Phoenix, Arizona is a great place for a second home!

Phoenix was incorporated in 1881, 31 years before Arizona became a state. The name “Phoenix” came from a prediction by one of the town's founders that a great city would rise like the mythical phoenix from the ashes of the ancient Hohokam Indian settlement. The Hohokam Indians had lived in the area from the 300s BC until the 1400s, developing a sophisticated network of irrigation canals. Long after the mysterious end of the Hohokam civilization, settlers put their canals back into use in the 1800s.  The Phoenix metropolitan area is also known as “The Valley of the Sun.”

Phoenix's elevation is 1,117 feet and is located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. It is a sprawling metropolitan desert area that extends from trendy Scottsdale in the northeast, to Glendale and numerous expanding towns in the west. In the heart of the Greater Phoenix area is Tempe, an active university town. To the east lies the Mormon-founded city of Mesa. Desert mountains surround the area, creating “The Valley of the Sun." There are six lakes within a 75-minute drive of Phoenix.

Residents and visitors enjoy more than 300 sunshine-filled days annually. Phoenix has an average annual rainfall of 7.66 inches and an average annual high temperature of 85 degrees. Phoenix is best in the cooler months, October-April, when warm sunny afternoons (mid 60s to mid 80s) melt into cool nights. Occasional rain and thunderstorms occur during the winter, but snow is extremely rare. In the summer temperatures above 100 degrees are common, though the low humidity makes the heat more tolerable.

Phoenix is one of the three fastest growing cities in the country and the nation’s fifth-largest city with a population of nearly 1.4 million. The Greater Phoenix area has a population of 3.7 million.

Home of a number of professional sports franchises, sports lovers can enjoy year-round activities. Pro teams include the NBA Phoenix Suns, the NFL Arizona Cardinals, the MLB Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL Phoenix Coyotes. There are also professional soccer, women’s basketball and arena football teams. Additionally, Phoenix is home of the PGA’s FBR Open (formerly the Phoenix Open), Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and hosting Super Bowl XLII in 2008. Nine major league baseball teams hold spring training in the Greater Phoenix area. NASCAR racing fans enjoy two Nextel series events at Phoenix International Raceway.

Once a winter playground for the nation’s wealthy, today Phoenix attracts 12 million visitors annually from all over the world and all walks of life. They come to enjoy the region’s world-class resorts, first-rate golf courses, great outdoors and professional sporting events.

Greater Phoenix has consistently ranked among the nation's top cities in the number of Five Diamond/Five Star resorts. Metro Phoenix has more than 52,000 hotel rooms and is home to more than 200 golf courses.

Visitors to Greater Phoenix account for about $5 billion in expenditures each year. The typical visitor to Phoenix is 42 years old, has an average annual income of $60,800 and will spend 4.5 nights in the metro area.

For more tourism information, visit the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau.

There are museums and cultural events in Phoenix to fit nearly every taste. Among the cultural attractions are: The Heard Museum (Native American); Desert Botanical Garden (the world's largest collection of desert plants); the Phoenix Art Museum (the Southwest's largest art museum); The Arizona Science Center (hands-on science exhibits and a planetarium);The Herberger Theater Center (year round music, drama, and dance); Ballet Arizona (premier professional ballet company); the Phoenix Symphony (concerts and special events); Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park (Native American) and the Phoenix Museum of History.