Students living in Phoenix

300 sunny days await you as a student living in the Phoenix area. Outside of the notorious summers, it's a gorgeous place to live most of the year. The only downside to being in the Valley of the Sun between September and May is that business school is no walk in the park; as a W. P. Carey student, you really do have to study. The good news is you can immerse yourself in a thriving metropolis that doesn’t just center on campus life. 

300 sunny days await you as a student living in the Phoenix area. Outside of the notorious summers, it's a gorgeous place to live most of the year. The only downside to being in the Valley of the Sun between September and May is that business school is no walk in the park; as a W. P. Carey student, you really do have to study. The good news is you can immerse yourself in a thriving metropolis that doesn’t just center on campus life. 

Things to see and do around Phoenix

The Valley offers endless options for entertainment. Sports are ingrained in Phoenix culture and Arizona State University is in the heart of action. Watch professional teams such as the Phoenix Suns and attend Spring Training throughout the greater Phoenix metro or the Waste Management Golf Tournament in Scottsdale — one of the most-attended tournaments on the PGA Tour!

If the arts are more your speed, America's fifth-largest city is the place for you. With arts festivals basically year-round (thanks, weather!) and plenty of live music venues and theatre, your student experience won't be limited to what you can do on campus. Although, since you're on campus, check out the many Broadway productions performed at ASU Gammage Auditorium, just a block away from the W. P. Carey School. The legendary building was the last public work by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and in the past few years has hosted American Idiot, The Book of Mormon, and Hamilton.

Yearly events such as the Tempe Festival of the Arts, the Arizona Dragon Boat Festival, and various theatrical productions at ASU Gammage exist too. 

Getting around the Valley of the Sun

Use public transportation to get to Downtown Phoenix (and other places in the Valley). Take the light rail and chances are you’ll pass the Heard Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum. If you get off at the first stop in Downtown PHX, you’ll find Bitter & Twisted, near 1st Avenue and Jefferson Street stations. The establishment specializes in well-known and creative cocktails and features an open air space. Other perks of Downtown Phoenix include quality coffee shops and artsy Roosevelt Row and its many murals during First Friday Art Walks.

The light rail is a very popular resource for ASU students. So popular, in fact, that it not only runs through the heart of campus near the intersection of Rural Road and University Drive, but a brand new streetcar system will hit the rails in 2020, offering travelers (and a ton of students), nearly a dozen stops on the southern perimeter of campus, including two stops located less than a five-minute walk from the W. P. Carey School. The streetcar is designed to ease campus congestion, and it links to the light rail system in the heart of Downtown Tempe, right off the bustling Mill Avenue. 

Enjoying Arizona’s great outdoors

Nature is all around in the greater Phoenix area, which makes it the perfect city for hiking, mountain biking, cycling and horseback riding. If you are new to the area, you can check out South Mountain, Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Camelback Mountain, and Hole-in-the-Rock at Papago Park. The central location of Phoenix gives residents access to other exciting cities in the United States. If a weekend trip is what you need, destinations like Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, Sedona, California, Utah, Las Vegas are all within reach. 

Another option is just staying close to home: You can spend time paddle boarding, running, or playing volleyball around Tempe Town Lake. Besides Tempe, the valley includes cities such as Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale and Gilbert. And if you love food, Gilbert is the perfect choice for foodies to thrive. Drive on over and eat food with local ingredients and fresh farm produce. Visit Postino Winecafe for delicious bruschetta or Clever Koi for Korean fried chicken. 

As a W. P. Carey student at ASU, you live in a lively college town and a place that ranks No. 2 in terms of quality of life and No. 10 in professional opportunities. Here, it’s truly the perfect place to be a student.