Sun City is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States, that is located within the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...

. The population was 39,931 as of the 2020 census. Its adjoining sister city is Sun City West. Both Sun Cities are retirement communities popular with snowbirds.

History

In June 1959, James G. Boswell II, then owner of the J.G. Boswell Company, sold the company’s Marinette and Santa Fe ranches to Del E. Webb Development Co for more than $20 million. This land, totaling 20,000 acres, would become the company’s first retirement community, Sun City. Sun City was opened January 1, 1960, with five home models, a shopping center, a recreation center, and a golf course. The opening weekend drew 100,000 people, ten times more than expected, and resulted in a ''Time'' magazine cover story. The future retirement community was built on the site of the former

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

of Marinette. At first it was called the Marinette Retirement Community, but after a nationwide naming contest in which the winner would win a house, developer Del Webb selected the name Sun City. Developer Del E. Webb expanded Sun City over the years, and his company went on to build other retirement communities in the

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

. Sun City West was built in the late 1970s, Sun City Grand in the late 1990s, Sun City Anthem in 1999, and Sun City Festival in July 2006. The community is well known to law students, as it is featured in the case '' Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del E. Webb Development Co.'', 494 P.2d 700 (Ariz. 1972), commonly used in first-year property law courses to illustrate

nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means something which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "com ...

law. The community's street network design consists largely of concentric circles in four main pinwheels.

Geography

Sun City is located northwest of

downtown Phoenix Downtown Phoenix is the central business district (CBD) of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County, Arizona, ...

. It is bordered to the north, east, and south by the city of Peoria, to the southwest by Youngtown, to the west by El Mirage, and to the northwest by Surprise. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Sun City CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.19%, are water.

Climate

Demographics

According to the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 38,309 people, 23,490 households, and 12,520 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 27,731 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.5%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, <0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.2% from other races, and 0.4% from two or more races. One percent (1.0%) of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 23,490 households, out of which 0.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 3.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were nonfamilies. Individuals comprised 44.1% of all households, and 39.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.60 and the average family size was 2.07. In the CDP, 0.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 0.3% from 18 to 24, 2.0% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 79.8% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 75 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 69.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,508, and the median income for a family was $40,464. Males had a median income of $35,459 versus $26,453 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $25,935. About 2.5% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including none of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Sports and recreation

Sun City has eight golf courses and seven recreational centers, and is home to the Sun Bowl Amphitheatre. Sun City's four

lawn bowling Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

locations were among the sites for the 2019 US Lawn Bowling Open’s South Central Division. A ballpark, Sun City Stadium, opened in 1971 and served as the

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

home of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

from 1973 to 1985. Other teams to play their home games at the ballpark include the Sun City Rays of the

Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...

in 1990, and the Mesa Solar Sox of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

during 1992–1993. The ballpark was razed in 1995.

Transportation

Sun City is served by Valley Metro Bus routes 106 and 138.

Education

Sun City is an unorganized school district territory although Zuni Hills Elementary has a Sun City address. Students are able to attend other schools within the Peoria Unified School District and the neighboring Dysart Unified School District.https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2016/06/Unorganized%20Territory%20MAP.pdf?id=5768604aaadebe14c45f4f8c

Notable residents

:* Paul Casimir Marcinkus GCOIH (/mɑːrˈsɪŋkəs/; January 15, 1922 – February 20, 2006) was an American archbishop of the Catholic Church and president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, from 1971 to 1989. Widely considered as one of the most influential and controversial Vatican officials in the 1970's.

Gallery

File:Sun Bowl, Sun City, Arizona, USA.jpg, Concert at the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

March 11, 2018 File:Sun City pool 4487.jpg, Lakeview Recreation Center swimming pool File:Duffeeland Dog Park 5766.jpg, Duffeeland Dog Park File:SC Railway Club 9082.jpg, Railway Club File:Sun City Sundial 5768.jpg, Plaque reads: "Sun City Sundial /One of the largest /Horizontal Sundials in America /

Gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields, typically to measure directions, position, or time. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was ...

: 36' high, 64' long /Constructed 1973 /(Renovated 2011)" File:Golfing in Sun City AZ, USA.jpg, Golfing in Sun City

References

External links

Surprise Regional Chamber of Commerce

Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts

Del Webb Sun Cities Museum

Demographic and real estate information. Onboard Informatics.
Sun City Home Owners Association

Sun City Fire District

Recreation Centers of Sun City
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Maricopa County, Arizona Census-designated places in Arizona Retirement communities in the United States Phoenix metropolitan area 1960 establishments in Arizona Populated places established in 1960