan your next business location.

Population:
165,000+

Median Age:
28.4

Median Income:
$60,800

Workforce:
175,000 educated workers

Key Industry Sectors:
Advanced Business Services, Aerospace, Biotechnology, High Technology, Retail, Tourism

Education:
40 Percent Age 25+ Have Bachelor's Degrees or Better

Location:
Five Minutes East of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Investment:
$2 Billion In New Projects Developing Within 5 Years

New Residences:
5,000 Condominiums Being Built Within the City's Center

New Commercial Development:
3.5 million+ Sq. Ft. Developing Within 5 Years
25 million+ Sq. Ft. Industrial Space and 6 Million Existing Office Space
10 million+ Sq. Ft. Retail Space

New Transportation:
Light Rail Crosses Tempe From Border To Border in 2008

The Mill Avenue Bridge (Tempe Bridge) is a ten-span poured concrete, open spandrel structure. The spans are multiple ribbed with open spandrels, each 140 ft. long, supporting a concrete roadway on beamed and webbed columns above the ribs. The ribs are designed as hingeless arches fixed at the piers. Two types of piers are used in the design and the spans are divided into groups of three, four, and three, separated by abutment piers. Abutment piers are of a typical column construction. Abutment piers are extended and carried above the roadway level in four hexagonal towers forming pedestrian rest bays with canopies. This effect is maintained with hexagonal pylons terminating the railings at each end of the bridge. (Tempe Historical Museum)In addition to its extensive and high-quality academic programs, ASU provides the community with a rich variety of cultural attractions from internationally known lecturers to widely praised art exhibitions. Gammage Auditorium attracts many of the world’s greatest performing artists and finest theater productions to Tempe.

School Districts

Tempe Elementary's long history has opened countless doors to academic achievement for our community’s young people. Formally established in 1874, Tempe Elementary was the third school district in Maricopa County.

Today, Tempe Elementary schools serve approximately 13,650 kindergarten through eighth grade students, who attend 18 neighborhood elementary schools, five middle schools for grades sixth through eighth, and a school serving preschoolers and students with severe disabilities. A long-term bond project allowed many schools to renovate or remodel in recent years.

Tempe Elementary is a high-performing organization, increasing learning for all children through standards-based curriculum, integrated technology systems, strong music education, and free all-day kindergarten programs.

Tempe Elementary schools have been recognized as Arizona A+ and national Blue Ribbon award-winners for their academic excellence. The school district welcomes families from all over the Valley to its 24 centers of excellence. For more information on Tempe Elementary Schools, please visit www.tempeschools.org, the district’s new website.

Kyrene School District is more than 100 years old and covers 130 square miles in portions of south Tempe, Chandler, Guadalupe, Phoenix, and the Gila River Indian Community. Kyrene is one of the fastest growing school districts of its size in Arizona. Kyrene now has 19 elementary schools and six middle schools. Students achieve above-average ranking in national standardized tests.

Tempe Union High School District’s mission is Excellence in Teaching and Learning. That mission is put into action every day as Tempe Union delivers a high quality education marked by a commitment to serving the needs of students and their families.

The district, established in 1908 with one school serving fewer than 100 students, now serves more than 13,000 students in six comprehensive high schools, one alternative high school, and one academy for gifted students. The district encompasses 162 square miles and serves Tempe, the Town of Guadalupe, and the Ahwatukee Foothills area of Phoenix. Students who reside in Mesa and Chandler also attend Tempe Union schools.

Beautiful, modern, functional and safe schools are their hallmark. The comprehensive high schools, set on 40- to 50-acre campuses, include Tempe High School, McClintock High School, Marcos de Niza High School, Corona del Sol High School, Mountain Pointe High School, and Desert Vista High School. Compadre High School is the district’s alternative school. Peggy Payne Academy, located on the McClintock campus, serves gifted students.

Tempe Union teachers are dedicated professionals. Two out of three teachers hold a master’s degree or above, and 60 percent have ten or more years of teaching experience.

For nearly a decade, the Tempe Union High School District has earned the SchoolMatch What Parents Want Award in recognition of efforts to meet students’ needs and be accountable for results. The schools meet stringent accreditation criteria from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The district also has been recognized for financial accountability with the Award of Financial Reporting and Achievement from the Government Finance Officers Association, and the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Arizona School Business Officials.

Arizona State University

Arizona State University’s (ASU) main campus occupies 700 acres in the heart of Tempe. It has been designated an arboretum and features a variety of documented and labeled plants and trees that provide a welcoming, parklike setting for the university buildings, many of which have earned architectural honors. An architectural hallmark is ASU’s Gammage Auditorium, a great hall designed by the 20th century’s major architectural talent, Frank Lloyd Wright. The auditorium seats 3,000 and hosts numerous first-class productions.

) is the oldest automobile crossing on the Salt River in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and has been in continuous use since its completion in 1931. It was the major transportation link in three transcontinental highways (U.S. Routes 60,70, and 80) and Arizona’s only north-south route, U.S. Route 89, until the freeway system was begun in the 1950s. The bridge was built to supersede an earlier highway bridge, built 1911-1913, which had become increasingly congested and was no longer able to adequately support wider and heavier vehicles. In 1928, a group of Tempe businessmen submitted a request to the Arizona Highway Commission that a new bridge be planned. The bridge was designed by the Arizona Highway Department in 1929. Ralph Hoffman, the bridge engineer for the State of Arizona, signed the contract with Lynch-Cannon Construction Company of Los Angeles, implementing Federal Project 2-B. The bridge was opened to traffic in August of 1931, but was not officially dedicated until 1933. Presiding at the ceremony was Arizona Governor B. B. Moeur, a Tempe physician.

