Tempe Real Estate Info
One of the larger cities in the Phoenix metro area, Tempe, Arizona, lies in Maricopa County, in the East Valley part of the region. It is surrounded by Phoenix and Guadalupe to the west, Mesa to the east, Scottsdale to the north and Chandler to the south. In July 2008, an estimate measure Tempe as being home to a population of more than 175,500, an increase of more than 10% since the 2000 census. The city has a large area, with more than 40 square miles of land.
The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece, so named by Darrell Duppa in 1879 because he thought a 300-foot-tall butte in the Salt River valley resembled the Vale of Tempe near Mount Olympus. Tempe incorporated in 1894. Fort McDowell was established nearby on the Salt River in 1865. Today, it is urban and developed, and in 2008, residents here had median annual household income of more than $52,000. In 2008, Tempe homes were measured to have median value of more than $260,000 and median gross rent was nearly $900, making Tempe real estate some of the more affordable in the region.
Tempe has a diverse economy, and it is home to two Fortune 500 companies' headquarters, U.S. Airways and Insight Enterprises. Other smaller corporations headquartered here include Limelight Networks, LifeLock, First Solar, Fulton Homes and Mobile Mini. Tempe has battled the great U.S. recession of late better than many neighboring cities. As of October 2009, its unemployment rate was just 7.5% versus the state's average of 9.3%. The city is easily accessible, with Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport just two miles northwest of the city. Public transit include Valley Metro bus routes and the METRO Light rail system, which serves the downtown area and Arizona State University and connects passengers with nearby Phoenix and Mesa.
Most of the children residing in Tempe are assigned to the Tempe Elementary School District and the Tempe Union High School District. Others living on the city's outer edges may be zoned to the Kyrene School District, the Scottsdale Unified School District or Mesa Public Schools. There are also several private school in operation in Tempe, with K-12 Tri-City Christian Academy, Grace Community Christian School and Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, just to name a few. Tempe is famously known as being home to one of the state's three major public colleges, Arizona State University, and it is also home to the Maricopa County Community College District administrative offices.