Kierland Commons

Welcome to the Valley of the Sun’s future, where phrases like “live-work” and “mixed-use” suddenly—finally!—apply. Completed in 2000, Kierland Commons is the city’s first-ever “lifestyle center,” a 600,000-square-foot Scottsdale development that includes shopping, dining, entertainment, office space and upscale loft condominiums. Originally created to serve as the community gathering place for the master-planned community of Kierland, the mixed-use facility shares acreage with the Westin Kierland Resort and its 27-hole Kierland Golf Club, so that one can dine, golf, shop, and live all within a square city mile. Home to 75 department and specialty stores (among them Anthropologie, Coach, Crate and Barrel, and J. Crew) and restaurants, Kierland rests on about 38 acres of newly redeveloped local land. For those who don’t live there, Kierland is still a destination for convenient shopping, spa time, and dining. How long before Kierland becomes its own city?