Mesa

[Ztonyg]

Originally Posted by elcajones

I foresee Mesa looking forward to a lot more commercial development here. Which makes sense considering this area is very central for East Valley commuters (approx. East Valley population 1.5 million.) That doesn't include the whole east side of Phoenix that this area would also be an easy commute from. If they could attract the business, than employees will start moving into the area and put some money into the homes.
There are quite a few neighborhoods with traditionally small, average houses that this in going on at. Particularly off of Indian School between the 17 and the 51. People, as well as investors are buying these homes up and doing major renovations resulting in a high end little home.

I can see the same kind of thing happening in the Fiesta District one day. I believe we are a long way off still.

One thing that caught my eye, from neighborhood cruising to get around rush hour traffic, was a little neighborhood near the Fiesta district. On Cottonwood, Esquire and El Dorado streets just south of Broadway and east of the 101. Maybe a little off topic as this is outside the fiesta district but, that neighborhood is cool. All large horse property lots and really nice big older houses(probably 60's and 70's). The location trips me out. They look like your old Gilbert ranch homes. Who would have thought you could have horse property right on Broadway in West Mesa?

That area may be, or may have been, a county island at one point in time.

I agree with the Indian School area between the 17 and 51 (there's a lot of gentrification throughout most of Central Phoenix). However, the Maryvale, Metrocenter, and Fiesta Districts have cheaper, lower quality housing stock that is more difficult to gentrify.

[elcajones]

You seem to be referring to the John F. Long homes as poor quality. He built a large part of the Valley with the same homes from the 50's to the 70's. A lot of those developments are still very nice areas. I'm talking places like the northeast side off Shea, Cactus and Thunderbird and many other really nice areas. They weren't low quality homes for their time. They weren't particularly high end either. Neither are those 50's and 60's homes off Indian School. They were the standard tract homes for their respective eras.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

However, the Maryvale, Metrocenter, and Fiesta Districts have cheaper, lower quality housing stock that is more difficult to gentrify.

Definitely agree about Maryvale, but Metrocenter and Fiesta District have good possibilities if there was enough interest to improve these areas. Metrocenter Mall is nearly vacant, which is a shame considering that it was one of the largest malls of its kind 40 years ago. What can & should happen is to tear down the mall and build a large theme park on the site. Castles & Coasters could remain as a side attraction, or expand along with the theme park. Perhaps Fiesta Mall could do the same. That idea alone would be a good start to revitalization or gentrification.