What is wrong with Mesa? (Tempe: neighborhood, clubhouse, live)

[new2colo]

It's a normal cycle. Neighborhoods change. To claim that most of the city of Mesa is a dump is a stretch. A large part of the Valley's issues is people's constant demand for the newest and the shiniest. Those who can afford to leave their old neighborhoods for something newer and nicer. At the same time property values in the older communities drop and people of more modest means move in. There are definitely some older communities that retain their value, but a good number go through this cycle.

What gets me is the people who move away from their old neighborhoods because they feel that newer and bigger is better who then turn around a express grief and anger at the current state of their old neighborhood. If you abandon your old neighborhood, you're part of the
problem. Stable neighborhoods have stable populations.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by new2colo

It's a normal cycle. Neighborhoods change. To claim that most of the city of Mesa is a dump is a stretch. A large part of the Valley's issues is people's constant demand for the newest and the shiniest. Those who can afford to leave their old neighborhoods for something newer and nicer. At the same time property values in the older communities drop and people of more modest means move in. There are definitely some older communities that retain their value, but a good number go through this cycle.

What gets me is the people who move away from their old neighborhoods because they feel that newer and bigger is better who then turn around a express grief and anger at the current state of their old neighborhood. If you abandon your old neighborhood, you're part of the
problem. Stable neighborhoods have stable populations.

This has some truth to it but you're leaving out one important point.

Newer homes usually have less to worry about and have warranties in case something goes wrong, old homes have many more repair needs that often come up all of a sudden. Sooner or later an old home will have major plumbing issues and so forth that are very expensive and time-consuming.

Dealing with contractors is a major pain, most of the ones I dealt with are questionable at best, and people just don't want to hassle with these problems.

That's one reason why you see flight from older neighborhoods into the newer neighborhoods, many of which are located in suburban areas.

One way to eliminate this is gentrification of older areas, that often relieves commuting-traffic issues and gives people a chance to live in a new or freshly revamped place in a more central location.

[infocyde]

The part of Mesa the borders Tempe kinda sucks. The end. The why of it, the geopolitics of it, if you are a person who wants to live there you don't care about the excuse of the why but the reality of the what is. I lived there for six months in the past and have kept an eye on Mesa (well West Mesa) for awhile. This is what I see.

- West Mesa is declining though I'd say in the fiesta district the decline has leveled off somewhat.
- Main street in downtown Mesa has potential. I was really sad when the Monster bar closed, that could have been an anchor for more. But I doubt the potential will ever be met anytime soon.
- Good luck finding a coffee shop open past 11.
- There are still some unique places in Mesa, restaurants, bookstores, cool places. But they are slowly fading out.
- At least the Mesa PD helicopters that were in the air 24/7 buzzing "The Mog" (area around Bookman's) with searchlights just because seem to be curtailed. Not against policing but man it was just too much back in the late 90ies. Felt like Somalia with all the PD little birds buzzing around. One of the reasons I got out of there.
- Western Mesa is a concrete jungle, not as well landscaped as other areas in the Phoenix metro.
- Other parts of Main street from downtown out to Apache Junction are filled on both sides with meth head flop houses...though I hear efforts to buy up some of the old motels to curtail this is underway.
- Some nice neighborhoods around Higley and Power, and the older horse properties farther out are nice.

You can live well in parts of Mesa, and as others have pointed out it is a big place. I appreciate some of Mesa's uniqueness. I think though for me other parts of the metro are much more attractive places to live.

[elcajones]

Noticed yesterday on NW corner Longmore and Southern, some of the vacant crap has been demo'd and a new building is going up. Looks like an office building. I wonder if it's the one this article speaks of? There is a lot of plans in the work for Fiesta without a doubt.

Vacant retail plaza in Mesa's Fiesta District to become office hotspot

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by elcajones

Noticed yesterday on NW corner Longmore and Southern, some of the vacant crap has been demo'd and a new building is going up. Looks like an office building. I wonder if it's the one this article speaks of? There is a lot of plans in the work for Fiesta without a doubt.

Vacant retail plaza in Mesa's Fiesta District to become office hotspot

It is. That whole area is getting a huge facelift.

[elcajones]

Originally Posted by Bungle

It is. That whole area is getting a huge facelift.

