Hidden behind a façade of unassuming desert-tan buildings, or within the shade of a perfectly groomed palm grove, or in new glass buildings whose blue-green exteriors reflect the McDowell Mountains, thousands of companies relocated to what was once just Arizona’s snazzy winter vacation paradise.

Scottsdale — boasting 17 manicured golf courses; 600 restaurants; 80 wine bars, lounges and nightclubs; dozens of sun-drenched, gated residential communities; and more swimming pools per capita than any city in the country — is still prime vacation territory.

But these days, there are really two Scottsdales. There’s the Scottsdale of gourmet restaurants, trendy art galleries and polo fields; and there’s the new and invigorating Scottsdale with a Silicon Valley-like, casual corporate culture that’s attracting so many high-tech firms, the area is sometimes referred to as the Silicon Desert. More than 3,000 businesses operate within the city’s Airpark office complex alone, with more waiting to sign long-term leases.

Scottsdale’s $3.3 billion revitalization attracts health and bioengineering concerns as well, and city officials lure Silicon Valley executives with offers of more affordable office space, lower income taxes and lower energy costs than California, along with intriguing lifestyle possibilities. Scottsdale’s unique natural attractions include the stunning 34,000-acre Sonoran Desert Preserve and the ingenious Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt, a canal-based flood control project that blessed Scottsdale with 11 miles of lakes, parks, golf courses and bicycle trails.

The technology startup Stremor, founded by former Silicon Valley executives, raised $2 million in seed funding from its new Scottsdale location. “No one believes we’re in Scottsdale,” said CEO Bill Irvine. “Everyone I talk to seems to think these kinds of ideas and companies can only start in Silicon Valley or New York City. Going from raw idea to seven-figure seed funding, and fully staffed with impressive talent in just seven months — that’s a compelling startup story in any city.”

Scottsdale’s unemployment rate of 6.3 percent, lower than state and national averages, is mostly due to its attractiveness as a place to vacation and conduct business. It is home to the world’s largest domain registrar, Go Daddy, as well as Yelp, General Dynamics, The Vanguard Group and McKesson Pharmaceuticals, along with newer high-tech firms like iCrossing, AmazingMail, Clear Demand, CyberSponse, MobilManage and SOOH Media. SkySong, Arizona State University’s Scottsdale Innovation Center, is a beautifully designed business center offering services to international and domestic startups. When the Mayo Clinic opened its Scottsdale site in 1987, other health-related firms followed, including Global Medical Solutions, Scottsdale Healthcare, First Health Group and St. Jude Medical.

Real estate developers are responding to the influx of businesses by constructing a plethora of office parks, many in North Scottsdale, where Airpark is located adjacent to the general aviation Scottsdale Airport. Airpark employs close to 50,000 people in private companies that include Go Daddy, JDA Software, Henkel Corp.’s Consumer Goods Inc., Hypercom/Equinox Payments and TASER International.

With Airpark’s success, new residential and condominium developments are flourishing. A Texas firm started construction of a $61 million, 17-acre project in North Scottsdale called Jefferson at One Scottsdale that will deliver 388 residential units by early 2014. In downtown’s Old Town section, the 31,000-square-foot Galleria Corporate Centre, which failed as a mall, transformed into a smart-looking hub for big-name technology companies like Yelp and CA Technologies.

“The interesting thing about Scottsdale is that when business executives arrive here and see the quality of life and corporate development that has taken place, the combination looks like it just naturally happened,” said Bob Tunis, Scottsdale’s economic development manager. “But Scottsdale is one of the few resort communities in the nation that has purposely developed a corporate base and has brought in head offices and a highly educated workforce.”

At the $41 million SouthBridge development, on the Arizona Canal near Scottsdale’s Waterfront district, designers created an upscale neighborhood of restaurants, offices and residences with water views, a rare amenity for any Southwestern city. The postmodern, pedestrian-only Soleri Bridge and Plaza, by artist Paolo Soleri, is the iconic symbol of the SouthBridge/Waterfront district, one of 50 eye-catching public art pieces that are part of the nationally recognized Scottsdale Public Art program.

Large projects are also taking place in South Scottsdale, along the McDowell Road corridor, one of five business corridors the city is redeveloping. With SkySong as a catalyst, more than $200 million is being invested along this east-west corridor, including new or renovated facilities for General Dynamics C4 Systems, American Solar Electric, Ticketmaster and Yodle.

With the ever-increasing inflow of business travelers, hotels expanded their meeting capacities and amenities. The Fairmont Princess completed the final phase of a $60 million renovation, including upgrading its Princess Conference Center and building the new Palomino Conference Center, together providing 156,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space. The banquet and meeting space at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale underwent a $500,000 update in 2011, offering 36,000 square feet, including outdoor function lawns with spectacular desert and mountain views; and Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch offers 70,000 square feet of space to environmentally aware meeting planners with the mantra “Meet and Be Green.”

Although Scottsdale experienced slow growth after the 2008 real estate downturn, it survived the recession better than most cities in the region. Office and retail vacancies leveled off, housing prices in Scottsdale are still double the Phoenix Metroplex average, and the city maintained its AAA ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody Investor Services. In 2012, city hotels brought in $517 million in revenue, up 4 percent from the previous year, and project occupancies for luxury and upscale properties will increase 11 percent in 2013, with resorts like Hyatt Regency, The Fairmont Princess, The Boulders, The Phoenician, Four Seasons, JW Marriott Camelback Inn, W Hotel, The Saguaro and Hotel Valley Ho leading the leisure and business travel resurgence.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, residents arrived at the small settlement called Scottsdale, named after Winfield Scott, a U.S. Army chaplain who settled here in 1888. The hardy pioneers built sleeping porches where they lay at night wrapped in wet sheets to stay cool. Much has changed, of course, not the least of which was the opening of the Hotel Valley Ho in 1956, the first modern hotel in Scottsdale and the first to offer central air-conditioning and to open year-round. Thus started a trend that enabled the city to develop as a 12-month vacation destination. The Valley Ho, fully restored to its original architectural style, is now a national historic landmark, offering stylish retro accommodations.

Scottsdale’s street names — Camelback, Cactus Dust, Pima, Indian School, Jackrabbit and Tierra Buena — reflect the city’s Western frontier heritage. Taliesin West, architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former winter home and studio, built in 1937, is now an architecture school and visitor attraction. Former cattle and horse ranches, established by the city’s founding elite, once covered thousands of desert acres but eventually converted into less traditional purposes. Their historic names — including McCormick Ranch, DC Ranch and Gainey Ranch — now grace the signage on gated communities, golf courses, hotels and shopping centers.

Although new businesses still flock to Scottsdale and redevelopment continues, there is concern about the possible move of US Airways’ headquarters from nearby Tempe to Dallas, following the planned merger of the carrier and American Airlines. This could result in a loss of 5,200 jobs and nearly $21 million in annual state and local revenue, with additional losses if Sky Harbor International Airport loses its US Airways hub status. Tempe and Scottsdale merge near the airport, with many US Airways employees living, working and shopping in Scottsdale. US Airways assured the region it will not relocate its headquarters, but city officials are wary about any potential bump in their revitalization plans.