By Erica E. Phillips | The Wall Street Journal
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—At the edge of this city’s vast desert preserve, Dennis Robbins points on a trail map to several areas adjacent to the vast and rugged hills.
“If you look here, you see golf courses and golf courses and golf courses,” says Mr. Robbins, a city councilman.
In fact, there are more than 50 golf courses in and around this 184-square-mile city just outside Phoenix. Long promoted as “The West’s Most Western Town”—a moniker that the city holds so dear that its leaders recently trademarked it and threatened legal action to protect it—Scottsdale is now better known as a resort destination.
Besides golf courses, its sprawling desert landscapes sparkle with high-end shopping malls, dozens of spas, more than 100 art galleries and museums, multimillion-dollar jewelry retailers and Major League Baseball spring-training facilities.
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