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It was 2nd Friday Night Out event is why it was busy. I guess for a city of 471,000 people that's the best they can do. The Friday Night Out event is mainly for Harley Davidson riders.
A monthly event that brings a couple hundred bikers is the best they can do I guess which is pretty good considering that the adjacent neighborhoods are small, poorly built single-family homes with multiple-homes living in them and of course many section 8 apartment buildings.
Compare the ambiance in downtown Mesa around Country Club and Main compared to the the huge, lively Gilbert Road in Gilbert or Mill Avenue in Tempe.
I don't think there is another city of 471,000 people in North America that has as small of a downtown as Mesa. It will always be a failed downtown compared to Tempe, Scottsdale or Gilbert.
I can't help but laugh at the people who run the city of Mesa being that it's one of the poorest run cities in then nation compared to Gilbert which is likely the best run-town or city in the nation of it's size.
Mesa is absolutely hillarious in how little it offers compared to other parts of the valley such as Tempe, Scottsdale and Gilbert despite being a much bigger city. Mesa has more people then Miami or Atlanta so the fact that they need to bikers event each month on a Friday night to just have a couple hundred people in absolutely hillarious.
I live on the Mesa and Gilbert border and I love Gilbert and it's bustling downtown that is way above it's weight but I just can't help but laugh at everything that Mesa is.
It is so nice that Gilbert offers such a nice downtown with large restaurants, specialty shops, local mom and pop restaurants, western heritage stores and also lots of big box retailers in the area also. A perfect mix that offers something for everyone. Scottsdale and Tempe also make a huge effort.
Mesa on the other hand, I wonder how these places stay open. Downtown Mesa is also in a position where the existing business in the area can only can only cater to it's adajcent poverty-ridden section 8 neighborhoods and bikers.
The neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Mesa are mainly junk yards with high fences and pit bulls and old shacks with multiple families living in one house. That is not a recipe for success for a downtown, but I guess Mesa with it's superiority complex thinks it's superior to all and inferior to none.
Mesa is an urban planning failure. I have seen downtown's of 10,000 people that have more impressive downtown's then Mesa and the public sector has to either give huge subsidies or be owned by the city for any devolopment to occur in that city.
I think your bias is showing. While I agree that downtown Mesa is unimpressive for one of it's size, to say that Gilbert's is anything special or that it "punches above it's weight" is laughable considering Gilbert itself is a large city of well over 200,000 people. Gilbert's downtown barely existed as little as 5-6 years ago, and it's still really only about 5-6 blocks long and 2 blocks wide (a block on either side of Gilbert Rd.). Most towns of over 25,000 people almost anywhere else in the country can boast a bigger downtown with more to do. Tempe, Scottsdale & even Glendale have far more impressive downtowns than Gilbert, and Chandler's is at least comparable.
That said, nowhere in the Phoenix metro is there a truly impressive downtown area. That's just not what Phoenix is (yet). It's a city that was primarily built after the automobile, and hence reflects an overall urban design that is decidedly car-centric and never had the need to grow a large central core like most cities that are much older and grew more organicly and more compactly to accomodate people's need to shop, do business, and socialize in the days before high-speed personal mobility was commonplace. The good thing is that pretty much ALL the downtown areas in the Valley are improving, and some have already done so dramatically over just the past 5 years thanks to changing tastes, good urban planning & design, better mass transit, and an improving economic climate.
Been through downtown Mesa a few times, never was overly impressed. For a city its size (like Phoenix), it has a long way to go to impress outsiders. Towns in the Midwest with 30K people had better, livlier downtowns. No joke. I think that's where my criticism stems from, I really do. Im so curious why the Phoenix area's downtowns are so lacking. The only downtowns in AZ that Ive found to be really enjoyable are Old Town and Prescott. The rest are ho-hum or total crap!
