Arizona Real Estate & Relocation Guide

Goodyear, Arizona

Population: 33,000

Located in Maricopa County

Goodyear, Arizona is a suburban community in the southwest quadrant of metropolitan Phoenix. It consists of more than 115 square miles of plains, rivers and the beautiful Estrella Mountains. Goodyear is part of Maricopa County, with a population of 35,810 living at an elevation of 971 feet. Goodyear is also among four cities within the Estrella Mountain communities, which are cohesively known as Arizona¹s Southwest Valley. The Valley is a place of ³Cool Leisure, Hot Venues, Warm People.²

Goodyear is a premier community with small town ambience and big city amenities. It¹s a city with a rich, rewarding quality of life and great community spirit. Goodyear also happens to be one of the fastest growing cities in Arizona, yet it offers all the advantages of a small community ­ less traffic, safe neighborhoods day and night, and a friendly atmosphere that lets you feel at home right away.

In 2008, the City of Goodyear was one of ten cities nationwide designated as an All-America City. Being named an All-America City puts Goodyear in the select company of only 500 cities out of 4,000 nationwide who have tried for this designation over the past 59 years. Right on the heals of being named an All-America City, Goodyear was also named one of the five Most Livable Cities in America with populations fewer than 100,000 people by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Goodyear is one of only two cities in the country to win both distinguished national awards in the same year.

Goodyear¹s desert vistas, majestic mountains, master-planned communities with lakes, country clubs and golf courses, and an active outdoor lifestyle have already attracted more than 61,000 people, which represents just ten percent of the build-out population. With a mere 2,747 residents in 1980 and 6,258 in 1990, Goodyear¹s population has exploded and it is expected to surge to well over 100,000 residents by 2015. Goodyear has a diverse population with more than 81 percent of heads of households being college-educated and 49 percent having college degrees. The median income of the residents here is estimated at $76,136, which is one of the highest in the state and higher than that of the metro area¹s four largest cities: Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale and Scottsdale.

By offering long-term, affordable and reliable water and power supplies, inexpensive expanses of land where industries can build-to-suit, a cost of living below the national average and a wide array of affordable and executive housing, Goodyear has already attracted several large employers. Well over two dozen office/industrial sites and buildings are in progress, including more than 800,000 square feet for warehousing/light industry, 200,000 square feet of office space and a 700,000 square foot manufacturing facility.

Three major Employment Corridors capitalize on Goodyear¹s unique attributes: Airport Gateway Center. The area around the Phoenix Goodyear Airport is already home to a number of aviation-related industries, including a large aviation maintenance organization, the Airline Training Center of Arizona - which trains Lufthansa Airline pilots, as well as a substantial Lockheed Martin facility. The master plan for the 4,000-acre employment corridor anchored by the airport includes mixed use development that incorporates a variety of retail, commercial, multi-family and loft residential, flex-office, and industrial uses. Office space is currently available.

Just south of the airport, the Goodyear Crossing corridor lies on both sides of the Union Pacific Railroad and Maricopa County Hwy. 85. With such access to all these major transportation links, it will be the general industrial area appropriate for manufacturing and larger employment facilities. In addition to being a growing center for aviation and distribution, Goodyear¹s long history with farming has also attracted several food companies to the city: Poore Brothers, Snyderâ¹s of Hanover, Del Monte Fresh Produce and Southwest Specialty Foods.

Goodyear offers excellent residential choices from affordable starter homes to a variety of upscale dwellings as well as mountainside and equestrian estates. The city is also a Valley leader in master-planned communities, offering exquisite amenities such as country clubs, community centers, golf courses, walking/jogging paths, lakes and mountain trails. Even though Goodyear was founded more than 60 years ago, the vast majority of Goodyear¹s housing stock is less than 10 years old. Fifteen current communities encompass over 30,000 acres, with a projected build out of over 110,000 homes. Approximately 8,500 additional acres are under consideration for planned future developments.

Goodyear welcomed two excellent private institutions of post-secondary education to the community last fall, including Franklin Pierce University from New Hampshire and University of the Incarnate Word from San Antonio. Both colleges have signed leases with the city for 30 acres of land each on which to build campuses that will include student housing. The presence of these private universities represents the culmination of a concerted effort by the Goodyear City Council and staff to bring smaller, private schools of higher education to Goodyear to round out our quality of life and fill an educational niche that is lacking in Arizona. During the 15th Annual Best of the West dinner and awards, Westmarc (a consortium of 15 West Valley cities) honored Goodyear with its top award for Higher Education for our strategy in recruiting private institutions of higher learning.

West Valley Hospital has long represented the healthcare industry in Goodyear. Cancer Treatment Centers of America opened a state-of-the-art all digital cancer hospital in the last week of 2008, providing the highest quality medical, surgical and radiation oncology. The facility is expected to generate $400 million within the local economy over the first five years, while creating 420 new high-wage jobs. The presence of CTCA has already caused interest from the hospitality industry to build two hotels near the hospital to house patients who are being treated at the hospital and their families.

Southwest Valley¹s first super regional shopping center, Estrella Falls is poised to make Goodyear a prime regional destination. Spanning more than 300 acres, the entire project will bring two million square feet of shopping, dining and entertainment upon build out. Estrella Falls encompasses a power center, super regional shopping center, expansive public spaces and parks, residential, office and hotel developments, and dynamic public art and entertainment. Bullard Wash Linear Park runs north-south between the mall and the power center providing an active outdoor amenity for all ages. The 500,000-square-foot, full-service power center ³The Market at Estrella Falls² opened in September 2008. The Market at Estrella Falls will complement the super regional shopping center and brings various offerings to the area including Staples, Old Navy, Petco, Razmataz, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Walgreens and La-Z-Boy. The regional mall will bring a new distinctive destination in a design that¹s comfortable year-round. This 1.2 million-square-foot shopping center is anticipated to open in Fall 2011 before the holiday shopping season. So far, commitments announced for the super regional shopping center include three main anchors: Dillards, Macy¹s and Harkins Theatres. Other stores include Coach, White House/Black Market and Industrial Rideshop.

Major annual events include a spring and fall concert series, movies in the park during the summer, lakeside symphony each spring, Star Spangled Fourth of July Celebration, Howling Halloween and the Holly Jolly festival to kick off the holiday season. In 2008, more than 20,000 citizens enjoyed Goodyear's signature holiday events.

Nearing completion, the Goodyear Recreational Complex provides extensive recreational opportunities for residents as well as Cactus League Spring Training facilities for the Cleveland Indians in 2009 and Cincinnati Reds beginning in 2010. This $108 million project includes the Goodyear Ballpark, the Indians Clubhouse and practice fields and the Reds Clubhouse and practice fields. Each team has two practice fields for their own use year-round, while the other eight are for residential use in months when Spring Training is not active.

Goodyear has earned top environmental awards for its educational campaign introducing and implementing the city¹s new recycling and automated curbside collection program. Curby the Mascot is the central character in Goodyear¹s award-winning sanitation campaign, which recently received Valley Forward¹s Crescordia Award in the environmental educational campaign category. Valley Forward is an organization representing the private and public sectors, promoting cooperative efforts to improve the environment and livability of Valley communities.

The City of Goodyear is in the process of being designated as a Bike-Friendly City. White Tank and Estrella Mountain Parks offer miles of shared-use trails for cycling, as well as designated competitive track areas. A privately operated BMX bike track is located in Goodyear, and many city streets have marked bike lanes in addition to motorized traffic lanes.