Art Assets & Good Bones? It Takes More Than That To Build a Better Downtown

Comic from Build a Better Downtown

The image here is from a May 20, 2015 post "Cindy Ornstein's Love Letter to Mesa" on another blog about Mesa Build A Better Downtown Mesa.
Please hit the link and read the whole article

Cindy Ornstein is the Arts and Cultural Director for the City of Mesa and the Executive Director of the Mesa Arts Center. 
She oversees the Arizona Museum of Natural History, the I.D.E.A. Museum, the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, and cultural events in the City of Mesa.
According to the post, Cindy got the job after an interview in 2010, not having seen Mesa or been to Arizona before that.

Put Some Meat On Those Bones!

Good Bones …  

It takes more than ‘good bones’

That's a phrase I've heard and used more than once.  It is admittedly casual and ill-defined.
In real estate it's usually used in the “distressed” property market that is our reality today.

The problem with the entire notion of good bones—to draw a further anatomical analogy—is that it lacks any discussion of the viscera: the bloodstream, neurology or fascia that flesh out, protect and inhabit this skeletal system. 

Cindy is quoted saying " . . . we manage facilities that are literally owned by the public. My mission is for every citizen to feel pride, ownership and engagement with these assets and resources. . . . It is really about finding the things that are going to be most effective, . . "
[See how the names of bones are turned into a visual in the image to the left]


A city with "good bones" would be one that is well thought out and works well for the people who live there.
Or, does saying that "Mesa has good bones" mean that we have an impressive infrastructure supporting our transportation network?