Your Next Home North Scottsdale

 

Scottsdale is one of the top-rated cities to live in America based on several factors:

Open space. The Mcdowell Sonoran Preserve and the Mcdowell Mountain Park combined comprise a huge percentage of open space that has been set aside.

 

Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, adjacent to the Greater Phoenix Area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385. The 2013 population is estimated to be of about 224,000 people living within the city,

Scottsdale, 31 miles long and 11.4 miles wide at its widest point,

Population: 223,514 (2012)

Area: 184.20 sq miles (477.08 km²)

 

Proximity to the Grand Canyon: 4.5 hours

 

A Farm in History – Winfield Scott Winfield Scott was born in West Novi, Michigan on February 26, 1837. When he was 8 or 9 the family moved to Western New York State where he grew up. He attended college at the University of Rochester and then went on to Rochester Theological Seminary where he met and married Helen Louise Brown, a school teacher. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Farmer Village where the Seneca Baptist Association licensed him as a Baptist minister.

In July 1862, Winfield Scott recruited 98 men from Farmer Village and the surrounding area. They became Company C, 126th Regiment. Company C fought many battles during the Civil War and Scott was wounded several times, in 1864 he was again wounded and left the military. He then went on to become the pastor of Baptist Churches in Leavenworth, Kansas and Denver, Colorado.

 

The Scotts had four daughters: Minnie, born 1865, Helen, born 1868, Addie born 1877 and Florence, born in 1880. Addie died as a small child in 1878.

 

In 1881, Scott applied to the Secretary of the Army to become an Army Chaplain and was confirmed on July 27, 1882. Chaplain Scott's first post was in Fort Canby, Washington Territory. He then went to Ft. Stevens, Oregon and then to Angel Island in San Francisco.

 

In mid February of 1888, Winfield Scott was invited to the Salt River Valley in Arizona. Some residents of Phoenix had heard of Scott's reputation as a promoter and wanted him to help promote Phoenix and the surrounding area. Scott was impressed with the valley and on July 2, 1888 made a down payment of 50 cents an acre for a section of land in what is now Scottsdale. His brother, George Washington Scott, came at Winfield ScottÕs request to clear the land. He planted 80 acres of barley, 20 acres of vineyards and a 7-acre orchard.

 

Scott was then transferred to Ft. Huachucha, Arizona Territory in February of 1889. In 1892 after 10 years as an Army Chaplain, Winfield Scott took a leave of absence from the military and went to his farm in Scottsdale. His Civil War wounds bothered him greatly and in 1893 he finally retired.

 

The Scotts welcomed many people to live on their property whether they were ill, down on their luck or just looking for a fresh start. Many lived in tents in the orchard. During this time Scott became active in Arizona politics while promoting farming in the community.

 

Application was made to form a school district on July 13, 1896. The first one room school was built soon after. In September 1909, a new brick school building opened. It was dedicated on February 26, 1910. This building now houses the Scottsdale Historical Museum.

 

In early October 1910, Scott became ill. He died in Phoenix, Arizona on October 19.

 

Chaplain Winfield Scott spent half a century in service to his God, his country and his fellowman. He built churches, organized congregations, served as a soldier, was confirmed as an Army Chaplain and became an educator and active politician. But most of all we will remember him as the founding father of Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

If we turn back the clocks to 1888 you might be able to witness a gentleman making a purchase of land in what is now Scottsdale. You would see him buying 640 acres, a sizeable piece of property for a, um, hefty sum of $1,600. You read that correctly, only one thousand, six hundred dollars! However, paying $2.50 an acre for desert didn’t seem like such a bargain when it was covered in cactus and needed clearing, irrigation ditches and roads. Back then, they didn’t even have air conditioning, sunscreen or sunglasses…

 

Turn the clocks ahead today and you will find that just one of those acres alone would now bring several hundred thousand dollars. There are now 100 golf courses with a reasonable driving distance and the City of Scottsdale is deemed to be one of the finest cities to live in within the entire United States.

