Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

The Heart of Greater Phoenix

Downtown Phoenix is the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Since 1987, approximately $3 billion of private and public capital has been invested in Downtown. In addition to the 43,000 workers who make Downtown their daytime home, more than 10 million people visit the area's many cultural, sports, and entertainment venues each year.

In December 2004, the Phoenix City Council adopted a plan entitled, “Downtown Phoenix: A Strategic Vision and Blueprint for the Future” to establish a roadmap for the next 10 years of downtown development. The Strategic Vision and Blueprint builds off of the significant public and private initiatives currently underway in Downtown Phoenix, including the Phoenix Biomedical Campus at Copper Square, Valley Metro Rail transit system, the new 1,000 room Sheraton hotel, the development of the new 15,000 student Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus, the establishment of the University of Arizona medical school, and the development of approximately 2,000 student housing units.

The new plan also calls for 10,000 new housing units, more than 600,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, 10,000 new jobs, urban-oriented academic and biomedical campuses, continued focus on the arts and historic preservation, and strong pedestrian environments.