Been through downtown Mesa a few times, never was overly impressed. For a city its size (like Phoenix), it has a long way to go to impress outsiders. Towns in the Midwest with 30K people had better, livlier downtowns. No joke. I think that's where my criticism stems from, I really do. Im so curious why the Phoenix area's downtowns are so lacking. The only downtowns in AZ that Ive found to be really enjoyable are Old Town and Prescott. The rest are ho-hum or total crap!
Here we go again... of course you missed off quite a few that I've brought visitors to from the Northeast and Midwest who have been pleasantly surprised. Most notably Tempe and Glendale but around the state Bisbee, Jerome, Flagstaff, Carefree, Cottonwood....
Perhaps you've never actually embraced Arizona for what it is while instead you've focused on how it's not like where you came from. Open your eyes to something different, you might be surprised what you find.
I think your bias is showing. While I agree that downtown Mesa is unimpressive for one of it's size, to say that Gilbert's is anything special or that it "punches above it's weight" is laughable considering Gilbert itself is a large city of well over 200,000 people. Gilbert's downtown barely existed as little as 5-6 years ago, and it's still really only about 5-6 blocks long and 2 blocks wide (a block on either side of Gilbert Rd.). Most towns of over 25,000 people almost anywhere else in the country can boast a bigger downtown with more to do. Tempe, Scottsdale & even Glendale have far more impressive downtowns than Gilbert, and Chandler's is at least comparable.
That said, nowhere in the Phoenix metro is there a truly impressive downtown area. That's just not what Phoenix is (yet). It's a city that was primarily built after the automobile, and hence reflects an overall urban design that is decidedly car-centric and never had the need to grow a large central core like most cities that are much older and grew more organicly and more compactly to accomodate people's need to shop, do business, and socialize in the days before high-speed personal mobility was commonplace. The good thing is that pretty much ALL the downtown areas in the Valley are improving, and some have already done so dramatically over just the past 5 years thanks to changing tastes, good urban planning & design, better mass transit, and an improving economic climate.
The bolded part is spot on. To compare a city like Mesa that is all sprawl to midwestern towns or smaller cities that have a downtown hub is apples to oranges. Remember that Phoenix and the valley is a young city compared to places in the midwest or out east so it developed quite differently.
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Tempe is good. A nice, strong core. Nice old architecture sprinkled here and there. My problem with Tempe is the college turds and all the bums. Take away those elements and I would relocate there in a heartbeat. Its just too immature of a place for me, and with ASU being right downtown, Tempe is forever doomed to hold that status.
Here we go again... of course you missed off quite a few that I've brought visitors to from the Northeast and Midwest who have been pleasantly surprised. Most notably Tempe and Glendale but around the state Bisbee, Jerome, Flagstaff, Carefree, Cottonwood....
Perhaps you've never actually embraced Arizona for what it is while instead you've focused on how it's not like where you came from. Open your eyes to something different, you might be surprised what you find.
To say I haven't embraced AZ is one of the most absurd statements Ive ever heard directed towards me. I love AZ and all its quirks. To me that's its biggest draw! I relocated here, didn't I? The only reason I commented on this thread is because people think Mesa's downtown is somehow awesome. For a city of 500K people IT SUCKS. One trip there and youre done. That's not a memorable downtown, nor is it enough to draw people to the city from abroad (like it should be). Cities like Tempe and Scottsdale did it right from the get-go. Mesa? Not so much.
Look, we all moved here because we love it. We love AZ. We love the desert. Our strong suits are the Southwestern lifestyle and food, the Spanish/Native architecture and culture/influences. The weather. The flora and fauna. Our strong suits are not strong, urban cores. Never has been, never will be. Lets just focus on what we do best, and leave the "our downtown rocks" threads to cities where their downtowns actually rock.
The bolded part is spot on. To compare a city like Mesa that is all sprawl to midwestern towns or smaller cities that have a downtown hub is apples to oranges. Remember that Phoenix and the valley is a young city compared to places in the midwest or out east so it developed quite differently.
Huh? Its definitely an apples to apples comparison! We're taking city vs city here. Urban planning vs urban planning.
