Posts Tagged ‘scottsdale homes for sale’

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Scottsdale is a Great Place for Birds and Birdwatchers

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

Scottsdale is truly a birdwatcher’s paradise. Bird watching is one of the most popular lifetime hobbies around the world because it is fun and challenging at any age. Arizona is one of the premier bird watching states, possibly due in part to the warm Arizona climate that birds enjoy as much as the people do.  Much like the “snowbirds” who move to Scottsdale homes for the unique environment and great golf, birds migrate from the northern United States and Canada.  

You can often watch endangered and migrating birds enjoying the greens, nature and ponds along with golfers and resort goers at Sonoran Desert, FireSky Resort & Spa and The Phoenician. If you enjoy the outdoors, many bird watching locals are along Scottsdale’s famous hiking trails and nature spots like Lost Dog Wash Trail, Pinnacle Peak Trail, and Nursery Tank Trail.  

If you don’t know anything about bird watching, don’t worry it is never too late to introduce yourself to this unique hobby. TheDesert Botanical Garden has been educating visitors and the public about the desert plants of the Southwestern United States and the world since 1939. The Garden is a wonderful place to hold a wedding or business event because it has both indoor and outdoor spaces including open air pavilions.  

Scottsdale, Arizona, has many attractions that make it worth exploring from outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, and golfing to indoor activities such as world-class shopping, art museums, and spas. Whichever activity you are enjoying at the moment, take the time to look out for a heron or osprey, enjoying the warm weather and wonderful climate along with you.

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Never a Dull Moment in Scottsdale

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

For the people who live in Scottsdale homes and real estate there is a wealth of fun things to do and see. For example, for an overview of Scottsdale’s history, art, architecture, city offerings and desert surroundings, visitors and residents can take any number of daytime tours. If art is your passion, there are companies that specialize in customized cultural tours including art, architecture, theater, contemporary Native American art and Scottsdale fashion tours. If you’d rather, you can visit the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art or take a self-guided ArtWalk tour of Scottsdale’s Art District along Main Street and Marshall Way.  

For history buffs, four-wheel-drive tours bounce you along old settlers’ trails beyond Scottsdale’s borders to see abandoned gold mines and Native American ruins. You can also learn more about Scottsdale’s history at the Scottsdale Historical Museum, which showcases the prehistory, history and cultural heritage of Scottsdale and the Southwest.  

“Foodie” tours explore old saloons, fine dining venues and decades-old restaurants such as Reata Pass and Pinnacle Peak Patio, which are both replicas of 1880s western towns with steakhouse restaurants and live music. You could take in a show at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, the Scottsdale Desert Stage Theatre, a nearby casino or at a movie theater before heading to one of Scottsdale’s more than fifty wine bars, lounges and dance clubs. If you really like to dance, try Axis/Radius and Myst, or for a more quiet evening, check out the Kazimierz world wine bar, Trader Vic’s at Hotel Valley Ho or the Living Room at the W Scottsdale. For a rip-roarin’ good time, locals love the Rusty Spur Saloon and the Handlebar J Restaurant and Saloon for Old West-style live music.  

If you’re looking for something a bit more sedate, try one of Scottsdale’s coffee houses or tea rooms for an afternoon break before preparing for your evening activities. Speaking of nights on the town, be sure to start with happy hour at any of Scottsdale’s classic and/or trendy bars and colorful taverns.

rl0z1

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Scottsdale Homes have Low Crime Rate

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

For a sprawling, cosmopolitan city that has grown as steadily as Scottsdale, Arizona, it is good to note that the crime rate has not increased as the population has blossomed. In fact, the city’s crime rate has actually declined. Scottsdale Police Department (SPD) data show that between 2005 and 2009, there were indications of a decreasing trend in burglary, auto theft, aggravated assault and total property crimes.  

All residents, whether you own one of the many luxury Scottsdale homes or more modest real estate, as well as the officers and administration of the Scottsdale Police Department, take pride in Scottsdale’s reputation as a safe, secure community and in its working partnerships and friendly relationships with local businesses and residents. Thanks to forward-thinking programs, investments in technology and careful training and recruitment, the Scottsdale Police Department is well-known for taking good care of the community.  

All that said, as in any metropolitan area, smart residents take common-sense safety precautions, and for added security and privacy, some residents choose to install alarm systems and/or live in one of Scottsdale’s many gated communities. Still others choose to participate in police department-supported neighborhood watch programs.  

On a related note, Scottsdale’s city government helps residents be safety-smart by enacting ordinances, supporting activities and fostering initiatives that enhance both safety and Scottsdale’s renowned quality of life. For example, the City of Scottsdale’s CityCable Channel 11 programming offers live and recorded shows that Scottsdale residents can also download from the Internet. The wide variety of programming includes shows that discuss personal safety tips associated with home environments as well as the workplace.  

