Who?

While I'm not someone who likes to pick on Mesa Riverview, and I don't think think Mesa just needs to be "more like Tempe"- sometimes one must acknowledge a weakness in order to become stronger.

Why it works
The designers of Tempe Marketplace's "The District" seemed to understand who would show up after it was completed. They understood what their consumers would look like (or how they desired to look), what kind of stores they like, what kind of car they might dream of having, and even what kind of lighting and landscaping they might have in their ideal patio environment.








They envisioned that their consumers might aspire to visit Palm Springs or Las Vegas for a weekend getaway, and visualized them shopping, relaxing inside "the District" atmosphere before it was even built.

The Vestar process is no mystery>>


Meanwhile
Mesa Riverview's "Theater District" on the other hand, seems less focused. Don't get me wrong- it's big, and it's pretty- it seems to have all the right ingredients, but I have a hard time imagining who it's for. While the Design of "The District" @ Tempe Marketplace speaks insightfully about it's shoppers- Mesa Riverview prefers to play it safe.

So safe, that I can only think of this guy:












Let's call him "jon".
I can just see jon, enjoying an afternoon at Mesa riverview, can't you?

jon is a smart guy. He appreciates nice things and understands social status, but prefers to remain anonymous and is cautious about making his personal preferences known to others. As a matter of fact jon doesn't even enjoy shopping, and dislikes anything that might incite him into frivolous spending. jon loves Mesa Riverview's Theater District- it's brand new, pleasant, and seems somehow to have been built just for him. He can often be seen, making a solitary stroll through the placid corridor.

What's more- jon doesn't sunburn easily or fret at all about vehicle traffic because he's made of a paper-thin polymer that is virtually indestructible. It's a perfect match!

Seriously
In the final analysis- it's not that "The District" is bigger, better, or prettier than Mesa Riverview's Theater District. It's not that the developers of Tempe Market place just scored a lucky success. The fact is that the designers of Tempe Marketplace placed the lifestyle, habits, and values of their target consumers- at the center of a design strategy.

They strove to understand their consumers, and provide a focused experience for them.
And it worked.
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Strategic Innovation on Businessweek online >>


More about Design Strategy and Innovation:


http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/95/design-strategy.html


http://ascc.artsci.wustl.edu/~ksawyer/explainingcreativity/

The iMesa Project taking shape

This evening was the inaugural meeting for an innovative new volunteer panel assembled by Mesa mayor Scott Smith, the Mesa City Council, and the the Mayor's Chief of Staff. The iMesa initiative is a project that elicits and enacts citizen driven ideas for municipal improvement, and utilizes a board of Mesa residents and business owners to help in implementing the objectives of the unique grassroots plan:
http://www.mesaaz.gov/imesa/
Mayor Scott Smith was present to give an inspiring introduction and was cool enough to visit briefly with each one of us, shaking hands and saying hello.

Mayor Smith modeled the plan after the "MAPS" project that transformed Oklahoma City in the late 1990's/early 2000's. Major emphasis of the iMesa initiative is within identifying "Transformative" ideas, and the plan emphasizes firmly that absolutely any idea is up for analysis.

In a climate where municipal heads make timid, strategic promises, Smith's iMesa takes bold strides into real grassroots community involvement and reaches for an innovative culture not found anywhere else in the Valley.

Although the very first solution is not yet fully activated- from a firsthand perspective- it carries a vital energy for the city's future. The location of HeatSync Labs to 140 W main St in Downtown Mesa is the very first iMesa initiative, and the company is set to move into it's downtown location in Early June.
Read more here>>

Check out iMesa and get involved!:
http://imesa.mesaaz.gov/forums/111089-central-corridor-village

2025: Seniors and Suburbs

"By 2025, Seniors are expected to outnumber school children nationwide. Without better planning, millions of Americans may find themselves trapped in their suburban homes".
As our population's needs begin to rapidly change, will there be affordable housing and transportation available to fit their needs?

More importantly, do our neighborhoods in West Mesa- with their affordable, robust, adaptable, single-level homes- centrally located close to public transportation, highways, and airports offer something potentially valuable?

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Jane's Walk in Mesa

This year, West Mesa will have it's very own Jane's Walk event, organized and hosted by David Crummey.
From David:

What is Jane’s Walk? Jane’s walk honors the legacy and ideas of urban activist/writer Jane Jacobs by hosting free “walking conversations” in our community — specifically Mesa’s Downtown. Jane’s Walk Mesa will take place at some time on May 6-8th of this year. There will be many other Jane’s Walks being hosted in the valley, state, nation and the world that weekend. (Last year there were 350 walks in 42 cities, from Mumbai to New York, Salt Lake City to Toronto!)

As mentioned above, the event will take place the first weekend in May. The route through Downtown Mesa is still being finalized, but is sure to include some little known aspects about our downtown and it's history, and some interesting people. Come join this innovative walking conversation experience, and make your voice heard. The final stop on the tour will be a destination for dining and libations.
Jane's Walk is a grass roots event, focused upon integrating the living experience's of all members of the community. Jane's Walk welcomes any and all members of our community, to share and enrich the collective
outlook.

Find Jane's Walk Mesa in facebook:
Janes Walk Mesa

You can find out more on the Jane's Walk website for Phoenix

And visit the national/International Janes Walk website.

