by bryan | Apr 24, 2011 | light rail expansion, News & Information
by Gary Nelson – Apr. 21, 2011 Arizona Business Gazette A Mesa business leader said last week that residents and merchants need to begin paying heed to an emerging plan that will govern redevelopment in a large swath of the central city. Otto Shill, president of the public-policy committee for the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said language in the plan will eventually gel into rules affecting everyone in the area. He made his comments to a chamber-sponsored community forum on April 13, the first of several that the business coalition will hold around town to raise awareness of key Mesa policy issues. The plan in question is called the Central Main Street Neighborhood Area Plan. A citizens committee has been working on it for 16 months in hopes of a public rollout by summer and City Council adoption in the fall. Several public meetings will be held before the plan is final. It will govern land use and building design in a nearly 4-square-mile area straddling Main Street from Extension Road to east of Gilbert Road. A sibling plan was adopted for the western part of Mesa’s light-rail corridor several years ago. Jeff McVay, a city planner, told the small audience Wednesday that the plan aims to transform the corridor into a pedestrian-friendly urban center with at least 4,000 more dwelling units than at present. Many would be in mixed-use buildings within arm’s length of the rail tracks. Redevelopment probably would be most intense through downtown, with infill projects more likely east of Mesa Drive, McVay said. “If the city does achieve even half the development potential here, we’re going to have a real...
by bryan | Apr 24, 2011 | light rail expansion, News & Information, Valley Metro
Project is in planning stage, does not yet have price tag by Sadie Jo Smokey – Apr. 21, 2011 The Arizona Republic This fall, north-central Phoenix may get a bike-lane connection between the Arizona Canal and the Uptown Metro light-rail station. But it will require cutting out two lanes for vehicles on Central Avenue between Bethany Home and Camelback roads. “My primary goal is to provide a link between riders who use the canal and the Metro station,” city traffic engineer Kerry Wilcoxon said. “Right now, they don’t have access between Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street.” The project, which is in the planning stage and therefore does not have a price tag, would add one bike lane northbound and one southbound on the southern stretch of the route, providing cyclists a route between the start of the Murphy Bridle Path (at Bethany Home Road) and Camelback Road. Read...
by bryan | Apr 23, 2011 | Education, Uncategorized
Presented by LightRailConnect & LRA Real Estate Group Sponsored by Four Points by Sheraton Tempe LRA Real Estate Group and LightRailConnect have partnered with local AdWords expert Jason Carr to offer this practical class. Jason has been managing Pay-Per-Click advertising campaigns since 2005 and has worked for a wide variety of companies ranging from small service businesses all the way up to Fortune 500 companies. This class is geared toward small business owners who are new to Google’s advertising system and are looking to expand their marketing reach. In this class you will learn: How to structure a successful AdWords campaign. · How to avoid 3 common mistakes that will waste your money (and your time). · How to find the right keywords for your product and business. · Best practices for writing ad copy and constructing keyword groups. There will also be time to answer your questions. Cost: $10 per person Location: Four Points by Sheraton Tempe 1333 Rural Rd, Tempe AZ 85281 Time: Thurs. April 28th @ 6:00pm – Class will run 45 minutes with time after for Q&A If you plan to attend, please RSVP to info@lightrailconnect.com Download and Print a Flyer: How to use Google Adwords to Grow your...
by bryan | Apr 18, 2011 | Apartments, light rail corridor, News & Information
by Sadie Jo Smokey – Apr. 17, 2011 The Arizona Republic City bought apartments in 2009; buildings renovated Residents may begin moving into five blocks of affordable housing in north-central Phoenix by the end of May. The two-story brick buildings at Park Lee Apartments have fresh paint and new carpeting and appliances. The community clubhouse and three pools look new and sparkling. In December 2009, Phoenix used federal funds to buy the apartments, 1600 W. Highland Ave., to provide stability and affordable-housing options near the light-rail line. Park Lee is closest to the stop at Camelback Road and 19th Avenue. Tom Elgin, who lives in the Grandview Neighborhood east of the 523-unit community, said he’s extremely happy with the city’s effort to clean up the blighted area. “The police used to be there a lot,” Elgin said. “Drugs, graffiti . . . was a real problem. I’d paint over graffiti every weekend. All of that has basically gone away.” Kim Dorney, Phoenix Housing Department director, said the city paid about $5.2 million to buy the community, built in 1955. It consists of 34 buildings and sits on nearly 32 acres. Councilman Tom Simplot, who represents the area, told residents at a neighborhood meeting that city staff uncovered extensive water damage and vandalism in the multifamily community. Some units required extensive electrical repairs and upgrades. Angela Duncan, deputy housing director, said the city budgeted $5.36 million to rehabilitate the community in phases. Approximately 160 apartments will be available to rent by the end of May. Chain-link fencing surrounds the community to deter criminal activity. In July 2010, juvenile-arson-caused fires destroyed 12...
by bryan | Apr 17, 2011 | light rail corridor, light rail expansion
by Gary Nelson – Apr. 14, 2011 The Arizona Republic Mesa Mayor Scott Smith told a room full of Arizona transit experts Monday that the state needs to get over its border problem. No, not that border. He was talking about the borders that separate one city from another on maps that barely make a difference to residents who move among communities to work, shop and recreate. Unless politicians and transit planners get over their parochialism, Smith said, the Valley will be stuck with a “hodgepodge system that is not meeting our needs and . . . is a detriment to our future.” Smith made his comments at an Arizona Transit Association conference at the Phoenix Marriott Mesa that continued into Tuesday afternoon. Returning to the theme of regionalism that has been a cornerstone of his nearly three years in office, Smith said civic narrow-mindedness is an even bigger threat than public transit’s chronic lack of money. He used the proposed extension of light rail to Gilbert Road as an example. Mesa wants to push the line 2 miles farther east of its scheduled terminus near Mesa Drive. Only last week the City Council approved an initial study of the idea, which has no funding and no timetable. Light-rail planners believe Gilbert Road is a more logical collection point for passengers than is the eastern edge of downtown. It’s not that Mesa thinks those 2 miles of Main Street will be a gold mine of redevelopment if the trains go through. It doesn’t. “But from a system standpoint, that’s a huge game-changer,” Smith said. “It will benefit the entire system a lot more than it...
