Phoenix Airport
Sky Harbor International Airport, three miles east of downtown, is connected
by Valley Metro buses with down town, Tempe and Mesa, but it's easier to take
a door-to-door shuttle bus, at $14 for downtown destinations or around $20 for
Scottsdale, with a company such as SuperShuttle. Arizona Shuttle Services ( runs
an hourly service south to Tucson, costing $24.
Fun Facts About Phoenix
- Phoenix is the United States' fifth-largest city with a population of nearly
1.3 million.
- Greater Phoenix has a population of 3.2 million and covers 2,000 square miles.
- Maricopa County-where Greater Phoenix is located-covers 9,127 square miles.
- Phoenix's elevation is 1,117 feet.
- Greater Phoenix is located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.
- Phoenix has an average annual rainfall of 7.66 inches, an average annual high
temperature of 85 degrees and averages 300 sun-filled days per year.
- Phoenix hosted the NFL's Super Bowl XXX, January 28, 1996 and will be the
home to the 2008 Super Bowl also.
- Phoenix hosted the 2001 World Series and is the home of the World Series Champion
Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Phoenix was selected the "Best-Run City in the World" in 1993 by
the Carl Bertelsmann Foundation and the "Best Managed" city by Governing
magazine in 2000.
- The area's major industries are 1) high-tech manufacturing, 2) tourism, 3)
construction.
- Greater Phoenix has consistently ranked among the nation's top cities in the
number of Five Diamond / Five Star resorts.
- Phoenix/Scottsdale was rated the nation's top hotel destination in the 1997
Zagat Survey of frequent travelers.
- Metro Phoenix has more than 50,000 hotel rooms.
- Greater Phoenix is home to over 200 golf courses.
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is served by 21 airlines.
- More than 13 million people visit Phoenix each year. More than 29 million
people visit Arizona each year.
- Visitors to Greater Phoenix account for about $6 billion in expenditures each
year.
- The typical visitor to Phoenix is 53 years old, has an average annual income
of $50,000 and will spend 5.4 nights in the metro area.
- 62 percent of all Greater Phoenix visitors are leisure travelers, while 38
percent visit for convention or business reasons.
- 8 out of 10 Greater Phoenix visitors plan to return for future visits.
- Metro Phoenix is home to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (college football festival),
Arizona Cardinals (NFL), Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB), Phoenix Suns (NBA), Phoenix
Coyotes (NHL), Arizona Rattlers (arena football) and the Phoenix Mercury (WNBA).
- Phoenix joined the ranks of Major League Baseball cities in 1998 when the
Arizona Diamondbacks began play at Bank One Ballpark.
- Three pro golf tournaments have regular stops in Phoenix: The FBR Phoenix
Open (PGA), the Standard Register Turquoise Classic (LPGA) and The Tradition (Senior
PGA).
- Greater Phoenix plays host to seven major league baseball teams each spring
as part of the Cactus League. The San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Oakland
Athletics, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Anaheim Angels
conduct their annual training programs in the metro area while the Arizona Diamondbacks,
Colorado Rockies and the Chicago White Sox train in Tucson.
- Phoenix is home to many different motor sports. Included are Indy Car and
NASCAR events at Phoenix International Raceway, drag racing at Manzanita Speedway
and boat racing at Firebird International Raceway.
- Phoenix is home to the largest municipal park in the world. South Mountain
Park covers more than 20,000 acres. The area has more than 1,700 acres of traditional
park land.
- There are six lakes within a 75-minute drive of Phoenix.
- Phoenix has museums to suit nearly every taste. The Heard Museum (Native American);
Desert Botanical Garden (the world's largest collection of desert plants); Taliesin
West (home of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation); the Phoenix Art Museum (the
Southwest's largest art museum); The Fleischer Museum (American Impressionism);
The Arizona Science Center; The Hall of Flame (featuring the world's largest collection
of fire-fighting equipment); Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park (Native American)
and the Phoenix Museum of History are among the cultural hot spots.
- The Heard Museum has an extensive collection of Native American artifacts,
including the largest kachina doll collection-donated in part by the late Arizona
Senator Barry Goldwater-of any museum in the country.
- Arizona is home to 23 reservations representing 21 different Native American
tribes.
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