Goodyear: A Young City on the Move

iy Paula Ilardo

A new downtown, universities, new industries, spring training ballpark and key transportation corridors are coloring the landscape of the vital, young city of Goodyear—making it one of the most dynamic communities in the Valley of the Sun.

Springing up from 190 square miles of desert mountain terrain just 17 miles west of downtown Phoenix, Goodyear is the fourth fastest-growing suburban city in the country. Its desert vistas, majestic mountains, active outdoor lifestyle and master planned communities with lakes, country clubs and golf courses have already attracted 58,000 residents. Planned from the beginning with “unsurpassed quality” in mind, Goodyear’s upscale demographics and excellent home values are making it a model of high quality sustainability.

The All-American City

The average home value in Goodyear is well above the Phoenix area average, as is the $72,200 median income of its residents. A quarter of Goodyear’s households earn more than $100,000 per year and 85 percent of its adults are college educated with 53 percent holding degrees. A host of distinctive master planned communities such as Newland Communities’ Estrella, Suncor’s Palm Valley and Robson’s PebbleCreek has attracted this sophisticated residential base.

Nestled in the Sierra Estrella Mountains seven miles south of I-10, Estrella’s 20,000 acres offers exquisite custom and model home living in the mountain foothills and encompasses two beautiful lakes, a championship golf course, hiking trails, resident community center with fitness rooms and an outdoor water park. The desert’s natural beauty is the framework behind Estrella’s communities of Mountain Ranch, Montecito and Province.

Suncor’s 9,000-acre Palm Valley master planned community north of I-10 provides endless opportunities for a variety of home styles, outdoor recreation, shopping and dining. Palm Valley is the hub of today’s retail activity in Goodyear and will be expanding even more with Westcor’s new Estrella Falls regional mall and its nearby power centers. Sports enthusiasts appreciate Palm Valley’s championship golf course, mid-length golf course, lighted driving range, walking trails and numerous parks. Forbes Magazine recently rated PebbleCreek, Palm Valley’s active adult resort community, one of the “10 most elegant adult resort communities” in the U.S.

Poised for Growth

Goodyear has officially become a member of the Spring Training Cactus League with its $78 million ballpark and practice field complex that will not only be a year-round training facility for the Cleveland Indians, but also a recreational sports complex for residents. The unique design of the ballpark integrates it with surrounding restaurants, offices and a future hotel/conference center. This dynamic development provides a jumpstart for Goodyear’s nearby planned City Center—a downtown built completely from scratch.

The city is positioned for greatness with its new, livable and walkable downtown boasting civic, office, retail and residential components. It is destined to become a bustling, lively area that provides Goodyear a vital sense of place. Bids went out to developers worldwide to collaborate with the city to make the downtown the “heart and soul” of Goodyear as the city grows to its eventual population of 550,000.

Hundreds of college students will add to the future vitality of the downtown area, thanks to two exemplary, private liberal arts universities building campuses on city-owned land adjacent to Goodyear’s City Center. The ultimate plan is to have graduates of these universities choose to stay and work in Goodyear. The development community is already building world class work centers that will be attractive to these graduates and the region’s knowledge-based workforce.

Goodyear is also poised to become a major employment center in the West Valley. To that end, the city broke new ground when it led other neighboring cities in a successful legislative effort to accelerate the widening of I-10. Goodyear’s 4,000-acre employment corridor is one of the largest in the state and home to the 1,216-acre Airport Gateway anchored by the Phoenix Goodyear Airport. Cancer Treatment Center of America’s fourth full-service medical facility in the nation will open at the location by January 2009 bringing a new industry—bioscience—to Goodyear.

Suncor’s Palm Valley 303 is destined to be one of the premier master planned business parks in the western U.S. Already offering 400,000 square feet of unique spec space, it will house 22 million square feet of industrial, retail and Class A office space at build out.

Known as the “Retail Center of the Southwest Valley,” approximately five million square feet of retail are planned for Goodyear by 2010. Westcor/Macerich’s 1.2-million-square-foot Estrella Falls regional mall will be the grand centerpiece of all this retail activity, debuting in fall 2010. The mall’s outdoor lifestyle concept is cutting-edge in shopping center design. Opening in late 2008, Vestar’s 900,000-square-foot center anchored by Super Target brings a wide variety of regional retail to Goodyear’s western area.

Recreational Fun

Goodyear’s great weather and its outdoor treasures are also stimulating its thriving hospitality industry. Those who prefer the outdoor life find Goodyear a mecca of hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding trails in its 19,000-acre Estrella Mountain Regional Park.

With such spectacular mountain surroundings, it’s not surprising that Goodyear plays host to some of the state’s most challenging and dramatic golf courses. Golf Club of Estrella provides breathtaking views on this rolling desert course with multiple elevation changes. In sharp contrast are the green gently rolling fairways of Estrella Mountain Park, Palm Valley, and PebbleCreek’s Tuscany Falls and Eagle’s Nest courses. To top off the golf experience, the lush, mature greenery of the three championship courses at the nearby AAA Four-Diamond Wigwam Resort and Spa beckon any golfer looking for a challenge.

With a new ballpark, developing universities, a new downtown, a thriving retail market, growing employment opportunities, important transportation corridors, fabulous housing developments and great outdoor amenities—it’s no wonder so many new residents, developers and employers are already finding their way to this dynamic, young city!

Paula Ilardo is Communications Manager for the City of Goodyear.

Info Link:
www.ci.goodyear.az.us