Chandler, Arizona

Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, first formed in 1912. The Chandler population currently exceeds 235,000 residents, and the city is widely recognized as one of the fastest growing in the USA. In the Chandler Arizona area, the growth means that vast suburban residential communities are swallowing former agricultural plots. At the turn of the 20th century Chandler was a small agricultural town and while agriculture is still important, over time the city has diversified its economics base and developed a strong manufacturing and electronics presence. The city is known as a "silicon high tech" center, though the appearance of the downtown storefronts reflect a friendly, modernized spin on the original turn-of-the-century look.

Chandler is home to the Williams Air Force Base (established in 1941), and various manufacturing plants for communications, electronics and computing firms such as Motorola and Intel. The city celebrates many family festivals and annual events that make it a popular destination for visitors from across the country. The famous celebration is the annual Ostrich Festival commemorating the many ostrich farms founded during the 1910s to supply the ostrich plumes used in women's hats of the era.