For the past three months, the Scottsdale Gateway Alliance has been engaging with thousands of residents in Southern Scottsdale as part of the RE-Imagining Southern Scottsdale Project. One surprising and pleasing trend that is emerging is a large proportion of younger people choosing to live in Southern Scottsdale.

 

This is welcome news to younger residents like Megan Doyle, 25. Megan grew up in Scottsdale, and when the time came for her to buy her first home, she chose Southern Scottsdale.

 

“What I love about Southern Scottsdale is this underlying buzz,” said Megan. “You can tell something really incredible is about to happen in this area. There are exciting changes going on at Papago Plaza, new restaurants like Fate Brewing, and the new Wetta restaurants coming to SkySong. At the same time, you still have these small favorites and staples in the area. We’re not like North Scottsdale, but that’s ok. We’re not North Scottsdale, we’re Southern Scottsdale. We embrace the change and diversity.”

 

Megan was working at the Scottsdale Conventions and Visitors Bureau when she was tapped to join a city tourism advisory task force to support and implement a plan to bring younger travellers to Scottsdale.

 

During discussions on the task force, it became apparent to the members that the challenge to bring younger visitors to Scottsdale started with young residents.

 

“Visitors want to go where locals want to be and where locals go. Younger people won’t want to come here to visit if younger people don’t want to live here,” said Megan.

 

It was this notion that inspired Scottsdale.Life, an offshoot of the task force working to promote life in Scottsdale for younger residents.

 

“We want to make sure that the younger people who live here, love being here, want their friends to visit here, and then they become ambassadors for Scottsdale.”

 

Scottsdale.Life is a jumping off point with high ambition and optimism. Driven by volunteers, the fledgling organization will coordinate events, promote engagement and civic responsibility, and encourage younger residents to be ambassadors for their city. The group is in the process of building a website, which will showcase the great amenities of Scottsdale tailored for younger people, continuing the notion that visitors want to go where locals go.

 

The group also plans to share video stories about “cool” things that are happening in Scottsdale or of people who are making a difference in the community. They are already in the process of developing their first video about a local Scottsdale entrepreneur.

 

Want to be a part of Scottsdale.Life? Become an ambassador for Scottsdale.Life and Southern Scottsdale every day by perpetuating a positive image and showing your friends and out-of-town guests all the great amenities our community has to offer! If you’d like to be more directly involved, please email Megan Doyle at meg.k.doyle@gmail.com.