QUALITY OF LIFE for Mesa’s citizens and
youth offers safe and clean neighborhoods, invests in
outstanding recreation, libraries and community open space,
delivers transportation choices, elevates culture, arts and
education, and ensures solutions are sustainable and
environmentally responsible.
When asked: “It's two years from now...what do you believe
should be the single most important initiative to have underway
or accomplished for Mesa’s Quality of Life?” The Mayor and
Council’s vision responses included:
- Greater Access & Variety of Recreation Options:
We need more recreational, cultural, sports and public
events for residents and visitors to attend and participate
in throughout the entire community.
- Downtown Activation and Vibrancy:
Having a successful transition of downtown from
underutilized to vibrant is essential. Ease the "pain" of
light rail construction and build off of its presence as
quickly as possible once complete. Have a university
move in to Southside Hospital building to bring students and
a 24/7 presence to the area. Facilitate nightlife and more
activities in the downtown area. Work with Downtown
Mesa Association to help the "rebrand" themselves and create
a strong identity for downtown Mesa.
- Downtown Night Life: Bringing a
night life to downtown Mesa, which might include a wine bar,
micro brewery, jazz club etc., is essential. This does
a couple of things for Mesa: it allows our residents
somewhere to go for night life within the City of Mesa and
takes in the unique/beautiful characteristics of downtown;
it also changes the misperception of many outside the City
who believe "that will never happen in Mesa.”
- Culture of Investment in Quality of Life Assets:
Mesa has developed a culture of quality where its citizens
are willing to invest in those initiatives that ensure we
have high-quality amenities and programs throughout the
city. This culture would recognize we cannot have a
great city without having great places where the community
gathers to enjoy life with their family, friends and
neighbors.
- Improved Recreation, Thriving Downtown, Safe
Community: Mesa is a community that has a
greatly improved recreation plan that includes a variety of
outdoor recreational opportunities and a thriving downtown
nightlife attracting participants from all over the Valley.
We are also a safe community that enjoys one of the lowest
crime rates in the Valley and that provides an enhanced and
efficient emergency response system.
- Neighborhood Cleanups would Create Renewed Sense
of Resident Pride: Mesa should invest in
working with the community to clean up neighborhoods. It
would allow the citizens to take pride in their
neighborhoods again and help bring new residents with high
standards to live in Mesa. It will help combat graffiti,
drugs and gang violence in certain parts of the city. It
will allow the more impoverished areas of Mesa to feel a
sense of renewal that will revitalize their communities and
allow all Mesa residents to feel safe and at home in the
community. It will help to beautify Mesa and create an
environment that is welcoming to residents and tourists.
- Focus on Innovation – in Services, Amenities and
People: Mesa's quality of life is about
innovation and thinking differently about how we as
residents interact with parks, neighborhoods, arts, culture,
sports, streets and community spaces. The innovative people
who live in Mesa care about where they live and that is
reflected in the investment made in neighborhoods and the
quality appearance of all areas of our city. We aren't
afraid to try something new, creatively design, or improve
public spaces and embrace the diversity of opinions that
accompany that thinking.
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