New Urban Downtown Mesa is Changing Fast: Eyes on the Light Rail Route Today

What is it?

Keeping up with improvements and changes to transform the new urban vision for Downtown Mesa , this blog  -a news, opinion and information source - featured an on-the-spot report for the Valley Metro Celebration of the station progress of the 3.1 Mile Central Mesa Light Rail Extension Project at Mesa Drive just two days ago and got it up online the same day. As you can see by the image on the left, other stations are getting their eye-catching public art installed.

People in Downtown Mesa can't miss this: Construction crews have raised another monumental public artwork as work moves ahead on the station platform at Center Street, the soon-to-be second stop in Central Mesa Light Rail Extension Project when the light rail trains start running.

Is your blogger becoming an all-in cheerleader for progress??

This monumental piece of public art at the platform station on Main Street @ Center was quickly featured on a What's Happening in Downtown Mesa subscription list sent by the Downtown Mesa Association:
"The installation at Center St. and Main St. was also revealed this week with more details to come. Insider's tip - the piece is made up of faces from actual community members. Can you recognize anyone?"    

Image credit: Downtown Mesa Association

Hard to tell from the picture included in the DMA reveal of the sculpture - They look more like silhouettes from this distance, and can you straighten up the image?
One would hope that the "actual community members" shown are representative and inclusive of all the diversity and cultures of Mesa, both before its founding by Mormons, and all those who have come after, to join and create what is Mesa today.
By all means Old Roots New Growth, but don't ignore those who have transplanted here and developed new roots in the community.[let's keep it green too!]

"Those who came before" The Hohakam were here thousands of years before this town was officially founded, living on the land, and digging and establishing the canals that to this day supply the water we all need in the Valley of The Sun. 
The name Mesa comes from the Spanish word for table referring to a flat raised geographic formation. It replaced Zenos, the name of a biblical prophet.

Some Ramblings about Public Transport & Night Life 
[Maybe Mesa should be called a Micropolitan Area, part of Metropolitan Phoenix?]

Apart from "living in the country" for a few years in small towns in Rhode Island, Connecticut, California and southeastern Arizona on the border, most of my life has been lived in major cities and metropolitan areas where public transportation is taken for granted as a fact of everyday life - you can quickly and easily get from one place to another local destination in a matter of minutes at a reasonable cost - even New York City's mayors and heads of Wall Street investment firms with all the power and money in the world took the subway joining people from all different backgrounds - the transportation systems are not a demographic class-divide for low-income wage-earners having to get to/from work . They are People-Movers

Sidewalk view looking west

On a given day and at any time on every day [seven days a week] on public transportation you could just as easily find homeless and street persons, students getting to classes, office and restaurant workers, people going to events and performances or to lunch and dinner, people playing music and singing, tourists and travelers from around the country and across the world, as well as celebrities and actors and Movers & Shakers.
Miracles don't happen overnight with feeling and enjoying the benefits of public transportation here in Downtown Mesa, but it's one of the tools that help regenerate a vibrant and exciting downtown stimulating new urban growth for everyone.
I'm seeing, and want to bring to your attention, the positive reactions to changes in the new urban landscape that's being developed here

. . Just went out to run an errand a few minutes ago after dark and saw people standing in the middle of Main Street looking up in amazement at this new installation - it's already attracting attention.
It takes millions of dollars in federal, state and local transportation funding - and about $750,000 set aside for public art - to launch these initiatives.
Tonight I saw more people on the streets walking from easily-accessible parking  and enjoying dining outdoors than during the daytime hours. Can you believe that?  ***but see note below

Downtown Mesa will still be car-dependent for a while; that will change over time.
According to one source, downtown businesses benefit to the tune of $19,000 in local spending when there are events taking place downtown.

Mango's Cafe was open with all the outdoor sidewalk tables filled. Al fresco dining at night in downtown Mesa? Sure, why not?
It's one of the very frequent and common [and justified] complaints that there are few, if any, pre-theatre dining options available in downtown Mesa. Any major art or performance center in any of the cities that your blogger is familiar with have arrangements and contracts with on-site food operations and concessions  - Why doesn't Mesa?

Hint: Al Fresco Dining on terrace at Mesa Arts Center

Let's just get started:as a prelude to gauge if there's an unfulfilled demand for pre-theatre dining options, someone could do a pop-up tryout: just like any catering operation can do, somebody can set up tables and chairs and all the equipment on one of the terraces overlooking MAC. Advertise in one or another social media or with a targeted invitation list a pre-theatre dinner for $20.15 and sell out ahead of time.

Ground Level Dining

Outdoor al fresco dining options may be seasonal, but many Arizona cafes and restaurants do offer outdoor dining in the summertime. 
Here's another image to the right taken at last week's Spark! Festival, from the terrace location above for ground-level.
These options are presented not to compete with existing or new food businesses in downtown, but rather to complement and enhance the variety of venues and attractions for drawing people to downtown at night.

Nobody's gonna take a risk for a considerable financial investment unless there's a profit.
The main draw for nighttime activities with people streaming into tonight's Mesa Arts Center was part of events scheduled: Live Performance National Geographic: Chasing River.

Take the time to find out the schedule for events and shows @ Mesa Arts Center by clicking on this link Performing Arts Concerts & Shows

You can go to the Click On & Go To Links on the MesaZona homepage at the left side to find more information from other organizations and businesses promoting Downtown Mesa - get on the subscription lists to have events going on in town directly mailed to you.

*** While visiting with a local artists who's a member of the Artists' Co-op in the Mesa Arts Center in her design studio/store "Twisted Sisters" @ 48 S Robson, a group of visitors from out-of-town [all friends: one from Chandler, one from Gilbert, and two from Canada] were walking around Downtown going into different retail storefronts . They mentioned that many groundlevel downtown storefronts were empty. At the same time they told me that all previous attendance records for the weekly Thu afternoon outdoor concerts @ MAC were broken --- over 1200 people showed according to them!!!