 

So who was this founding father of Scottsdale? He was an Army Chaplain, a Baptist minister, a war veteran who was wounded a number of times, was married and had four daughters.

 

In addition to our wonderful weather, golfing, communities and recreation, Scottsdale is a great place to do business. In fact, perhaps those reasons are why so many people have opened new businesses or relocating existing businesses to Scottsdale. The Scottsdale Airpark in North Scottsdale is now one of the top employment areas in the State. In May 2005,  Governor Janet Napolitano signed into law a series of business tax relief measures to attract, expand and retain high value growth companies throughout Arizona.  The angel investor’s tax credit will assist early-stage companies in attracting the much-needed capital to expand operations and bring new ideas, products and services to market. Another initiative, referred to as sales factor allows companies to use a new formula to calculate corporate income taxes, which will ultimately inject more dollars into the state’s economy.  The last measure championed by the business community, offers substantial business property tax relief through a reduction in the assessment ratio and will benefit businesses of all sizes.

 

In Spring 2005, the Critical Path Institute (C-Path) was formed in Tucson.  The institute is affiliated with three founding partners:  the University of Arizona (UA), SRI International (formerly known as the Stanford Research Institute), and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  UA provides the academic home and infrastructure for C-Path’s educational and research programs, and lends it an environment of innovation and inquiry.  Participating FDA scientists provide first hand knowledge of the regulatory process, and a wealth of experience in evaluating new pharmaceutical agents.  SRI brings practical experience in pharmaceutical development, scientific expertise, and a track record of commercializing new drugs.  C-Path’s mission is to create innovative programs in education and research that enable the safe acceleration of new medicine development.

 

The City of Scottsdale and the Arizona State University (ASU) Foundation are currently developing the ASU Scottsdale Center for New Technology and Innovation.  The center will focus on technology commercialization, entrepreneurship and business development, and will comprise approximately 1.2 million square feet of space, about 90% of which will likely be research/office space. The first phase of the project will involve at least 150,000 square feet and is expected to be under construction by late 2005.

 

In 2002, a public-private partnership raised more than $100 M to launch the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).  Land, office space and building contraction occurred in under 18 months, creating the catalyst for a revitalized downtown Phoenix area.  Additionally, support from the Arizona legislature and leadership from the Arizona Board of Regents initiated a new downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus project.  This new city center for biomedical business and research will include an extension of the University of Arizona College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy, and the Arizona State University College of Nursing.

 

Recreation and Outdoor Activities in Scottsdale

 

Scottsdale is a mecca for those enjoying an active lifestyle. With year-round sunshine the outdoor lover will find hiking, climbing, hot-air ballooning, Jeep & Hummer tours, river rafting, parks (Grand Canyon anyone?), theme parks, etc. Two hours north you can snow ski in the winter and you can water ski or jet ski on our local lakes within an hour’s drive.

 

For those enjoying their activities indoors, there are Classic Car Auctions (Barrett Jackson and others), Casinos, Shopping Malls (is that an activity?), world-class spas, spring training baseball, terrific resorts and restaurants, and the list goes on.

 

Spend time exploring the amazing variety of activities available in Arizona!

Realtors»

Scottsdale Spirit»

Contact

You are here: Home / Activities

Activities

Activities in Scottsdale

 

To say there is a lot going on in Scottsdale would be an understatement. The city is a growing, thriving and healthy environment for the approximately quarter of a million people who proudly call it home. Scottsdale boasts championship golf, several major sports teams, the most exciting car auction in the country, fine dining, outstanding shopping, one of the top art gallery destinations, and outdoor activities to suit almost anyone.

 

Below are just a few of the activities that can be enjoyed in the Scottsdale area.

 

Arizona Sports Teams

 

Baseball – The Arizona Diamondbacks

 

The Diamondbacks, affectionately referred to as the D-Backs or the Snakes, were the product of a decision by Jerry Colangelo in 1993 to form an ownership group and apply for a Major League Baseball expansion team. Joe Garagiola, Jr. would become the team’s first General Manager.

