Southwest Valley

The southern part of Arizona’s Avenues beckons the traveler to enjoy a variety of amenities. Here are brief descriptions of the Southwest Valley communities.

Avondale

Avondale is a vibrant city, and premier destination for NASCAR racing, education, arts, wildlife watching, festivals, shopping, dining, recreation and family living. Its convenient location puts Avondale at the heart of it all!

Nestled at the base of the scenic Sierra Estrella Mountains where the Agua Fria and Gila Rivers meet, yet right off of Interstate 10 – Avondale is just 15 minutes from metro Phoenix, in the heart of the West Valley. With over 76,000 residents, Avondale’s population is expected to top off at 123,000 by 2020.

An array of shopping, restaurants, fine hotels and other commercial ventures have developed in the last few years. Planning is now underway for the Avondale City Center, a corridor along Avondale Boulevard envisioned as the premier destination for the West Valley. This area will showcase shopping, restaurants and entertainment, with exciting mixed use developments to include hotels, higher quality-higher density housing and professional office space, thus creating a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere conducive to both daytime and evening activities.
Opportunities to excel in education are boundless. Home to Estrella Mountain Community College, Northern Arizona University State Distance Learning, Rio Salado College @ Avondale and Universal Technical Institute, Avondale is only minutes away from ASU’s Downtown and West campuses, as well as Midwestern University and the University of Phoenix.

Avondale offers local and regional events, including soccer tournaments at Friendship and Festival Fields Parks, plenty of tee times at Coldwater Golf Club, and will soon feature Arizona’s largest indoor sports court facility, the Randall McDaniel Sports Complex, for hosting basketball, soccer, volleyball and more! For nature lovers, Avondale offers wildlife viewing, hiking, biking and trail running opportunities on the developing Tres Rios Recreation Corridor and Maricopa County’s Estrella Mountain Regional Park, which is located at the base of the Sierra Estrella Mountains.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Avondale yearly to experience all types of national sporting events. Home to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) and host to two NASCAR races annually, Avondale is also less than five miles away from the Arizona Cardinals’ University of Phoenix Stadium and the Phoenix Coyotes NHL hockey team’s Jobing.com Arena. And baseball lovers will find themselves just minutes away from local spring training baseball facilities – seasonal home to the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds.

Be in the heart of it all – come out to Avondale!

Litchfield Park

A many faceted jewel in the Southwest Valley, the City of Litchfield Park has been named by Phoenix Magazine as one of the “10 Best Places to Live in Arizona”. A beautiful city of approximately 5,000 residents, Litchfield Park is located 15 miles west of Phoenix. Towering palm trees intermingle with ornamental orange trees to make residents and visitors alike feel a sense of welcome. Founded in 1917 and incorporated in August of 1987, this lovely community features a quaint downtown business district and the beautiful and historic Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa. This “oasis in the desert” is a favorite destination for many in the Valley.

Opened to the public in 1929, the iconic Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa has earned numerous four and five star awards. A five million dollar transformation project has revitalized the classic estate-style resort to its original glory. Guests visiting the Wigwam can enjoy the more than 400 acres that include three 18-hole championship golf courses, five restaurants and bars, a signature Red Door Spa and spacious guestrooms and suites.

The town center boasts a locally owned and operated collection of shops and restaurants. Visitors and residents enjoy indoor or outdoor patio dining from a menu of American, Italian, Persian, Mexican, or Japanese foods.

If you enjoy arts and crafts festivals, outdoor concerts and culinary delights, you have another reason to spend time in this beautiful city. Litchfield Park is quickly becoming known for its celebration of the arts. Award-winning festivals such as Christmas in the Park, the Fine Art and Culinary Festival, the Native American Arts Festival, the annual Library Festival of the Arts and six award-winning Arts in the Park outdoor concerts, truly makes Litchfield Park a destination for all art and music lovers. A stroll around the City’s five-acre lake and the landscaped open spaces makes your trip to historic Litchfield Park a visit you will remember.

Tolleson

Tolleson, with its easy access to I-10 and Loop 101, is ideally located for residents who would like to partake of the Valley’s entertainment scene and for businesses looking to ship their products throughout the Southwest and across the country. Approximately ten miles from downtown Phoenix, it is close to Cricket Pavilion, the University of Phoenix Stadium, Jobing.com Arena and a plethora of entertainment venues.

Tolleson boasts three city parks, five lighted basketball courts, tennis and racquet ball courts. Through the years the city has retained its foundation as a family-oriented, friendly small town while creating a regional
employment base.

Founded by W.G. Tolleson of South Carolina in 1912 the city was incorporated in 1929. Once dependent on agriculture the six-square-mile city has a strong commercial and industrial base. It has become an important distribution hub for companies wishing to deliver products to Southwestern markets.

The city of Tolleson hosts many large employers, including JBS Packerland, Kroger’s, Albertson’s, Salt River Project, and Sysco Food Systems. In addition to distribution and food, fiber

and natural products, the community has a strong manufacturing structure.