I can see it becoming an office hot spot like the article suggests. Location wise it would be perfect for East Valley business. Only 15 miles or so to Downtown Phx (Hard fought miles in rush hour), couple miles north is Scottsdale, 1 west is Tempe, couple south is Chandler. Pretty well centered East Valley location. There is some great local lunch spots around here and I would love to see them continue success with the addition of jobs to the area. Philly Steak and Wings in Longmore/Southern has an excellent cheese steak, I'm addicted. I think if / when I move away from the area I'll still hit this place every now and than. Then there's Golden Hawaiian BBQ.

Point being what is here and surviving is decent quality stuff. Demo the empty strip malls and bring in office buildings and I think that can be the key here. Fiesta Mall will be frequented with people getting off work and the local restaurants will be the site of lunch breaks. When there are a good amount of occupied offices here it will pave the way for food places and housing.

I also heard that Fiesta Mall is planning to have some major work done. That is much needed. Last time I was there I ran to the Vans Store to get some shoes and was blown away by how many stores were unoccupied. It's still generally where I go when I need something from the mall but options are limited right now.

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by elcajones

I also heard that Fiesta Mall is planning to have some major work done. That is much needed. Last time I was there I ran to the Vans Store to get some shoes and was blown away by how many stores were unoccupied. It's still generally where I go when I need something from the mall but options are limited right now.

I've heard that the Fiesta Mall renovation will be huge and will turn it into an indoor/outdoor space much like Tempe Marketplace

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I've heard that the Fiesta Mall renovation will be huge and will turn it into an indoor/outdoor space much like Tempe Marketplace

Oh, great ... that's all we need is more "malls" that resemble Tempe Marketplace or Desert Ridge with zig zag traffic all over the place, and you walk from store to store in an outdoor setting. No thanks! If I have to go to a mall, I'll gladly take a place like the old Fiesta Mall, Metrocenter, PV Mall, or Scottsdale Fashion Square where you walk around inside where it's air controlled & comfortable. Why these newer shopping areas are going in the direction of outdoor settings in a hot climate like this is beyond me.

[TransporterG]

"...gangbangers, illegal aliens and tweakers." What's a tweaker???

The way I see it around the valley is that the hollowing out of the middle class will make it more challenging for cities to invest, develop and attract the kind of money and marketing power they need to gentrify, funkify, or artify if they did not benefit from the previous boom or two. Or...able to attract corporate investment. AMC Theatres is owned by the Chinese company Dalian Wanda--maybe they could be enticed to live the dream and move their headquarters here. Every Chinese middle class person wants to live in the US and have their children attend US universities, maybe something attractive here.

Mesa, one of the most conservative cities in the USA--well said by others noting its unexpected population size--has challenges in its pursuit of excellence. In the absence of Chinese cash to raze half the city to the ground and build anew, find funding and drive for world-class education, Mesa is one of those many cities we have which offer the best of the best of the valley, alongside the embarrassments.

The takeaway I have as a resident of the Vallley is that there are charms hidden in unlikely places here--possibly even in Mesa, a city that suffers national respect (except as a Cubs fan). In some places we shake our heads and wish the Caterpiller bulldozers had enough fuel, funding, and urgency to cost effectively raze and rebuild a community more like the 21st century we need. We have a lot that in the valley, including Mesa, that have the seeds of a possible new future; we just need a little more water to grow it.

[madison999]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

Mesa in recent years has been over run by illegals, tweekers, and bikers. Hell the national chapter of the Hell's Angels is now in Mesa. In the late 90's I lived near Gilbert and Main and at the time it was a retiree demo there. 2-3 years later they started dying off and the area started seeing a shift to illegals taking over the area. Had my house broke in twice and it was time to move. The Fiesta Mall district is nothing but fenced off abandoned strip malls and with Fiesta Mall losing anchor stores it is a ghost town.

Wow. illegals, meth-heads and "bikers". So biker means guys on Harleys right? There is a crazy rash of "biker" crime in mesa?!

Unless you are by the clubhouse or at a Harley-style event, you are not likely to see Hells Angels on an average day in Mesa. How many are even in that charter, maybe 8-15? And it's the "National Chapter" in Mesa---can you explain what that means?

Chester's is in Mesa and there are many bike shops in a few block radius. You honestly think the people you see riding Harleys around are responsible for a majority of the crime in Mesa, or represent anywhere even remotely close to the amount of crime done by illegals and meth-heads?

Please define biker so we can get on the same page.