 

During their first five seasons, the Diamondbacks won three division titles (1999, 2001, & 2002) and one World Series! Some of the magic has faded a bit but there are many avid D-Backs fans now in the Valley.

 

Football – The Arizona Cardinals

 

The Cardinals are the oldest existing professional American football club! They got their start in 1898 in Chicago, Illinois and were called the Morgan Athletic Club. Most recently, the Cardinals have moved into a brand new, state-of-the-art football stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

 

The Cardinals were in St. Louis from 1960 to 1988 and had been playing football at the Arizona State University stadium prior to the new Cardinals Stadium this year.

 

Basketball – The Phoenix Suns

 

Phoenix Suns LogoIn January of 1968, the NBA awarded expansion franchises to an ownership group from Phoenix and one from Milwaukee. This was the start of the Phoenix Suns. Jerry Colangelo, a former Chicago Bulls Executive, was hired to be General Manager.

 

The Suns moved to the state-of-the-art America West Arena in 1992 and traded for Charles Barkley from the Philadelphia 76ers. Barkley won his first, and only, MVP Award with the Suns in 1993.

 

All-Star point guard Steve Nash was acquired and the 2004-2005 season saw the Suns finishing with the best record in the NBA that year at 62-20. Although Amare Stoudemire was injured during the 2005-2006 season, the Suns made it into the Western Conference finals and were finally beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 on June 3, 206.

 

Expect the Suns to have an exciting year with the return of Amare coupled with the ongoing MVP play of Steve Nash.

 

Official Phoenix Suns Site

 

Hockey – They Phoenix Coyotes

 

Founded in 1972, the team began playing hockey as the Winnipeg Jets in the World Hockey Association. They won three Avco World Trophies and made the finals five out of the league’s seven seasons before being one of four teams admitted to the NHL.

 

In 1996, the club moved to Phoenix and took on the name Coyotes. They posted six consecutive .500 or better seasons though they haven’t been past the first round of the playoffs.

 

In 2003, they moved into Glendale Arena, changed their logo and uniforms, but failed to live up to fans expectations. In August of 2005, former hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky became the head coach and they signed Brett Hull, son of the great Bobby Hull from the Jets. However, for the last three years they have not made it into the playoffs.

 

Frank Lloyd Wright – Talieson West

 

Now a National Historic Landmark, Frank Lloyd Wright created Talieson West “out of the desert” starting in 1937. Along with his associates he creates a series of buildings that are striking in form and yet flow with the surrounding desert environment. The 600 acres of Talieson West became Wright’s winter home until his death in 1959. Apprentices of Wright attend the school of architecture and there are theatres for films and the performing arts.

 

Address: 12621 Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard

Phone: 480-860-2700 ext. 494

Website: www.franklloydwright.org

Golfing

 

There are over 200 golf courses in and around Scottsdale. With abundant sunshine and a tremendous variety of courses to enjoy, Scottsdale is home to many world-class golfers such as Phil Mickelson who attended Arizona State on a golf scholarship.

 

The FBR Open at the TPC Scottsdale is one of the earliest golf events of each year, usually the last week of January. Originally called the Arizona Open and later the Phoenix Open, Close to 500,000 attend the 4 day event each year. In 2006 the FBR Open set a PGA Tour single day attendance record with over 168,000 fans in attendance on Saturday, February the 4th, as well as a tournament week attendance record of 536,367 fans. And yet, due to the course layout and ample parking, anyone can go see the event on any day of the tournament – you won’t be turned away! Be sure to check out the 16th hole, the most popular for spectators due to the “amphitheater” environment where the stands wrap around the hole.

 

The FBR Open is one of the top golf events of the year in terms of attendance and also in terms of the “fun factor”. Along with Scottsdale’s tremendous weather and the best golfers in the world (Phil Mickelson won the event in 2005 and is the hometown favorite each year), there are parties in the evenings and people make the event into a mini-vacation each year.

 

 

Golfing Scottsdale Arizona

Scottsdale Area Activities