Phoenix, Arizona is a vibrant city with a lot to offer. From its excellent hotel complexes with elaborate swimming pools and desert gardens, to its luxury spas and championship golf courses, Phoenix is a great destination for visitors and citizens alike. As the capital of Arizona, Phoenix is home to many museums, nature parks and restaurants. It's also well known as a haven for retirees due to its mild climate compared to other parts of the US.
In 1965, the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum opened on the Arizona State Fairgrounds, west of downtown. Phoenix is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, which in turn is part of the Salt River Valley. With the creation of the Phoenix Sister Cities (PSC) organization in 1972, Phoenix became a member of the international sister cities movement. The story of Phoenix begins with Jack Swilling, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who searched the nearby mining town of Wickenburg in the newly formed Arizona territory.
At the end of the decade, Phoenix adopted the Phoenix Concept 2000 plan that divided the city into urban villages, each with its own village core where greater height and density were allowed. This plan has shaped the culture of free market development in Phoenix. The Arizona Upland subdivision of the Sonoran Desert (of which Phoenix is part) has some of the most structurally diverse flora in the United States. Phoenix's first newspaper was the weekly Salt River Valley Herald, established in 1878, which would change its name to the Phoenix Herald the following year.
The Territorial Legislature passed the Phoenix Charter Bill in 1889, incorporating Phoenix and providing mayor-council government; Governor John C.
