Watch online or read the text below.

Thank you Katie for that kind introduction. And if I could take just a moment, I’d like to thank my wife, Christa and my mom Judy, for their love and support. And I’d like to especially acknowledge City Manager Frank Fairbanks, all our hard-working city employees and all my colleagues on the Phoenix City Council.

Well, this is the fourth time I’ve stood before you to deliver the State of the City Address. It’s almost impossible to believe the years can fly by the way they do. That’s why it’s so important to make the most of every single minute, every single day.

And in the past three-and-a-half years that’s exactly what we’ve done in Phoenix.

As Mayor, my vision has been to put Phoenix on a map that goes well beyond the weather and golf that have defined our past. Golf is fine. And good weather is always helpful. But the future of our Phoenix will be defined by our relentless quest to become an international center of science, education and research.

And we’re getting there. In a hurry.

Because the state of the city is this: on the rise and about to soar.

Think about the acknowledged great cities of the world: New York, Paris, London – all these cities first achieved their greatness in centuries gone by. But this is a brand new century and Phoenix, Arizona IS emerging and IS being recognized as the first great city of the 21st century.

And it’s not just me saying it. That’s what this book is all about. And it’s what a recent gathering of journalists, diplomats and architects heard from the director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, when he said, “So often we look to New York as the epicenter of what is happening … But it’s time we recognize cities like Phoenix … that are emerging…”.

How great is that? People all over the world are discovering Phoenix.

So how did we come so far so quickly? By focusing on the three essentials we talk about every year – and here they come again: public safety, education and jobs.

And it always begins with public safety – my top priority.

In 2006, we faced unprecedented challenges. But in response, we did something just as unprecedented, and caught three serial criminals within the span of one year.

That is outstanding police work. We owe so much to our officers and to the members of the Serial Crime Task Force whose representatives have joined us today. Please stand so we can all thank you for your service.

Since I became Mayor, we’ve added more than 300 sworn police officers to our force. That’s like adding the entire Tempe Police Department to our own.

We’ve added one new helicopter and have ordered two more. We’re updating communications equipment, adding a new emergency operations center and finishing a high-tech crime lab.

We haven’t added a new precinct station in 20 years. But those days are gone because this year we’re building not one, but two of them.

And we will continue to invest in public safety.

On the September ballot, you will have the opportunity to decide whether to add 600 more police and fire personnel to our streets.

If the ballot proposition passes, the Phoenix Police Department will be able to recruit, hire, train and equip at least 500 new sworn officers and police personnel to fight crime, including violent crime and crimes against children. And to hire CSI forensic teams to improve evidence collection and conviction rates.

And the Phoenix Fire Department will bring on at least 100 new firefighters to improve rapid-response times for fire and medical emergencies.

And these 600 new public safety personnel would be hired on a fast track, and within two years all would join our current professionals in making our safety their number one priority.

The entire Phoenix City Council shares and supports this vision – and I am so grateful to the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce for supporting it as well.

I never pass up the chance to invest in public safety. Or in education.

Some people ask why a city should invest in education. That’s an easy one. Because knowledge offers an abundance of opportunities and because the future of Phoenix will be built on the rock-solid foundation of a knowledge economy.

It’s beyond debate – education is critical to our long-term economic health.

Increasing the number of college graduates in a city drives up wages for all workers including those who never finished high school. And that increases their spending power – our sales-tax revenues – and the ability to add police, fire, libraries, parks and all the other services people need and we provide.

Our future economy is a knowledge economy.

And, we’re off to a great start.

ASU Downtown opened last August, and in December I addressed the very first graduating class from the College of Public Programs. We broke ground in February, as promised, for a brand new home to The Cronkite School of Journalism and Channel 8.

In partnership with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona Medical School opened this year and its College of Pharmacy will open in the fall. Soon, another new education building will rise to house medical, pharmacy and research classrooms, ASU Biomedical Infomatics, the School of Nursing, and to complete the University “Trifecta” – NAU Allied Health.

Bringing it all together on one BioMedical campus means the healthcare professionals who work together, will learn and train together: including pharmacists, doctors and nurses. Doesn’t that make sense? Working together like this means we can better translate research into discoveries and discoveries into cures. For people in Arizona and across the nation.

Because education is so important to our future, we are building more small, specialty high schools. The Phoenix Union Cyber High School opened a year ago in west Phoenix, featuring a Web-based curriculum in a high-tech environment. The Franklin Public Safety High School, focusing on law enforcement and firefighting, is open at MetroTech and moves into its own building this summer.

