Friday The 13th [2nd Fridays Night Out] Word >> Heard On The Street [1st Mesa Music Fest Nov 13-15]

What a week we're in - 40,000 people expected for the Veterans Day Parade & Events on Wednesday and who knows how many for the usual 2nd Friday Night's Out on Nov 13 + First Mesa Music Fest for three days Nov 13-15 + a big two-day attraction Reptile Expo at the Mesa Convention Center - if  this is gonna kill Mesa's reputation as  a boring place, let me go from excitement, exhaustion and pleasure. Happily

Hot Diggety Dawg!

If the New Urban Downtown Mesa is all about PROMOTING - your MesaZona blogger is admittedly guilty of that - there are some local long-established downtown businesses Off-Main Street, just a block or two's walking distance south that readers will be happy to know about for authentic Mexican food.

Like this one on the NW corner of Macdonald Street & Broadway: Micky's Hot Dogs. It's been here for 17 years.
Here's what you see when you walk right onto Broadway.

. . .  and here's the menu above the small open kitchen when you go indoors
Mexican Food Sonora Style
[and half a block east on Broadway on the south side is the most successful restaurant in all of downtown Mesa: Mariscos de Sinaloa, but more about that in a later post].

All the tortillas, big and small with your choice of wheat or corn tortillas, are hand-made Hecho a Mano as shown here by Miguel when that was brought to my attention by the manager during a visit to Micky's yesterday just after 11:00 a.m. when it opens and stays open most days, except Tuesday, until 11:00 p.m.
It's one of downtown's few food establishments that does stay open "late". For 17 years they know how to keep people happy - at the same time attracting new customers.

Indoor tables were filled and a family of six were eating on the outdoor patio when yours truly arrived with a friend just after 11. . .  Good crowd when the doors just opened!
It's always an encouraging sign to see lots of people liking the food at a neighborhood place.
What's to Like?
Que Hay de Gusto?
Everything!
Todo!




Here's what's on the menu Disfrutale! Enjoy it!
Tacos 4 choices: Carne Asada, Pastor, Cabeza + Birria
Tortas [translate sandwich] 3 choices: Carne Asada, Pastor, Pierna de Puerco
Burritos
Combinations [3]
Salchi Papas - come and find out
Quesadillas Large and small
Birria de Res
Tostada 2 choices: Lorenza + Vampiro
Drinks/Refrescos: Mexican sodas, canned sodas, Horchata + Aguas Frescos
Image to the left: For tacos and other items a self-serve station like most Taquerias with salsas, Pico de Gallo, pickled onions, jalapeños and fresh lime

Now about that mouth-filling Sonora Hot Dog
Here's an image of one quickly prepared yesterday when the manager had time to present it on a table during a few minutes available between customers.


Grilled Chile pepper served on top

 

 

 

Promoting =

further the progress of, support or actively encourage.

View heading east on Broadway with landmark building Nielsen Grain Elevator Silos There's been some speculation and interest in this property

encourage, advocate, further, advance, assist, aid, help, foster, nurture, develop, boost, stimulate

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