Phoenix Lands on Forbes List of Growth Cities

Cityscape is a $900 million urban development project (photo courtesy of Stefanie Carson).

PHOENIX—Downtown is currently experiencing more growth than in its entire history, with $500 million in construction projects and more than $4 billion in total investments since 2008. This year, it ranked 11th on Forbes’ list of fastest-growing cities in America and is projected to be the fourth largest US city by 2020.

Additionally, City Observatory just released an update on its report “Surging City Center Job Growth,” which was originally released last year. The 2015 report found that from 2007 to 2011, urban cores overtook the suburbs in terms of job growth. Today, suburbs are outpacing city cores in terms of job growth but urban cores remain in a much stronger position than during the previous economic expansion. The persistence of this pattern suggests that the dramatic decline in job sprawl in suburban areas from 2007 to 2011 was not simply a temporary result of the recession, but is enduring through the current economic recovery.