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Building a Brand for West Mesa: Pt II of VII

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"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge." - Albert Einstein

Branding at the Cultural Level
For West Mesa, Cultural Branding leverages unique strategies to invite distinctly value-driven individuals into our community. It seeks to share a compelling vision of a developing grassroots community that is diverse and vibrant.
It works in two core ways:
a). Strategic relationships with independent social organizations, online communities, and existing subcultures of idealists, pioneers, and individualists.
b). Targeted marketing messages, using a unique voice and compelling metaphors and imagery, connecting West Mesa with specific shared cultural values.

West Mesa has unique challenges and requires unique solutions. More than just advertising to suburban shoppers, we need to reach people- inviting them to live, work, and invest. Unlike traditional top down development efforts, branding at the cultural level works at the grass roots to stimulate revitalization and investment from the bottom up.

The Message
West Mesa has developed alongside of neighboring communities in unique ways, and offers special intrinsic qualities and undiscovered possibilities. Marketing messages for West Mesa should compel people to recognize the Value within our community, by stimulating them to:
Understand it's unique qualities
Explore it's potentials- both existing and virtual
Share in our aspirational vision

Success for West Mesa will not come from whitewashing it's history, or from giving it a suburban make-over. We do not need to become more like Scottsdale, nor will we be saved by corporate retail. West Mesa will see it's potential in positioning its self as an intuitive destination for modern pioneers and value-driven individualists.

West Mesa : From Opportunism to Idealism
West Mesa needs individuals who are sold upon our community's unique potential and are willing to share in the revitalization cause- directly or indirectly.

A Cultural Brand development process seeks to shift the investment climate in West Mesa from one of opportunism to one of idealism. It stimulates an awareness of the intrinsic values of West Mesa, and invites key individuals to invest within our community and it's assets, not to exploit them.
Instead of laws, ordinances, and zoning, Cultural Branding elicits people's best intentions by appealing to their core values.

West Mesa: Our Brand Now
Public perception is neither fair nor objective.
No other community in the east Valley faces the same marketing complications that our community does. Working positively against a prevailing emotive consensus in the East Valley is a core challenge for West Mesa.[1] Branding, marketing, and design speak to people at this level- and work to stimulate an alternate narrative about what's possible in West Mesa.

[1]. Tempe's 85281 zip code and Mesa's adjacent 85201 possess remarkably similar crime statistics. Temp's 85281 is known as a place for shopping, nightlife, and the university experience, while a few miles away in 85201 it is considered “dangerous”.

[1] Our city's image dramatically influences what journalistic tone is considered consumable by the public, and provokes educated and experienced individuals to repeat things about Mesa that are inaccurate. It's common to hear statements based within assumptions that East Tempe is "too run down to be Tempe", so it must be Mesa- And that Southwest Mesa is "too nice to be Mesa", so it must be Chandler.

Building a Brand for West Mesa: Pt I

The Case for Cultural Branding and Placemaking in our community.

"The best vision is insight." - - Malcolm Forbes

West Mesa: A Brand Strategy
West Mesa is a special place. Situated centrally within Phoenix's desirable East Valley, it has neighborhoods of universally affordable homes and bargain rate property taxes. It's history creates a cultural texture that is at once both unique and accessible. Most importantly, in a time of manufactured suburbs and ubiquitous corporate retail, West Mesa is a community where a pioneering energy can still be felt, and the average person can still make a difference.

Branding
Why do we need Branding?
West Mesa will not be revitalized by the availability of upscale shopping. It is not feasible now or any time within the foreseeable future that private developers will "bulldoze" our older neighborhoods and build a new, homogeneous suburb again. Our community is, and will continue to be made of diverse, integrated neighborhoods, centrally located within the East Valley. Our community has evolved and our identity should celebrate celebrate our unique strengths.

The Power of Branding
Nearly every Fortune 500 multinational company that competes for the public's embrace positions Brand strategy at the core of their business. Cincinnati, Ohio's Proctor & Gamble produces Twenty Four unique Brands for 80 different countries, and is credited with introducing the innovation of “Brand Management Strategy” to the business world.
For P&G, Branding is the primary consideration in all of their development efforts: the creation of intellectual property and design, marketing, and advertising. It is comprehensive, user-focused, and relies upon three key devices:

Strategy- It is created with a specific consumer in mind, with intense understandings of their habits, sensibilities, and values.
Experiential- It creates a string of harmonious, concise experiences that reinforce a compelling message and create lasting emotional imprints. It compels people to think and imagine for themselves.
Story-telling- It creates a humanized identity for a product or entity, that people can identify and empathize with, and trust.

A comprehensive Brand strategy for West Mesa should invite idealism and leverage the synergy of shared values. In this way, strategy for West mesa should rely upon the concept of Cultural Branding to invite distinctly value-driven residents, entrepreneurs, and investors into our community.

Part II of the series >>

Resources
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/95/design-qa.html
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/brandequity/

This Old Downtown (Mesa)

Regardless of how we think that Downtown Mesa needs to change or evolve, someone at thisoldhouse.com is bragging about it right now:

Best Old House Neighborhoods 2011>>





<< Mesa Historic Home Tour in Mesa's "West Second st Historic District", just north of Downtown.







This isn't an entirely new phenomenon, as the charm and potential of this area have been recognized before: See the Phoenix magazine article>>



Read the whole article on Duke Manor >>


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