If you’re interested in history, you’ll have to pay a visit to the Arizona Museum of Natural History. Located in Mesa’s downtown district, the museum is billed as the “premier natural history museum in Arizona,” and offers guests the chance to experience Arizona’s ancient past, from the dinosaur periods through the first inhabitants of the Southwest.

Many of the Valley’s gated master planned communities are built where cotton once grew. Subdivisions have sprouted up on farmland in all directions. Areas that were once rural are now home to a more diverse population, who enjoy amenities that were previously out of their budget.