Southeast Valley Development News

[Jjs5056]

I think that's a little shortsighted/narrow-minded. Because Mesa is so sprawling, it won't ever be a fully transit-minded and oriented city. But, there's great bones downtown, and I think that area has the potential to become a pretty active mixed use, midrise TOD community. Mesa's mayor is a great leader, who has brought dozens of new companies and higher education opportunities to Mesa. That's the base needed to grow and establish a revitalized core when you don't have the gays and artists in your town.

Highly educated, well-paid professionals will want that urban experience, and eventually there will be market rate development downtown that responds to that demand. Mesa has a pretty solid downtown to start off a revitalization effort- it has more contiguous retail than anywhere in Phoenix. The light rail extension will also continue to spur TOD. Skyscrapers? No. But, the typical 5-6 story apartments being built throughout any of our more urban areas.

I think having 1 more major college or HQ choose a more central location, and we'll see plenty of residential infill.

In the meantime, I haven't read their General Plan, but if downtown stabilized with jobs, education and housing (and the retail that follows), it's only logical that they create a plan for the Fiesta District and break ground. They've been preaching it for years while it continued to fall apart. But, this is where cities need to think of alternative transit options. Getting streetcar or rapid bus down Dobson and connect to BOA tower, MCC, the hospital and the mall would be a great first start and something I could see Smith pushing through. It's too bad Tempe hadn't completed their streetcar prior to the Cubs relocation; I think an extension would've been approved by Mesa voters, in which case, you could have possibly connected the Fiesta District with Uptown Phoenix.

Ultimately, its up to the private sector and market. Nothing can force MCC to improve the pedestrian access and comfort, and build new construction fronting Southern and Dobson, build only structured parking - preferably underground.

Unfortunately, the rest of the revitalization would need to come from bulldozers or developers willing to evaluate unique alternatives. For example, can the Fiesta Mall withstand the addition of any additional floors? If so, why not build a rental community on the top and create a mixed use center. If not, there is plenty of surface lots prime for sub level parking structures, ground level retail, and rentals on top. The more we can find uses for surface parking, the greater chance at ever seeing a turnaround.