Mesa: founded 1878, current population is 500K. Downtown core present at time of inception? Yes. Distance from major city? Neighbor to Phoenix, biggest city in AZ. Downtown core utilized as time progressed? No, it was left for dead.
Geneva, IL (for example): founded 1835, current population is only 22K. Downtown core present at time of inception? Yes. Distance from major city? 45 miles to IL's biggest city. Downtown core utilized as time progressed and sprawl/expansion took over? Yes, still a super strong core to this day!
Both cities started at the core and grew outward. That's how all cities work. Geneva and Mesa are both prime examples of sprawl. Both cities had thriving Main Streets in the 1800's. Both cities had horses as primary transporation in the 1800s. Both cities had access to railroad. Both cities got automobiles at the same time. One city abandoned its core as the automobile arrived, the other held onto and cherished its core. See where Im going with this?
Calling Phoenix/Mesa a "young" city is weird. They were founded when many Eastern cities were, but didn't boom until the invention of a/c. And at that point in the 50s and 60s, theres no reason they couldn't have built up their downtowns. They had em!!! We just chose to go out instead of up!
To say I haven't embraced AZ is one of the most absurd statements Ive ever heard directed towards me. I love AZ and all its quirks. To me that's its biggest draw! I relocated here, didn't I? The only reason I commented on this thread is because people think Mesa's downtown is somehow awesome. For a city of 500K people IT SUCKS. One trip there and youre done. That's not a memorable downtown, nor is it enough to draw people to the city from abroad (like it should be). Cities like Tempe and Scottsdale did it right from the get-go. Mesa? Not so much.
Look, we all moved here because we love it. We love AZ. We love the desert. Our strong suits are the Southwestern lifestyle and food, the Spanish/Native architecture and culture/influences. The weather. The flora and fauna. Our strong suits are not strong, urban cores. Never has been, never will be. Lets just focus on what we do best, and leave the "our downtown rocks" threads to cities where their downtowns actually rock.
I have not met many people that have embraced Arizona that say things like "other then Prescott and Old Town there are no other interesting downtown areas in Arizona" which is why I listed downtown areas some that my East Coast/Midwest friends have found very fascinating and I continue to enjoy myself. I didn't even mentioned Mesa in my response to you, which should be enough to show that I agree it punches well below it's weight.
I don't know why you continue to compare cities here to Midwest towns, I for one am very happy were not like Anytown, USA. That is one of the things I love about Arizona.
Huh? Its definitely an apples to apples comparison! We're taking city vs city here. Urban planning vs urban planning.
Mesa: founded 1878, current population is 500K. Downtown core present at time of inception? Yes. Distance from major city? Neighbor to Phoenix, biggest city in AZ. Downtown core utilized as time progressed? No, it was left for dead.
Geneva, IL (for example): founded 1835, current population is only 22K. Downtown core present at time of inception? Yes. Distance from major city? 45 miles to IL's biggest city. Downtown core utilized as time progressed and sprawl/expansion took over? Yes, still a super strong core to this day!
Geneva has one very unique characteristic that Mesa does not, it is landlocked by other towns. Much like Tempe is, another city that has focused on it's urban core since sprawling growth is not an option. This is why Geneva IL is 9.99 square miles and Mesa is 133 square miles.
It's all relative to time and the automobile, out here in the wild wild west cities grew in a way that allowed for wide open spaces, which was a big selling point of early settlers who wanted to escape the big urban environments of the East.
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While I agree that downtown Mesa is unimpressive for one of it's size, to say that Gilbert's is anything special or that it "punches above it's weight" is laughable considering Gilbert itself is a large city of well over 200,000 people. Gilbert's downtown barely existed as little as 5-6 years ago, and it's still really only about 5-6 blocks long and 2 blocks wide (a block on either side of Gilbert Rd.). Most towns of over 25,000 people almost anywhere else in the country can boast a bigger downtown with more to do. Tempe, Scottsdale & even Glendale have far more impressive downtowns than Gilbert, and Chandler's is at least comparable. 
