The fast-growing town of Gilbert is about to get a retail centerpiece. Westcor's SanTan Village, set to open this October in the heart of the Gilbert retail corridor, brings an open-air shopping and dining destination to one of the Valley's most rapidly expanding communities.
The open-air format reflects a shift in how the Valley likes to shop - streetscapes and gathering places rather than enclosed corridors, built to suit the Arizona climate and the desire to make an afternoon of it. For the East Valley, it signals a coming-of-age.
For residents, it means shopping, dining, and entertainment closer to home. For the region, it is one more sign that Gilbert has arrived - and that the Valley's center of gravity keeps spreading outward.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, June / July 2007.