Meet + Greet > Heavy Metal Makes Its Mark On Main Street

This is a really good fit regenerating the New Urban Downtown Mesa.
Asylum Records @ 108 Main Street, one of the growing independently-owned businesses thriving on Main Street, re-located here in 2014 from the dying music scene in Tempe into what was way-back-when the Old Royale Theater.
According to the Downtown Mesa Association, Downtown Mesa is comprised of over 400 businesses, 90 percent of which are independently owned, small businesses.
Another example in the urban redevelopment jargon toolbox of "adaptive re-use"?
Or smart music entrepreneurs finding a good location, making a deal, banking on the expansion of the light trail - seeing an opportunity here - and promoting downtown?

Time To Give Rail History A Place in The New Urban Downtown Mesa

At the same time that Valley Metro Light Rail is driving future growth in the Valley, one of the steam-powered "iron workhorse" engines of early economic development and growth for the City of Mesa in the 19th and early 20th centuries - Southern Pacific Railroad Engine #2355 - has been stalled for over 50 years off the tracks in an out-of-the-way place in Pioneer Park.
Dedicated efforts are now on a fast-track to move ahead with an educational and fundraising campaign http://www.saveourtrain.com/ to move SP Engine 2355 to a more prominent place in Pioneer Park to increase public participation in regenerating an historical perspective for Creative Place Making in downtown's biggest public open space:

Recreation at its best with the partnership of the City of Mesa Department of Parks & Recreation working with other public + private interests + philanthropists, some of whom wish to remain anonymous.
A group of community activists names itself  RAIL - using side-by-side images of old and new trains RAILmesa.org

Smart Move! Friday Farmers Market Now On Main Street

Great new higher-visibility prime location on City Hall Plaza at the Center/Main Street Valley Metro Light Rail Station directly across from the Mesa Arts Center.
CHECK IT OUT
Gotta admit that your MesaZona blogger stopped going to these weekly events. Without getting into negatives about that - let's just say the Mesa Community Farmers Market is getting back to their roots on Main Street with an amazing line-up of new vendors producing mostly organic, non-GMO and all that other good stuff like vegan, sugar-free, raw/unprocessed, in start-up small-business/single owner enterprises . . . the New Economy  [or the home-grown version of that] is transplanted here in the New Urban Downtown Mesa at least once a week into an area that really needs what is offered.
There's been some talk about getting a food co-op started downtown > time will tell, but at least once a week is somewhere to start, Huh?

Got into conversations with:
- Ovi  @ The Tamale Store www.thetamalestore.com
NO Lard, shortenings, gluten, preservatives, MSG or soy
Menu: 5 Meats, 4 Vegetarian,3 Vegan, 2 Dessert Tamales and 2 Specialty

- Kathy @ Proof Bread
Crusty baguettes, sourdough boules, and ham & cheese croissants
Bakery located in Merchants Square Antiques Mall, Chandler
[they supply Volstead Public House]

- Tom Garrett, Cheese Guy @ Arizona Brands
Made in Arizona by Wisconsin Cheese Makers - yes  they  make Cheese  Curds!
Fair prices + Avocado Oil, some infused vinegars

- Sue Berliner @ b Naked Products bnakedchocolates.com
Totally impressive! Tantalizing tastings
Hand-made from raw and pure ingredients

Here's a link to Friday Farmers Market  Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/Mesa-Community-Farmers-Market-144070418960446/

Somebody Give These Guys A Ride! Valley Metro Nov 2015 Newsletter is Out

Image courtesy Valley Metro

Coming Soon: Future Light Rail Route

New signs indicating expansion of the light rail system have been recently posted along Main Street in Mesa. The signs mark the future 1.9-mile light rail extension along Main Street to Gilbert Road. 

In August, the Valley Metro Rail Board of Directors approved a contract with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. for the project’s design and authorized a contract in October with Stacy and Witbeck/Sundt to begin the pre-construction phase. Construction is scheduled to take place between 2016 and 2018, with operations scheduled to begin in late 2018.

 

 

To learn more about the Gilbert Road Extension, visit valleymetro.org/gilbertroad.

What Works Cities? . . . A Tweet From The City Manager about An Open Data Portal?

Off to a not-so-good beginning with government excellence. 
Let's start with transparency - an announcement dated November 3, 2015 and tweeted/re-tweeted by Chris Brady and John Giles . . . not too many people or citizens who are supposed to benefit from initiatives like this are liking this or for that matter being able to read it
https://twitter.com/MesaCityManager/status/662292642756071424
Contrast this low-impact Twitter posting announcing that the City of Mesa will be creating an open data portal that will display data, [will]engage and [will] inform citizens on city initiatives and [will] increase transparency with the major fanfare in the August 05, 2015 press release from the City of Mesa Newsroom.
More than three months later it's just a promise

Old cities were built for walking. But 1940’s urban development introduced pavements and a world built for car dominance, which is where the problems lie. We can learn from this, and all that this requires is a focus on innovations through the lens of a human model. After all, if our urban mobility decisions can influence the ultimate goal of the future of our health and well-being – what could be more important than this?
A lot of talk, hype, studies and research reports and promises for Light Rail Transit but it's only one part of getting around in New Urban Mobility.
Yeh sure, Central Mesa now has Valley Metro Light Rail, a bike-sharing deal in the works, public bus serviced, cars and parking lots and not-so-many pedestrians. How will all this work together?

On October 27, 2015 The New Cities Foundation published an online blog report with a summary of highlights by Katrina Duncan On Wednesday, 14 October 2015 the New Cities Foundation welcomed about 150 of the most forward thinking practitioners from economics, policy, sociology, architecture and design,  finance and technology to discuss the changing nature of urban mobility at Cities on the Move. The event was hosted by Google at their London headquarters, with support from Ericsson and Transdev.

Some of the highlights:

- "Conversations are cheap, infrastructure is really expensive,” remarked Tim Papandreou, Director, Strategic Planning and Policy, San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency, highlighting the value of multi-sector gatherings to reflect upon the future of urban mobility in a time of rapid innovation.

- Mobility forms part of the complex world of systems which make up a city. It is inextricably linked to our daily lives as a means by which we interact with each other. So we must think of the human scale, rather than the endless possibilities of technology. Ashwin Mahesh, Founder of Mapunity, encouraged us to think in shorter distances. Planners should consider the speed at which we need to move within the city to reach our destinations, run errands, or see friends within short trips of 3 to 6 kilometers. This means connecting neighborhoods and maintaining diversity within communities. Then, mobility becomes more than a techno-managerial issue: it transforms into a socio-political one.

- “We need to work towards building an ecosystem rather than an ego-system,” observed Jenny Lindqvist, Global Head of Intelligent Transport Systems, Ericsson. Each actor needs to play their part in designing and operating an overall transport system that works for each individual city.

. . . As the lines between public and private transport service providers blur, the central point that should drive this ecosystem is the fundamental outcomes we want for a city: vibrant neighborhoods and economic opportunities, among others.

http://www.newcitiesfoundation.org/blog-our-urban-mobility-future/

NEXT Weekend: Reptile Expo Joins Music Fest

The Mesa Convention Center will be the go-to place Sat & Sun Nov 14 & Nov 15 for all those horny and scaled cold-blooded creatures we all have learned to love and fear.

phxreptileexpo.com

[$2 Off coupon on website]

Between the Mesa Music Fest on Nov 13-15 and this Reptile Expo, the Marriott on Centennial is already sold-out and booked to the max - other hotels on Main Street will no doubt be flooded with reservations