Can WE Get Real?? Re/Image of Cycling = Not Urban Hipster

Readers will notice the use of THE BIG WE in the headline of this post.
That phrase came from a chance impromptu chat with Natalie Lewis, who was volunteering on a City of Mesa holiday - Veterans Day - at the all-veterans music performance @ Mesa Arts Center supporting the city's initiative to provide housing for homeless vets.[previous post here "Keeping The Promise"]. Also see image from performance + updates about housing homeless vets initiative thanks to Natalie Lewis.
One topic quick-fire led to another as yours truly was trying to wrap his head around what it takes to regenerate the New Urban Downtown Mesa.
Natalie forcefully and assuredly said THE BIG WE . . . More about that later when the conversation with her can get expanded.
For now in this one post to show the dynamics of engaging in The Big We: the city comes out with a press release spoon-fed to the media who stenograph and publish it. Why? ... because it's easy, it fills the pages and mainstream reporters get paid for it - it's their job.
Case in point: compare the two images in this post

Bike share to start in Mesa this spring
East Valley Tribune on Sunday, Nov 8, 2015
Yes this is nice and all that -it's rolling out in many cities all over the world; Phoenix for a year and Mesa next Spring.[Image to the right from EVT article link]
Let's be honest. Who's this commercial Grid Bike Share Program operated by a company called Cycle Hop http://www.gridbikes.com/ for? ... with initially 100 3-speed bikes available next Spring for a daily rental of $8 or by the hour. The company originally planned for 250 in Mesa in 2015.
How does it work for all you cool dudes and dudettes "saving the planet"?
Simply hop on your web-enabled mobile device, desktop computer, or visit a hub to reserve a bike. Ride to your destination and lock it to any hub or public bike rack. [additional fees may apply] It’s that easy! 
During  a month-plus break from driving, your MesaZon blogger finds a different reality every time boarding the bus or light rail - there's always a bike rider getting off his/her bike putting both on public transit.

Everyday bikes  @ Main Library

For everyday people now using public transit - both bus and light rail - bikes are a necessity.The actual environment for biking in downtown Mesa is not what "city leaders" or "city planners" perceive to be an asset for urban gentrification - everyday people, the vast majority here middle and low-income and minority/or not, use bikes for survival and purposeful riding for their own transportation in a car-centered infrastructure, frequently using bus or light rail public transit to fill in the distance gaps from where they are to where they need to go.
As a colleague, Brian G.Donnelly in Toronto that writes a blog called Architect This City notes in an email today, "Public transit can often suffer from what is known as the first mile/last mile problem. This is a problem where riders find it difficult to get to the nearest transit route from their departing point or to their ultimate destination once they exit transit."
So-called city leaders and city planners are once again "leading from behind" and taking credit for it > at least catching up with a practical and cost-effective, self-empowering to maintain, healthy and affordable way to get around that's  a necessity for the vast majority already using bikes in the human infrastructure.
The data's just not there about why and how everyday people use bikes.

Your MesaZona blogger has been riding bus and light rail public transit during the last month seeing and talking with  wide spectrum of bike riders - only two were all tricked-out in high-priced cycle gear and high-tech bikes.
 
City of Mesa Special Projects Manager Niel Curley gets excited about data.
According to what's reported by Shelley Ridenour, "The bikes are also “smart,” he said, and equipped with a GPS-enabled solar-powered panel . . . Curley is especially excited about another GPS feature on the bikes. City officials can track where the bikes are ridden to discover the most popular routes. That information will allow for better decisions about whether to add more bikes, more hubs or to relocate hubs, he said."

If you want to use the jargon in the urban redevelopment toolbox It's the utility of point-to-point travel in inter-modal connections.

 Concert @ MAC on Wed Nov 11