The Phoenix BioScience High School is open, and will soon move to its permanent location on our downtown Biomedical Campus. And you know who its principal is? My own former high school chemistry teacher, Dave Silcox. Who, by the way, encouraged me NOT to seek a career in science. (It was actually more of a pathetic plea, right Mr. Silcox?)

We’re getting high school students ready for any future path they want to take without leaving Phoenix to learn and without leaving Arizona to find a job.

Public safety, education and jobs. They are so dependent upon one another. And our choice to invest in high-tech and bioscience education is luring high-tech and bioscience companies to Phoenix.

And those companies create more jobs. Good jobs.

Phoenix was the number one employment market in the nation for the past two years…and we’re on pace to be first again. As a city we create more jobs each year than 45 states do. Last year, Phoenix-metro created 90,000 jobs – about half in Phoenix itself. And unlike many metro cities, Phoenix is driving this employment growth for our entire Valley.

We are creating jobs and attracting companies that could go somewhere else, but don’t. That brings new money into our economy. These companies are choosing Phoenix over others, because they recognize the investments we’re making will add to their own investments and enhance the quality of life for their employees.

And, we’re creating high-paying jobs. That’s important because, for each new high-paying job, three more jobs are needed to support it. And that raises the income level for our entire state.

The Business Journal says the large number of people moving to Arizona are drawn by our high-tech job growth.

One such example is Honeywell Aerospace, which will be building displays and flight controls for the new Orion space program, set to carry America back to the moon. That means 500 new engineering jobs and $700 million in high-tech projects are coming to the Valley. These jobs carry an average salary of 85,000 a year.

And the Flinn Foundation reports that Bioscience workers in Arizona earn an annual salary that is nearly $10,000 higher than the average salary of all other industries.

So our investments in high-tech and bioscience have been good ones.

But the icing on the cake is that BioScience is making Phoenix the place that is changing lives – and saving lives – everywhere.

In just the past three years, TGen has brought 300 of the world’s top scientists and researchers to Phoenix. And those scientists have already narrowed the cause of Lou Gehrig’s disease down to just 50 genes. And discovering what switches it on is the first step toward switching it off.

So much is happening so quickly. New investment, new jobs, new businesses. New cures and new opportunities every day.

But let’s not forget about the exciting developments, already in progress, that are helping Phoenix rise.

And how could anyone forget about light rail? Perhaps you’ve even seen the construction. Well, last month we began testing the light rail cars on Washington, making this project very literally “on track” for completion next year.

Private investors are pumping more than a billion dollars into new developments near the rail stations. And these investments promise to reshape key corners and neighborhoods all along the route.

Right now, one of the hottest areas is near Spectrum Mall at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. Soon, you will find new condos, town homes and businesses. And even sooner, you’ll see three “new and improved” anchors: JC Penney, SuperTarget and a new Harkins Theatre complex, bringing an annual economic impact to our community of $187 million.

But it’s not just along the light rail line. At every compass point in our city, major exciting projects are on the rise.

In the east, our $3 billion airport development program will ensure that Arizona’s leading economic engine will continue to provide for the needs of today’s traveling public and the 50 million passengers that Sky Harbor will soon serve annually.

In the west, Cancer Treatment Center of America is moving fast to build their new 200,000-square-foot campus along the west Loop 101. When completed, it will employ 350 health care professionals at an average annual salary of $60,000.

In the south, the Cotton Center continues to attract very important businesses like Caris Diagnostics, with 120 new jobs that average $100,000 a year. It is also attracting indispensable businesses like Fairytale Brownies.

And in the north, CityNorth at the Loop 101 and 56th Street, is one of the largest development projects in the nation

Bonnie Raitt had a hit song called “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About.” Well, CityNorth is a project that has people talking. It will be home for some and a destination for all. When completed, new retail and housing will occupy 144 acres. We already know it will be home to our very first Nordstrom’s, with more exciting tenants and amenities announced very soon. CityNorth will generate more than $500 million in sales tax revenues for the state and city in just the first 10 years. That’s no giveaway. And it’s certainly no surprise.

And, let’s not forget about the center of our compass point – downtown – the heart of our city.

As I recall…and many of you will never let me forget, I promised you in my very first State of the City Address that we would build a new Patriot’s Park and bulldoze the old one.

