Mesa sees light rail as a turning point

Many hope route will help deteriorating area
by Chad Graham - Nov. 3, 2008 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

With nearly 453,000 residents, Mesa counts a population larger than Miami, Minneapolis or St. Louis.

But the city has struggled to become more than a Phoenix bedroom community.

Mesa has attempted economic-development project after project to diversify its economy, which has good-paying aircraft-manufacturing jobs but also many low-paying telemarketing and retail jobs.

Metro light rail is seen as the latest way to change Mesa's fortune.

The city's initial stretch of the line is only a little more than a mile, but the impact could be among the most dramatic along the entire 20-mile route.

Neighborhoods, mom-and-pop shops and west Mesa, in particular, could be changed.

City officials, business leaders and development experts hope the train will bring a new identity to the city when it starts running down this stretch of Main Street.

Already, light rail has put new polish on Main Street: new paving, sidewalks and landscaping. Apartments, strip malls and businesses that were able to survive the construction are sprucing up before the trains start carrying passengers into the area. More here.