There’s a loud and steady drumbeat in Downtown Phoenix. It’s music from a concert or festival. It’s the clinking of glasses on restaurant patios. It’s the bustle of students trying to make it to class on time. It’s the “beep beep” of construction crews building new and renovating old.

It’s the sound of progress.

Downtown Phoenix is in the midst of a cultural and developmental boom. From large-scale projects like the Biosciences Partnership Building, Arizona School for Law and Society, Union @ Roosevelt and Luhrs City Center to major events like Super Bowl Central, VIVA PHX, McDowell Mountain Music Festival and Comicon, there’s overwhelming evidence to support the idea that Downtown Phoenix is growing into a broader, more interesting, and more textured community.

Consider these numbers:

  • $4.6 billion in investments over a 10-year period
  • 1.2 million square feet of commercial construction underway, including 600 hotel rooms and 650 residential units
  • 800,000 square feet of retail space
  • 8 million square feet of office space
  • 15,000 students, with more facilities on the way
  • 67,000 employees
  • Over 6 million event attendees annually
  • 170 restaurants
  • Expanding bike and transit culture with more than 1 million light rail boarders at Central Station annually

Downtown Phoenix is part of a national trend that is seeing millennials and baby boomers seeking out live/work/play urban lifestyles.

“Downtown Phoenix has been growing for 10 years with investments from both the public and private sectors,” said Dan Klocke, Downtown Phoenix Inc.’s vice president of development. “Right now, what we’re seeing is all that effort meeting up with demographics.”