All-In One Sunday Afternoon > New Urban DTMesa

Ex-mayor Scott Smith used to say about downtown Mesa that "Boring was OK".
Every single time your MesaZona blogger walks out the door most every day onto the streets on/off Main Street he's always excited and surprised what's in the panorama of the cityscape.
High expectations are one thing, but then again when you're feeling mellow on a sunny crisp Sunday afternoon stepping-out to see what's-there-to-see it's no problem at all avoiding crowds or dodging traffic - and finding a random act of kindness by "a group of friends" from Chandler for the homeless on the streets

Scene @ Mesa Arts Center today

With all the time, efforts and money put into big promotions by the City Council and the Downtown Merchants Associations for Merry Main Street that have attracted some crowds, Sunday is a day of rest - either that or people are caught up in the holiday shopping frenzy at suburban smalls, With few exceptions, most businesses on Main Street were closed.
Hardly a creature was stirring or afoot or on-bike at the Mesa Arts Center this afternoon, as remarked by an out-of-town family member with a group of her family from Mesa who was overheard saying "It would be nice if there were some people here."



At the Winter Wonderland Ice Skating Rink across the street next to City Hall Plaza there were more people playing outside the rink than renting skates and skating inside the rink.

 

A group of kids with a photographer-father was having a good time playing on newly-installed equipment in the design-lab park that is part of the downtown Make-Over initiated by the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation NEDCO in advance of the extension of Valley Metro Light Rail Transit along the Main Street corridor.   The patch of green in what used to be a side-alley for car traffic only [it still has Do Not Enter signs posted] is a welcome addition of a small linear park to the new urban DTMesa land-use planning that's included in the goals set forth by the Downtown Vision Committee.                       What you see on the left is the shaded colonnade stretching the full length of the eastern side of Milano's Music store that leads to another colonnade passing on the side of the Century Link building that continues onto Pepper Place; from there there's another tree-shaded sidewalk behind the offices of Jackson-White that goes past a small Sunset Park fronting on 1st Street - it's oftentimes a nice shortcut away from the main streets.

There were also some alternative modes of transportation seen and photographed today:The Mesa Tribune delivery boy-on-a-bike from days gone-bye, a kid on a skateboard who was the only active human being on the north side of Main Street headed to MacDonald, and one of the colorful characters and unpredictable surprising sights here.              Even if at times there aren't real people, there's always the life-size or larger-than-life sculpture collection on the sidewalks to keep you company.

Here's  a real guy very much in the spirit of the season on  a bike headed in the other direction with the Merry Main Street Holiday Tree in the background at the the SE corner, or is that a motorbike?                             Your guess is as good as mine for what's-in-tow. Please note that safety precautions are observed with the very-visible bright red flag on a pole and stopping for the red light.

Young kid having a good time learning how to balance and ride a Skateboard - hardly anyone else around

In a back-alley south of Main Street, a group of artists with spray cans and brushes and paint is starting work on a long mural stretching the whole interior length of a big blue wall on the side of the parking lot entrance to Tre Bella.
Please take notice of both the visual appeal and physical enhancements added to this location by owner Laurent Teichman who's brought a touch of New York and Paris to The New Urban DTMesa here and to other special event venues and properties he owns and operates on Main Street.

A Random Act-of-Kindness on First Avenue

Last, but not least by any standards, yours truly snapped this image to the left with Encore On First and Encore On First West in the Phase 2 construction stage in the background from half-a-block away, then caught up and chatted with a group of adults and children not on Main Street at all but on First Avenue. [look at center in image]
Curious if they needed directions and wanting to know what they were doing, an unabashed question was raised, tell me something about your group.
There were about four adults and ten kids, some with backpacks and bottles of water. Out for an urban hike?
No - it turns out they are simply a group of friends from Chander, not affiliated with any charity or religion or non-profit organization or politician wanting to score political points at this season of the year.
They're not looking for recognition or trying to take credit for helping the homeless: they made and packed sandwiches and other food in the spirit of giving and kindness, according to Amy when she asked for her first name