While some say that Scottsdale’s old tag line, “The West’s Most Western Town,” is a bit too quaint and possibly outdated, Scottsdale is still a “Western Town” in the sense that its government continues to pioneer ways to keep it safe.    

rl0z1

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Scottsdale Welcomes Many Visitors Each Year

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Literally millions of visitors vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona every year. And many of those visitors fall in love with the southwest and purchase a Scottsdale homes on some of the most view-rich real estate in the country.  

Here are some interesting statistics relating to visitors and businesses in Scottsdale, Arizona:  

Who visits Scottsdale and what do they spend their money on?  

  • Number of visitors annually: 8.1 million visitors (2008)
  • Average age: 57 years old
  • Average daily expenditures (per hotel guest): $258.65
  • Average length of stay: 5.5 nights
  • Percentage of overnight stays in a hotel/resort: 61 percent
  • Visitor median household income: $101,600
  • Resorts and hotels: Scottsdale has nearly 70 hotels and resorts with a combined total of more than 13,700 rooms and on-property meeting space ranging from 600 to 80,000 square feet.
  • Resort swimming pools and spas: 222
  • Resort tennis courts: 97
  • Annual hotel bed tax revenue: $7.01 million (2009)
  • Annual economic impact of visitors: $3.6 billion  

Along with shopping for a gorgeous Scottsdale home, what do visitors do while they’re in Scottsdale, Arizona? The top ten activities participated in by Scottsdale visitors are:  

1.      Shopping

2.      Day Trips

3.      Art Galleries and Museums

4.      Native American Arts and Culture

5.      Western and Cultural Attractions

6.      Outdoor Desert Activities

7.      Special Events

8.      Nightlife

9.      Sporting Events

10.    Spas  

Getting to Scottsdale, Arizona has never been easier thanks to easy airport access.  

Scottsdale enjoys convenient access to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport which is host to over 1,200 daily flights. In addition, Scottsdale Municipal Airport is located just seven miles north of downtown Scottsdale. Approximately 10,000 passengers a year travel through Scottsdale Municipal Airport, making it one of the busiest single-runway airports in the country.  

rl0z1

Source: Press Release, www.ScottsdaleCVB.com    

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Schools in Scottsdale Partner with Discovery Education

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

If you purchased one of beautiful luxury Scottsdale homes for sale or are currently looking at real estate in Scottsdale, Arizona, you are probably interested in the quality of education your children will receive from the local public school district. Fortunately, integrating technology and 21st Century learning into all classrooms is a high priority for the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD). That is why the Scottsdale Unified School District is now partnering with Discovery Education to bring dynamic digital content to educators and students district-wide. Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications, whose networks include the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel and Animal Planet.  



Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, students and teachers in Scottsdale Unified School District schools will enjoy access to Discovery Education streaming Plus. Offering more than 150,000 digital learning objects, including videos, interactive, images and articles, Discovery Education streaming plus integrates seamlessly into any curriculum. Aligned to Arizona’s state educational standards and assessment criteria, and searchable by keyword, content area and grade level, the program’s rich video content and other digital assets from Discovery Education are designed to engage today’s media-savvy student in learning.  

In addition, elementary and middle school teachers in the Scottsdale Unified School District will now be able to incorporate Discovery Education Science into the classroom. Discovery Education Science is an online instructional service that supports science inquiry with content developed for and tied to Arizona’s educational standards related to science. The service provides core science content through multiple learning modalities, and coupled with a real-time assessment component that measures students’ progress, it recommends individualized resources that reinforce classroom instruction.  

Discovery Education is also partnering with the Scottsdale Unified School District to provide consistent professional development for educators to help them integrate Discovery Education streaming Plus, Discovery Education Science and other educational technologies into existing curriculum.

rl0z1

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Scottsdale Nightlife: Fun, Funky and Fabulous Nightlife Hot-Spots

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

If you’re interested in purchasing one of the many beautiful luxury Scottsdale homes for sale, you might just also be interested in Scottsdale’s famous nightlife. Scottsdale is host to an undeniably large and great high-energy mix of dance clubs, sophisticated lounges and casual Mexican cantinas, not to mention boot scootin’ saloons, trendy tiki huts and poolside beach bars.  

