The City of Chandler developed the South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study in 2006, setting forth a vision for the development of the corridor between Dr. A.J. Chandler Park and the new SanTan Freeway, ¾ mile to the south. Between downtown and the freeway is the corridor that the City intends to see redeveloped, with mixed residential and commercial uses to create a dynamic new “front door” for Chandler. The purpose of these design guidelines is to guide zoning requests within the South Arizona Avenue Corridor to achieve the objectives of the Chandler General Plan. The overall goal of these objectives is to implement the vision for South Arizona Avenue. The guidelines address the major design aspects of new office, retail and residential buildings in the corridor. Design Guidelines are not building or streetscape designs; they provide design direction so that each project’s architectural design will reinforce the City’s strategic intentions as this important area of the city responds to its new role as Chandler’s “front door.” These guidelines also identify streetscape design principles for South Arizona Avenue with the objective of coordinating public and private design in the Corridor.

The South Arizona Avenue Entry Corridor Study is prompted by a Mayor and Council goal for redeveloping the section of Arizona Avenue from Pecos Road to Boston Street as a new entryway to downtown from the Santan/Loop 202 Freeway. The plan was created with extensive neighborhood participation,which included six neighborhood meetings and individual meetings with property owners.The comprehensive approach to this study can be broken down into four primary areas: Land Use,Traffic Circulation, Conceptual Design Standards, and Neighborhood Planning.

It was decided to revise the 1980 Havasu area study, since the area had changed so much. The members felt that to retain some control over the growth a revised area plan was needed and decided to have the area covered to be just the 72 square miles of the Desert Hills Fire District, rather than the whole of the unincorporated Lake Havasu Area north of the City.

Construction of a habitat restoration project in the Salt River will begin in the spring of 2000 which will transform the riverbed to provide a variety of amenities including recreation opportunities, improved flood management, riparian vegetation and wildlife habitat. The Beyond the Tanks area surrounds the Rio Salado project and is bounded by I-17 to the north, 32nd Street to the east, Broadway Road to the south and 19th Avenue to the west. The committee has adopted the name "Village at Rio Salado" for this area but will be referred to as "Beyond the Banks" in this report.

The city of Phoenix Planning Department was asked to prepare a land use plan to identify goals and policies to guide development decisions for an area beyond the banks of the Salt River and to complement the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project (Rio Salado Project). In response, the Planning Department initiated a five-phase planning process to develop an area plan. The resulting plan builds on the community's vision of how the area will develop in the future and identifies the steps needed to make that vision a reality.

The Graham County, Safford, Thatcher, Pima Small Area Transportation Study was initiated by Graham County, in conjunction with the Arizona Department of Transportation, to develop a countywide, long-range multimodal transportation plan for this growing rural Arizona community. The project sponsors selected the PB Americas team to conduct this study under the direction of a Technical Advisory Committee, which included representatives from Graham County, City of Safford, Town of Thatcher, Town of Pima, Southeastern Arizona Governments Organization, and ADOT.

In 1992, Graham County conducted a transportation study for the Gila Valley Region. This study prepared a long-range transportation plan and a transportation improvement program. Many of the improvements have been completed. The purpose of this study is to update the 1992 transportation plan and to address the current issues within the area.

The Ahwatukee Foothills Village is bounded by I-10 to the east, South Mountain to the north and the Gila River Indian Community to the west and south. Although most people are only aware of Ahwatukee Foothills for its planned community development, the village has its own history. The village is named after the once existing Ahwatukee Ranch which was one of the most beautiful and lavish houses when it was built in 1922.