THE VOICE OF THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1891 AND WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING
Leibowitz on Arpaio PAGE 20
East Mesa Edition
THE SUNDAY
Tribune
IRIE VIBES
EAST VALLEY
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | EastValleyTribune.com
PAGE 32
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Mesa Mayor John Giles is a big supporter of light rail through the city’s downtown. Trains have been running deeper into the city for almost seven months and ridership has doubled. [David Jolkovski/Tribune]
COVER STORY
DOWNTOWN MAKES A COMEBACK MESA’S CORE TARGETED FOR REVITALIZATION BY SHELLEY RIDENOUR TRIBUNE
I
f enthusiasm and optimism were guarantees for success, downtown Mesa would be a rockin’ place 24 hours a day. But, it takes more than enthusiasm to ensure that businesses will prosper and people will want to hang out and spend money in a particular neighborhood. A new group of business owners has found downtown Mesa and joined with longtime downtown staples in efforts to rebuild the downtown corridor. Many of the new Main Street business owners are young and have opened shops that some people wouldn’t consider typical for a historic downtown. That list includes a brewery, a vaping lounge and e-juice manufacturer, a vegan restaurant, a toy bodega, a creative, cooperative shared
maker space, a record store and a comic book store. Much of downtown Mesa’s offerings are exactly what people would expect, a pizza restaurant, a fancier Italian restaurant, Mexican restaurants, clothing stores, a screen printing shop, banks, fast food outlets, antique stores, a music instrument store, several locally owned coffee shops, speciality bakeries, a shoe repair shop, ice cream stores and jewelry stores. Downtown Mesa has seen its share of ups and downs. For decades, especially in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, it was a thriving, full business district. Then malls became popular, and the city began spreading outward where more and more shopping districts popped up. Oddly, downtown Mesa business owner Gladys Contreras points out, now some malls are trying to re-create the look of a downtown.
“So, I guess that means downtowns do work,” Contreras said. Strong support for downtown The business owners receive plenty of support from the city, the Downtown Mesa Association, Visit Mesa and the chamber, Contreras and fellow Main Street business owner Gary Brown said. In fact, the Mesa City Council has adopted a plan to continue boosting the downtown, Councilman Chris Glover said. Glover’s district includes downtown Mesa. It’s a wide-ranging mission statement of sorts with key priorities. The list includes offering more entertainment and events and a renewed focus to recruit more restaurants and nightlife options to downtown. The city is also pressing for the addition of residences See Downtownon page 4