With mild nights, sunny shopping days and plenty of western charm, Scottsdale Arizona attracts a steady stream of local and international tourists. Self-styled "The West's Most Western Town," in Scottsdale you can ride horsebackthrough the crisp desert air in the morning and browse one of the nation's best art museumsin the afternoon. Although Scottsdale is listed among the 100 largest cities in the US, it retains a strong connection to its small-town, Western heritage. Today, tourism and medical sciences are the two largest industries in Scottsdale. Scottsdale has been described as both "a desert vision of Miami's South Beach" and one of the "100 Best Communities for Young People."




Scottsdale has seen tremendous growth over the decades, starting in the 1960's when officials worked to build canals to prevent flooding, and to establish a variety of parks and golf courses, something that later became known as the Scottsdale Greenbelt. By the 1970's, with manufacturing companies providing jobs, constructions of new homes and master-planned communities was plentiful. The population of Scottsdale grew from 10,026 in 1960 to 62,873 by 1970, a growth rate of 576 percent. By 1980, that number had leapfrogged to 88,622. And as of the 2010 U.S. Census, Scottsdale has a population of 217,385.

Scottsdale was originally inhabited by the native Hohokam people, with American settlers arriving in the mid 1800's. The first company to set up business in the area was an irrigation company that saw prospects making improvements on the ancient irrigation system that was left in place by the Hohokam. In 1880, George Washington Scott, who with his brothers farmed fruit and vegetables around Phoenix, became the first resident of the town. In 1894, the name of the town was changed from Orangedale to Scottsdale.

Shopping and Dining