As part of CitySCAPE, we will have a park that is the amenity it should always have been. And if you want to mark your calendars for a date with the bulldozers, I’ll meet you at the park in September.

Next month, new tenants will be announced for the CitySCAPE project that will complement the park, including a hotel, a bookstore, a variety of restaurants and at long last, a grocery store – AJ’s.

And soon to follow will be the Jackson Street Entertainment District, which will give them something else to talk about.

And even that’s not all. The NBA is talking about bringing an All-Star Game to Phoenix. And so is the commissioner of Major League Baseball. In January, it will be my absolute honor to join our good friend, Mayor Elaine Scruggs, as we celebrate and enjoy the Super Bowl at The University of Phoenix Stadium.

Before you know it, we’ll be lining our own streets for a major Champ Car race and shutting them down completely for the biggest victory parade ever because we all believe in our Phoenix Suns. And I’ll be watching and cheering tomorrow night along with all of you. (Although last night…I think I got my very first grey hair).

So it’s all very, very exciting.

And it’s exciting because it’s unprecedented. Phoenix is attractive to so many investors from around the country and around the world, because so many ideas and investors and projects and progress are all converging, in one place, at one time.

In this place, at this time.

Some say we should have waited for all these things to happen on their own – instead of driving it ourselves. And I guess we could have waited. Most cities do. But why leave the future of this city to chance? How many years would all that waiting have taken? And how many opportunities would we have lost forever? While others plan for some distant future, we understand that our tomorrow starts today.

So let’s be proud of what we’ve done. I am.

And let us pledge to do even bigger things. I do.

We’ve done so much to keep our community safe in the past four years: People, precincts, technology, helicopters, communications. We did it quickly and we are not yet done.

In the next four years, we want to hire even more police officers and firefighters. We want even more equipment and the very best technology. Because even one crime is too many. Because even one fire can be devastating. And because public safety will always be my number one priority.

In Phoenix, education has been on the front burner when, in so many cities, it’s not even in the kitchen. ASU. the U of A. Small high schools. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, journalists. I’m so proud of all we’ve done to encourage education in just four years – and we are not yet done.

In the next four years, we want to see our downtown campus come alive with activity, enthusiasm and 15,000 students. We want to finish building Mr. Cronkite’s school and the School of Nursing. We want to watch the new doctors and nurses we graduate, put their skills to work right here in our community. We want to push science and education to the next level. And we want to build the future of this city on knowledge and science.

Because education is the key that will unlock the door to a prosperous future. And because without education, the future can never be better than the past.

When it comes to jobs, we’ve created thousands of them. We’ve encouraged and achieved amazing levels of investment and development. We’ve built a new and strong economy. We’ve dodged construction, counted cranes and we’ve done it all in just four years.

But we are not yet done.

That’s why we will spend the next four years, implementing last year’s ambitious bond program and reaping its ambitious results. That’s why I have proposed that we expand our Biomedical Campus to become a Biomedical District that will have room to build the future we want. And it’s why I want to reach out and recruit the tenants we seek to complete and complement the district: Doctor’s offices, imaging centers and laboratories.

And it’s also why I will continue to protect Sky Harbor International Airport, the economic engine that drives so much of Arizona’s economy. It’s why we are aggressively pursuing a broad range of carriers to enhance both domestic and international air service. We’ll have a big announcement to make soon. I promised not to say anything today. (But you might want to brush up on your German)

In Phoenix, while I’m Mayor, we will never rest on our laurels. In four years, we have changed the face and the soul of this city. Not the old fashioned way – building one project at a time – but by unleashing dozens of projects, all coming together, at one exciting time to create the first great city of the 21st century.

And mom, cover your ears. I’m going up in an F-16 next month to take a look. And in the next four years, we will fly even higher.

Christa says that no one should be surprised by the non-stop pace I’m setting for this community, even our wedding took place on a merry-go-round.

I’m the father of four. I want the same thing for my children that my parents wanted for me when they moved to Phoenix… the best quality of life and the best opportunities. Now, and for future generations.

And you know what? We are well on our way.

Because Phoenix is doing something different. We’re building a brand new kind of city … our own kind of city. Michael Crow says Phoenix is the last “unmade place” – the last place that you can build exactly what you want. And in 2007, we are. The state of this emerging city is changing every day and I can hardly wait to see tomorrow.

So don’t blink. Because this city on the rise…really is about to soar.

And I thank you for letting me be part of it all. Thank you and God bless you.