TOP 10 SMALL CITIES
BEST PLACES TO LIVE 2006

7. Scottsdale, AZ

Population: 226,000
Typical single-family home: $500,000
Est. property taxes: $2,200
Pros: Vibrant community with ample opportunities for work and play
Con: Brutal summers

Forget its reputation as a winter retreat for well-off, golf-obsessed retirees. Scottsdale offers year-round residents a wealth of job opportunities, great schools and recreation that doesn't end at the 18th hole.

Missouri native Suzanne Searle, 33, settled in nearby Phoenix nine years ago but soon realized that she was spending more time here.

"It has great night life," says Suzanne, a Web editor for a public utility in nearby Tempe.

These days she and her husband Joe, also 33, spend less time out on the town and more time running along the Arizona Canal or through the Greenbelt, a 13-mile network of paths and parks that doubles as the city's floodplain on those rare days that rain falls.

If you can't stand the heat, you won't like Scottsdale in the summer. But locals learn how to handle 100°-plus temps.

"You have nine months of great weather and three months of intense heat," says Joe, a program manager for Honeywell in Phoenix. "I just treat summer here like I would winter anywhere else."

Most of the city's newcomers are in their thirties, says local real estate agent Dennis Alaburda.

"They want warm weather and the more laid-back lifestyle," he says.

Thanks to a diverse and growing employment base, such a change needn't mean a pay cut. Although tourism remains its leading industry, Scottsdale is home to major companies including Cold Stone Creamery, the Dial Corp. and General Dynamics C4 Systems.

The Scottsdale Airpark, surrounding the city airport, hosts 2,400 businesses, small and large, in more than 100 industries. The strong economic base has been a boon for Scottsdale's 33 public schools, most of which rank among the state's top schools by test scores.

Scottsdale has its share of multimillion dollar neighborhoods, and the place is no bargain. But you can find $300,000 fixer-uppers in the up-and-coming southern part of the city.

The real estate market has cooled from this time a year ago, when speculators turned every deal into a bidding war. Today three- and four-bedroom houses in established neighborhoods hover around $500,000 - that's with a (much needed) pool.

Click here for a look at Scottsdale by the numbers.

Back to Best Places to Live 2006

Originally published story