SMART GROWTH > A New Transit-Oriented Development Initiative

An announcement :Transportation plays a crucial role in connecting Americans and communities to economic opportunity. Today, we’re excited to announce a new project that will help people connect to public transportation easily, efficiently, and affordably.

[Images of buildings with this post are here in The New Urban DTMesa - examples of transit-oriented development.]

  

Rancho del Arte

The Transit-Oriented Development technical assistance initiative, a project of the Federal Transit Administration in partnership with Smart Growth America, will provide state and local leaders with new ideas, resources, and capacity for building transit-oriented development, or "TOD". Well-done TOD takes advantage of nearby transit to create desirable places to live, work, and visit that feature amenities like entertainment venues, parks, retail, restaurants, an improved pedestrian environment and diverse housing choices.

Encore on First West

This project will include a competitively awarded technical assistance program, a peer-to-peer learning network, and a comprehensive online database of information related to transit-oriented development.

Technical assistance requests are now being accepted. Local or regional governments with an active federally funded transit project through New Starts, Small Starts, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) are eligible to apply.

Escobedo @ Verde Vista

To learn more about this technical assistance opportunity and the application process, join us for an informational webinar on Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 1:00 pm EST. This online event is free, but registration is required.
http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=gLqoRIU4PdizI4GD6umkxPIbyVb8w%2BbJ

Encore On First

The peer-to-peer network and online database, to launch in 2016, will feature resources and training on transit-oriented development, public transportation, affordable housing, and community-based economic development.Visit the project website to learn more about the new project and to add your name to become part of the network. We look forward to collaborating with you on this exciting new work.

Sincerely,

Chris Zimmerman
Vice President for Economic Development
Smart Growth America
http://www.grants.gov/search-grants.html?fundingCategories%3DT%7CTransportation

CONGRATULATIONS > Voices for Public Transit!

Congress has sent a fully funded, five-year transportation bill that increases public transit funding for communities of all sizes to President Obama. Both the House and Senate passed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) by wide bipartisan margins . . . signed by President Obama on Friday

We’ve been working toward this goal for the past two years, and we couldn’t have succeeded without your hard work, especially over the past few months.

Born In Mesa > Marshall Trimble, Official Historian For The State of Arizona

At 10:00 o'clock this morning he entertained a small and enthusiastic group for a public performance in the Saguaro Room at the Main Public Library.
Yes, dear readers, Arizona's "official historian" is an entertainer + a good one to boot in Trimble's Tales today.
With an honored career in teaching and academics, receiving awards and citations, and more than 15 Arizona history books under his belt, he looked and talked more like a down-home genuine sitting-around-the-campfire singing cowboy.

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.