Here’s a sampling of just a few of Scottsdale’s fun, funky and fabulous night-life hot-spots:  

HIGH-ENERGY, HIGH-STYLE

Side-by-side sister clubs, Axis/Radius are home to some of the most high-style, high-energy folks in town. You might want to begin your evening’s festivities at the more low-key Axis with its second-floor lounge and indoor-outdoor bar; when you’re ready, take a stroll across the glass-bottomed catwalk to Radius, which features stunning VIP rooms overlooking a pulsating dance floor cooled with icy blasts of CO² gas. Then head on over to Myst, a massive, multi-level party palace in the heart of the downtown entertainment district boasting soaring catwalks, multiple dance floors and private skyboxes.  

FUN AND FUNKY

Knock back tropical tipples at the tiki-riffic Trader Vic’s at Hotel Valley Ho or step inside a sultry lair right out of a James Bond movie at Drift Polynesian Lounge. Downtown Scottsdale’s Geisha A Go Go is a fashionable, Tokyo-inspired restaurant and lounge with private Karaoke rooms and strawberry-infused cocktails. Get in touch with your saucy side at the Jackrabbit Supper Club & Lounge, an A-List hot-spot featuring hourly burlesque dance shows, or you can gas-up your inner biker at the Billet Bar, a rough and tumble lounge where tattoos are said to be suggested, but not required.  

CASUAL NIGHT OUT

Break out your flip-flops at Dos Gringos, a Mexican cantina and patio bar with a beach-shack vibe. Speaking of hot-spots, Sandbar Mexican Grill delivers spicy south-of-the-border fare and ice cold cervezas in a casual atmosphere that transforms into a raucous nightclub replete with sandy beaches and VIP cabanas.  

COWBOY KITSCH

A former 1920’s bank, the Rusty Spur Saloon is a historic tavern where everyone from John Wayne to Vince Vaughn has drowned their sorrows in some suds. If you’re looking for live country music and line dancing, including free lessons for greenhorns, scoot yer boots on over to the Handlebar J Restaurant & Saloon. A spin-off of the original on L.A.’s Sunset Strip, Saddle Ranch Chop House offers a cowboy-chic ambience and we-dare-you mechanical bull rides.  

Whatever your nightlife pleasure is, Scottsdale’s has lots of terrific options for you.  

 

Source: Press Release, www.scottsdalecvb.com

rl0z1

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Facts About the Scottsdale City Government

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Scottsdale is Arizona’s sixth largest city. In 2009, according to the official City of Scottsdale website, Scottsdale’s city government served a population of 230,625 and city statisticians projected a 2014 population of 248,133. In comparison, when the town was incorporated in 1951, there were only 2,000 people living in Scottsdale homes.  

Scottsdale’s primary city departments include: Mayor, Council and Government; Business Services and Taxes; Demographics, Finance and Economics; Environment and Preservation; Police; Fire; Parks, Recreation and Activities; Health, Social Services and Education; Streets and Transportation; Building, Planning and Zoning; and Water, Waste and Recycling.  

Scottsdale’s city government has grown along with its population. The Mayor and six City Council members are elected at-large to represent the entire city. Currently, over 200 Council-appointed Scottsdale residents volunteer to serve on 28 advisory boards and commissions. Meanwhile, the City Manager’s Office is responsible for executive leadership of the city staff and for implementing City Council policies, developing programs and budgets to respond to City Council goals, and ensuring that citizens receive effective and efficient city services.  

Scottsdale has its own City Court, which is the third largest municipal court in Arizona, based upon numbers of cases filed. The court handles petty offenses, civil traffic and misdemeanor violations, City ordinance and code violations, and the issuance of injunctions against harassment and orders of protection.  

Part of the City of Scottsdale’s mission is to plan and manage growth in harmony with the city’s unique heritage and spectacular desert surroundings. Scottsdale’s leaders recently learned from a survey the city conducted that these efforts are foremost in citizens’ minds, too. In fact, survey respondents rated as very important the characteristic of “open space and land preservation,” and also rated as very important that one of the characteristics for which Scottsdale should be known is the Sonoran desert. The respondents also strongly agreed that Scottsdale’s values should include respecting the environment and preserving the desert. rl0z1

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Scottsdale Unified School District Buses Have Star Status

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

If you are looking at Scottsdale Arizona homes for sale and have children, chances are they will probably attend the Scottsdale Unified School District, which is an excellent school district encompassing many schools.

Education and safety go hand-in-hand, and a big part of the safety of students involves riding school buses. Utilizing an amazingly complicated set of routes and schedules, the Transportation Department at the Scottsdale Unified School District covers approximately 174 routes on a daily basis, providing over 1.6 million rides per year. The district transports students not just to and from school, but also transports Special Needs students to specialty schools, transports athletes to and from athletic events, transports band members to and from competitions, and transports all types of students on various class field trips. To accomplish this massive task, the district employs a Transportation Director and a staff of dispatchers, route schedulers and driver-trainers.