The Mill Avenue Bridge is a ten-span poured concrete, open spandrel structure. The spans are multiple ribbed with open spandrels, each 140 ft. long, supporting a concrete roadway on beamed and webbed columns above the ribs. The ribs are designed as hingeless arches fixed at the piers. Two types of piers are used in the design and the spans are divided into groups of three, four, and three, separated by abutment piers. Abutment piers are of a typical column construction. Abutment piers are extended and carried above the roadway level in four hexagonal towers forming pedestrian rest bays with canopies. This effect is maintained with hexagonal pylons terminating the railings at each end of the bridge. (Tempe Historical Museum)In addition to its extensive and high-quality academic programs, ASU provides the community with a rich variety of cultural attractions from internationally known lecturers to widely praised art exhibitions. Gammage Auditorium attracts many of the world’s greatest performing artists and finest theater productions to Tempe. The Nelson Fine Arts Center houses the splendid ASU Art Museum and the Galvin Playhouse, which are adjacent to the ASU Music Theatre. All of these facilities are readily accessible from downtown Tempe’s main street, Mill Avenue.

The Tempe campus has an enrollment of more than 47,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing all 50 states and more than 150 countries. Approximately 10,000 of these students are enrolled in graduate studies. The campus supports 85 programs leading to bachelor’s degrees, 91 master’s programs, 48 programs granting doctoral degrees, and one law degree program. The fall 2002 undergraduate student profile included – 80 percent enrolled full-time; 52 percent are women; 21.3 percent from ethnic minority backgrounds, with Hispanic students having the largest representation; 105 new National Merit Scholars enrolled as freshmen; 2,700 undergraduates enrolled in the Barrett Honors College; six percent international students, with the most coming from India.

The 324-acre ASU Research Park is also located in Tempe. It brings together researchers and corporate leaders from private industry, governmental agencies and the university to provide a mechanism to integrate technological results from university research into private corporate programs.

Arizona State University is a major metropolitan research university that serves the interests and needs of Arizona’s capital and the greater Phoenix area. The university enrolls a total of 52,000 students, and reaches out into the community from a variety of locations, including the ASU West campus which enrolls more than 5,000 students, and ASU East campus which enrolls 2,500 students. ASU Extended Education serves the community by extending the campuses beyond traditional boundaries through a variety of learning technologies including Internet, CD-Rom and tele-campus.

As the only major metropolitan research university in the Valley of the Sun, Arizona State University regards community involvement as an integral part of its mission. In addition to providing quality higher education to its students, the university serves business and industry, government and the education communities.

Tempe’s parks and recreation programs and facilities are award-winners. The city has more than 1,200 acres in 47 parks and other facilities, including two municipally owned 18-hole golf courses. Kiwanis Community Park, located at Mill Avenue and All-America Way, is one of the crown jewels of the city’s park system. The 125-acre park borders picturesque

Kiwanis Lake. Enjoy a picnic in one of the beautiful ramadas and listen to your children’s laughter ring throughout the outdoor playground. Or spend a leisurely afternoon sailing, fishing, or working up an appetite on a rented paddleboat.

The Kiwanis Park Recreation Center, an impressive 54,000-square-foot facility, features a heated, indoor-outdoor wave pool, a 120-foot-long double-spiral slide, a raft/tube rental shop, and a newly renovated multipurpose gymnasium. Additional amenities include an award-winning tennis sports complex with 15 lighted tennis courts, a fabulous pro shop, three outdoor sand volleyball courts, four outdoor soccer fields, four softball fields, and a concession area that serves mouth-watering goodies. The Kiwanis Park Batting Range offers patrons baseball as well as fast- and slow-pitch softball hitting.

The Pyle Adult Recreation Center is part of the Community Center complex located at Rural Road and Southern Avenue that contains the Tempe Public Library, the Tempe Historical Museum, and the Edna Vihel Center for the Arts. For more information, call (480) 350-5200 or visit www.tempe.gov/pkrec.

The boys of summer come to Tempe every February and March. You can watch the Anaheim Angels practice and play spring training games at Tempe Diablo Stadium while enjoying the sunny weather of Tempe. The Tempe Diablo Stadium Complex is also available for rental opportunities.

Tempe has some outstanding sports facilities that you can use to stay fit and enjoy team sports. Tempe Sports Complex, Benedict Sports Complex and Tempe Diablo Stadium Complex have softball fields, baseball fields and soccer fields that are used for leagues, tournaments and rentals. There are six golf courses located in Tempe, including Ken McDonald Golf Course, Rolling Hills Golf Course, and ASU Karsten Golf Course.

There are plenty of places in Tempe for family fun and enjoyment, including the Desert Botanical Garden in Papago Park. It preserves natural desert land and wide-ranging botanical life. The Phoenix Zoo is the largest privately owned, self-supporting zoo in the U.S. and features more than 120 acres of mammals, reptiles, birds, and a petting zoo. Fiddlesticks is another popular family fun center, featuring miniature golf, a water park, a video arcade and just plain fun.

Tempe is ideal for bicycling, with more than 120 miles of on-street bike lanes and off-street bike paths. Bicyclists can cruise well-lit, winding paths along Rio Salado, the Papago Buttes or downtown Tempe.