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Welcome to Phoenix, AZ!
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The love affair between Phoenix and newcomers has gone on for decades. People in crowded cities admire the Valley's clear mountain views and crimson desert sunsets. Midwesterners envy our mild winters. Older folks seek out the good life in burgeoning retirement communities. Their younger relatives follow to find work, start a business or get an education. Whatever the reasons, the mass migration started after World War II when Phoenix was still a small town. Now, more than 50 years later, Phoenix is the nation's sixth largest city, located in the fastest-growing county in the United States.
Phoenix accounts for 1.2 million of Maricopa County's 2.8 million population. From July 1996 to July 1997, some 82,000 newcomers settled in the county - that's more than 200 new residents every day. These mind-boggling figures represent a whopping 27 percent population increase since 1990, when Phoenix was the nation's largest city.
For a community that in 1987 had only one major-league sports franchise, Phoenix has come a long way. Today, it is among a handful of US cities to boast all four major-league sports: baseball, basketball, football and hockey, plus a major university sports program. Recent years have also brought the 1995 NBA All-star Game, the 1996 Super Bowl, the 1997 debut of a WNBA team and the 1999 Fiesta Bowl for college football's national championship.