According to SUSD, the bus garage, where service and maintenance takes place, is operated by First Vehicle Services (FVS), an international general fleet service contractor. The district’s website states that it is the first school to achieve the prestigious Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program (VVP) “Star” status. Through their partnership with FVS, the Scottsdale Unified School District’s fleet of over 200 well-maintained buses has been recognized by the Arizona Department of Public Safety for the highest inspection scores in the state for three consecutive years. rl0z1

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The Art of Dining in Scottsdale

Monday, October 18th, 2010

For those who own one of the many beautiful Scottsdale homes, restaurant dining is a fine art. From classical to romantic to contemporary and fusion, there’s a pallet-full of distinctive dining choices guaranteed to tantalize pretty much anyone’s palette.  



Scottsdale houses restaurants with irresistible names like Salty Senorita and Cowboy Ciao have equally imaginative menus that offer multi-ethnic flavors that reawaken your taste buds. In addition, many of Scottsdale’s upscale resorts have critically-acclaimed signature restaurants that are definitely worth the visit.  

Scottsdale is fortunate to be a premier location for local restaurateur Sam Fox’s growing collection of boutique restaurants, but if your taste is more traditional, Scottsdale also has an array of seafood houses and steakhouses, from one-of-a-kind hot-spots to well-known favorites such as Fleming’s, Mastro’s and Ruth’s Chris.  

If you’re looking for something a little bit more funky, you can chow down on some Western grub at Handlebar J Restaurant & Saloon, Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse or at Old Scottsdale’s Rusty Spur Saloon.  

For truly authentic Mexican food prepared by a truly authentic Scottsdale pioneer family, don’t miss Los Olivos Patio Restaurant, named for the olive trees that used to line the street where the restaurant is located (on the corner of Second Street and Wells Fargo). Tomas Corral and his family were amongst the first Mexican families to arrive in Scottsdale in 1917 to help in the cotton fields that farmers were expanding to supply cotton for World War I. Mr. Corral opened an adobe brickyard near where Scottsdale Center for the Arts now stands and during the Depression, Mrs. Corral sold tamales door to door.  

For lighter meals and tasty treats be sure to try one of Scottsdale’s numerous pubs, grills, sports bars, pizza joints, coffee houses, or scrumptious ice cream and frozen yogurt parlors. Meanwhile, Grimaldi’s coal-fired brick oven, New York-style thin crust pizza is a must-visit destination for both locals and tourists. rl0z1

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Scottsdale Real Estate Community of Gainey Ranch has Small Town Feel

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

In 1981, the plans for Gainey Ranch real estate community were being created with a specific vision in mind. It was to be like a small town; like those that exist all across America, where many retain deep roots and fond enduring memories.

  • A place of refuge from life’s daily cares – a quaint urban environment
  • A place where people can enjoy their lives to the fullest
  • A resort like atmosphere of luxury Scottsdale homes 

Gainey Ranch, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, perpetuates the name of Daniel C. Gainey, its former owner, an enterprising Minnesotan who made a personal fortune selling school class rings. He later achieved international recognition for his consuming passion and second career of breeding of Arabian horses. Gainey used his Scottsdale ranch to stable 30 or 40 of his 100 Arabian horses, grazed an average herd of 160 Hereford cattle and planted various agriculture crops.

Markland Properties and James M. Kilday, Markland’s founder and chief executive officer, acquired 560 of Daniel C. Gainey’s 640-acre parcel in late 1980 for the purpose of master planning and developing a new community called Gainey Ranch. Kilday was determined to make Gainey Ranch what it deserved to be – a benchmark ‘living resort.’ Thus, a ‘luxury resort’ concept was conceived for the project. To Markland, the term ‘luxury resort’ meant a development that preserved and featured all the things that were here – the beautiful blue sky, the warm sunshine and the desert. What he wanted to do was take all things that are so great about Scottsdale and make them better.

Gainey Ranch is a mixed-use luxury community created to enhance the many benefits of the Scottsdale lifestyle. Surrounding the 27-hole Gainey Ranch golf course, with over five miles of fairway frontage, the homes of Gainey Ranch provide private neighborhood living within a resort atmosphere. The residences range from condominiums to single family and custom estate homes. All are within a walled and gated community featuring a manned and remote entry security plazas, roving patrols, and a centrally monitored residential security system installed in each Gainey Ranch residence.  

The paths and trails around and within the community accommodate walking, jogging, bicycling and horseback riding. Outside of the walls of Gainey Ranch and just minutes from home, is the heart of Scotttsdale’s unique urban lifestyle. #RL-bp~2

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