Encanto Village is one of the 15

Urban village In urban planning and design, an urban village is an urban development typically characterized by medium-density housing, mixed use zoning, good public transit and an emphasis on pedestrianization and public space. Contemporary urban village ide ...

s that make up the

City of Phoenix Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the onl ...

, in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. The village includes the city's midtown and uptown districts, as well as the popular Encanto neighborhood, its namesake. In 2010, Encanto had a population of 54,614 residents.

Geography

The community is located in Central Phoenix. At about 8 square miles, it is the city's smallest urban village by area, and, consequently, one of its densest. The western border of the village is the I-17 Black Canyon Freeway, and the southern border is McDowell Road. The Grand Canal makes up the northern and eastern border. ViadTower

Features

The core of the Encanto Village is the

Park Central Mall Park Central Mall was the first shopping mall in Phoenix, Arizona. It is located in Encanto Village, on Central Avenue and Osborn Road. Today it exists as a mixed-use, business park primarily occupied by regional administrative offices for non ...

; and the

Arizona State Fair The Arizona State Fair is an annual state fair, held at Arizona State Fairgrounds. It was first held in 1884, but has had various interruptions due to cotton crop failure, the Great Depression era, World War I & World War II years & the COVID-1 ...

, on whose fairgrounds the

Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992, as well as indoor ...

is located. It was the original home of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, the city's

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

franchise. Other points of interest include

Encanto Park Encanto Park is a public park in central Phoenix, Arizona. The park is composed of of land consisting of picnic areas, a lagoon, a boat house, swimming pool, nature trail, amusement park, fishing and two golf courses. The lagoon is approxima ...

, Steele Indian School Park,

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

Phoenix Art Museum The Phoenix Art Museum is the largest museum for visual art in the southwest United States. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of ...

and

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union High School and Juni ...

. The village includes the city's Midtown and Uptown districts, which, combined with nearby

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

, make up the largest center of employment in the state of Arizona. Encanto also includes the southern portion of the Melrose District (with the northern portion in neighboring

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...

), which has an increasing number of gay and lesbian bars.

Transportation

Encanto Village is served by

Valley Metro Rail Valley Metro Rail (styled as METRO) is a light rail line serving the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa in Arizona, USA. The network, which is part of the Valley Metro public transit system, began operations on December 27, 2008. In , the sys ...

, with 4 stops located within the boundaries of the village, Thomas/Central Avenue station, Osborn/Central Avenue station, Indian School/Central Avenue station, and

Campbell/Central Avenue station Campbell/Central Avenue, also known as Central High, is a station on the Metro light rail line in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Notable places nearby * Central High School * Brophy College Preparatory * Xavier College Preparatory Xavier ...

Historic Neighborhoods

Encanto village contains a majority of the city of Phoenix residential historic districts with 21 of the 36 districts falling within its boundaries. * Ashland Place * Alvarado * Campus Vista * Cheery Lynn * Coronado * Country Club Park * Del Norte Place * East Alvarado * Earll Place * Encanto-Palmcroft * Encanto Manor * Fairview Place * Idylwilde Park * La Hacienda * Los Olivos * Margarita Place * North Encanto * Willo * Woodlea * Villa Verde * Yaple Park

References

External links

{{Clear Urban villages of Phoenix, Arizona Gay villages in the United States