No. 16: Phoenix

Between 1995 and 2005, the population of Phoenix increased more than 39percent to more than 1.5 million residents, making the city the fifth largest inthe country.The Valley of the Sun ? encompassing the neighboring towns of Scottsdale,Mesa and Tempe ? now is home to more than 4 million people, according tofigures from the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area. Those numbers are likelyto be dwarfed when the 2010 census is taken.Moreover, the Census Bureau predicts that Arizona will lead the nationthrough 2030 in the increase of 25-year-olds, a prime employment cohort.Unlike some other cities, however, Phoenix's growth does not depend on alarge military presence. The five Defense Department bases statewide contributemore than $5.7 billion to Arizona's economy and account for some83,000 jobs, according to statistics from the governor's office. But only LukeAir Force Base, nine miles west of Glendale, is near Phoenix. The base hasmore than 5,500 service personnel and 2,250 civilian employees. In addition,11,880 Air Force retirees list Luke as their base of record. That number swellsto more than 80,000 when seasonal snow bird retirees and their families returnto the area.The Phoenix area had 34,455 civilian and military jobs in 2005, accordingto the Bureau of Economic Analysis."There is just [so much] growth opportunity here," said Dan Ayala, director ofthe Phoenix Chamber of Commerce's BidSource program, which provides informationand instruction on federal and state government contracting.The federal contractor and information technology presence includesMotorola Inc., Honeywell Aerospace, Phelps Dodge Corp. andSTMicroelectronics N.V., of Switzerland. With 15,000 municipal employees,Phoenix is one of the Southwest's biggest employers.Ayala said downtown Phoenix is undergoing a major redevelopment effort."I'm on the 27th floor of the building, and I see cranes everywhere. So thegrowth and the opportunity are here."