AZBigMedia
As more and more companies continue to expand their operations in Tempe – such as State Farm, which recently announced its intention to hire an additional 1,100 employees at its offices near Tempe Town Lake – City of Tempe officials have reason to believe that Tempe’s growth spurt isn’t about to end anytime soon.
According to Ambika Adhikari, a Principal Planner at the City of Tempe’s Community Development Department, the city’s annual population growth averages between 1.5 and 2 percent, or roughly 3,000 new residents per year. If that trend continues, with a compounded growth, Adhikari says the city could have over 70,000 new residents by 2040.
Those projections also predict half of those new residents will be in Tempe’s Urban Core, which is the approximately 6 square mile area that encompasses downtown Tempe, Tempe Town Lake, Arizona State University and more. That sort of growth could lead to some 14,000 new dwelling units, millions of square feet of new office and retail development, and an estimated 16,000 new jobs.
