PHOENIX—In a panel moderated by Mesa mayor Scott Smith, five of Arizona's hottest districts were named at the Urban Land Institute's Trends Day at the Phoenix Sheraton. Smith said the areas were chosen not specifically for their current economic activity, but for their potential for growth.

Leading the pack was Chandler. Christine Mackay, economic development director for Chandler gave a large amount of credit to the city's founders and their collective vision.

"The original main families that lived in Chandler took it upon themselves to create a tax district and bring water and infrastructure to the area," said Mackay. "This took a lot of forward thinking, especially when developing the Price Road corridor. We had tech as early as the '60s; then in '83 we had Motorola. We focus on that even today."