PHX Biz Jounal Wakes Up to Creative Place Making > New Urban DTMesa

... and wants readers to pay for a subscription to get the full stories. It's called a pay wall

A paywall is a system that prevents Internet users from accessing webpage content without a paid subscription . . . Why is Mesa mayor John Giles using a pay wall publication to talk about so-called "challenges" and "opportunities" in downtown Mesa??
OK, Who wants yesterday's news?
Here's the headline by Senior Reporter Mike Sunnucks in a report 04 December @ 4:00 a.m. in Industries & Tags: Commercial Real Estate,Education
Downtown Mesa trying to shed its conservative image via the arts and an eclectic mix of local businesses
"Trying to shed . . . ???" What kind of cocoon has he been in?
Yours truly, in a mellow way, has been on the beat on the streets here posting about THE METAMORPHOSIS IN THE NEW URBAN DTMESA in this blog for quite a while now, - they're not locked up behind a paywall if you want to read "the full story . . . there's always more to the story . . .  for instance why does Mesa have that conservative image?
Metamorphosis = A Big Thing [ya know, like meta-data]

Hands Up! . . . Don't Shoot | World's Premier Attack 'Copter in fhe Hands of Children



If you live close by or walk on Main Street or get on or get off the Valley Metro Light Rail Station at Main/Center Street you've probably noticed a public bronze sculpture in front of City Hall Plaza - it looks like a boy and a girl having fun playing catch with a toy . . . it's called "Forever New Frontiers", donated to the City of Mesa by Boeing in 2003,  and looks innocent enough taking its place in the installation of bronze sculpture on downtown streets that was initiated by Wayne C. Pomeroy, whose namesake property The Pomeroy Building is the grand old man of Main Street architecture.

The dedication plaque is reproduced at the end of this post.

Here's to the right you can see what the kids are playing with: it is an Apache H64 Helicopter, described in three articles in the last four days as what you read in the headline to this post and “. . . The Apache helicopter is an amazing machine. Not only is it stealthy, but it’s deadly, . . "
That description is in a report by Audrey Weil writing for Cronkite News/Arizona PBS
http://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2015/11/30/boeing-making-the-premier-attack-helicopters-in-mesa/
Your MesaZona blogger first did a post on this site back on June 16 calling these "little birds" [aerospace lingo] in a feature about Governor Doug Ducey promoting Arizona business at The Paris Air Show.
Again on November 4, 2015 - about a month ago - Boeing's rolling out a first production for South Korea in a $1.6 Billion dollar contract, noting at the same time "nothing about this reported in local media".
On November 13, 2015 Boeing's Apache 64E Helicopter at the Dubai Air Show.

Since those postings here there have been media reports of two incidents where the Apache 64E has crashed in training sessions.
Today, 03 December, KTAR reproduces the same story written by Audrey Weil on 30 Nov
http://ktar.com/story/794477/boeings-phoenix-area-plant-delivers-premier-attack-helicopter-to-us-allies/
You can read the report and see a video there.

This is what the helicopter looks like in action.
Image courtesy of U.S. Army RDECOM
Here's a link to a 13:20 You Tube video approved for public release that was uploaded December 18, 2014
https://youtu.be/1mzwqI5kFQc

Readers please note: This post is for information purposes only.

Smile > Who Doesn't Love Cookies?

DT New Urban Mesa > So Retro + So Modern
Heather and Travis Smith created Smith-O-Lator Custom Hand-Decorated Cookie Shop from scratch some months ago.
[noted here in a post way back on June 6, 2015]
The doors are open in a location previously occupied by The Urban Grill where convection ovens now bake cookies
" . . . After all we do love to see you smile, and what better way than with something custom crafted just for you! . . . With a sincere interest in all things vintage and a special fondness for mid-century ...... ".   
http://smitholator.com/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/SmithOLator/

A spontaneous digital shot yesterday, totally impromptu and totally un-rehearsed, is shown at right.
Main Street business owners Heather Smith and Lindsay Rogers share some over-the -counter chat and smiles while yours truly gets a flash of one in a series of new cookies featuring Main Street enterprises.



YUM > Readers - and those with "a small business" in mind - might take note of the fact that this is a home-grown success story right here in The New Urban DTMesa, as pointed out by Karen Svoboda . . .
Heather started out selling her hand-decorated cookies as a participating vendor in MACFest events - it's one way to get started in business if you live what you do.
For more information on this free arts & crafts event >> macfestmesa.com
Next event is this Saturday 12 December from 4-9. Be there.

Stop by and see a Gingerbread DTMesa.

In the front window ... only a piece of the 5-foot+ long hand-decorated showpiece, with this section featuring the grand old man of Main Street architecture Pomeroy's Clothing Outfitters.

A Week of Action

Update from Voices For Public Transit
This week could mark a major milestone for American public transportation. We must deliver a sustained message all week long, so we’ll be asking you to take a specific action each day—starting today.

House and Senate committee members are working hard to finalize a compromise long-term transportation bill before this Friday’s deadline. Just a few minutes of your time each day can make sure they pass the best possible bill.

The best option on the table is a fully funded five-year transportation bill that maximizes our national investment in public transit.

Please email your members of Congress now.

Even if you’ve emailed Rep. Sinema and Sens. McCain and Flake before (lots of times), Congress needs to know that we’re still watching and expecting increased public transportation funding.

We’ll be in touch tomorrow and each day this week to help you make your voice heard as clearly as possible—along with thousands of other Voices for Public Transit. Please participate today and throughout the week.

 

New Images of A Vanished Past > Retro Eccentric Neon-Inspired Mesa

QUESTION: Why regret "things gone bye" when art and artists, like Mark Matlock, collaborate with public/private partnerships in Creative Place Making?
[see another post on this site at same location 19 Nov with a link to a time-lapse video by another artist Jesse Perry].
For one reason or another things disappear, but they have the staying power in our collective imaginations to get revitalized and regenerated in The New Urban DTMesa. . . in the hands of artists with paint brushes and spray cans on the side of a piece of downtown Mesa history.
Read more >>

Next Week > Star Wars Tribute @ 2nd Friday Night Out

O Suzanne! ... that girl @ OneOhOne West Main Street is some kind of friggin' PR genius
STAR WARS TRIBUTE
December 11, 2015
6-10 PM
It will be "snowing" on the corner of Main and Macdonald!!!

Bring the fan boys and girls and get your light sabers ready for a free night of fun.
Eccentric downtown Mesa is the perfect place to host a Mesa’s 2ND Friday dedicated to costumes, shopping, contests, music, art, and eclectic happenings.
DID SOMEBODY SAY ECCENTRIC DOWNTOWN MESA????/

Update to Nov 9 Post Here > Save the Pioneer Park Train

Almost five years after this 2:29 You Tube upload on January 19, 2010 the same two people mentioned in a recent article in The Arizona Republic were talking about the fund-raising campaign on "Mesa Now" - fast-forward five years into the future it's Mesa Now all over again!. . . Are we trapped in a time-warp here?  

Or is this initiative finally on a fast-track thanks to a dedicated group of private individuals pushing the slow-moving wheels of public city government full-steam ahead?
Yes, dear readers, IT IS TIME . . . Please scroll down this site to read the 29 post on this site with the headline "Time to Give Rail History A Place In The New Urban Downtown Mesa"
For some readers of this site who might be history buffs, here's a link to a short no comment video showing the dedication of Southern Pacific Steam Engine #2355 back in 1958 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PigpxmuI1QE&feature=player_embedded