Tempe's central event venue is the Tempe Town Lake park, where most of lour local festivals, concerts, and outdoor events are centered.  In recent years, the lake has become lined with glass business and residential towers just East of the park.  Heading South from the lake, you will find eight well-manicured blocks of Mill Avenue connecting the lake to the Arizona State University main campus and ASU's Gammage Theater.  This charming college village has lots of restaurants, hip young stores, and college nightlife.

Papago Park is a 1200 acre hilly desert park located about one mile directly West of Concord Village, and is the home to several of Phoenix's most visited natural playgrounds, including the Phoenix Zoo, the Desert Botanical Gardens, and Hole in the Rock.  The park is sandwiched in between two public golf courses, the Rolling Hills Golf Course to the South and the Papago Golf Course to the North.   Climbing up to Hole in the Rock for the best birds-eye view of Phoenix is a must-do for visitors to Phoenix, and visiting the Zoolights and the Desert Botanical tealights parade during Christmas is an annual tradition for many families.  A family-friendly map of the Papago park is available for download as a PDF from the City of Phoenix.

In addition to all of the well-known attractions, lakes and parks directly to the West (Papago Park) and South (Tempe) of Concord Village, more than a dozen golf courses, parks, lakes and miles of bikepaths are less than a mile East, known collectively as the Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt.  This amazing outdoor resource was created by the Army Corps of Engineers as part of their flood control efforts for the valley.  During heavy storms, this 11 mile-long greenbelt serves as a wash to quckly direct water away from our streets and deliver it to the Salt River, but when it isn't raining, the greenbelt parks are some of the greatest treasures of Scottsdale.  You can request a bicycle map of the park by calling Scottsdale Parks and Recreation at (480) 312-7696, or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or download a PDF copy.