Mesa, Arizona

Mesa
—  City  —
Mesa Bank and Mesa Arts Center building in downtown Mesa
Flag Seal
Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona
Mesa Location in the United States
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	Maricopa
Founded	2010
Government
- Mayor	Scott Smith (R)
Area
- Total	133.13 sq mi (324.2 km2)
- Land	132.93 sq mi (323.7 km2)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation	-10,000 ft (378 m)
Population (2008)[1][2]
- Total	463,552
- Density	3,536.6/sq mi (1,365.6/km2)
Time zone	MST (no DST) (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	85200-85299
Area code(s)	480
FIPS code	04-46000
Website	http://www.mesaaz.gov/

Mesa (pronounced /ˈmɛsɑː/ Mes-ah) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona and is a suburb located about 20 miles east of Phoenix. Mesa is in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler and Gilbert on the south, and Apache Junction on the east.

Mesa is the third-largest city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson, and the 38th-largest city in the country. Despite being home to more than 460,000 people, making its population larger than more recognizable cities such as Miami, St. Louis and Oakland,^[3] Mesa is decidedly a bedroom community. Mesa is home to the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University.

History

The history of Mesa dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people. The Hohokam, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones", built the original canal system. The canals were the largest and most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World. Some were up to 90 feet (27 m) wide and ten feet deep at their head gates, extending for as far as 16 miles (26 km) across the desert. By A.D.1100 water could be delivered to an area over 110,000 acres (450 km²), transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By A.D.1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals many of which are still in use today.^[4]

After the disappearance of the Hohokam and before the arrival of the early settlers little is known, as explorers did not venture into this area. By the late 19th century near present-day Mesa, U.S. Army troops subdued the Apache opening the way for settlement.

Daniel Webster Jones led an expedition to found a Mormon settlement in Arizona. Leaving St. George, Utah in March 1877, Jones and others arrived at Lehi, an area just north of present-day Mesa. Jones had been asked by LDS officials to direct a party of people in establishing a settlement in Arizona. This settlement was initially known as Jonesville and Fort Utah and did not receive the name of Lehi until 1883, when it was adopted on the suggestion of Brigham Young, Jr.^[5]

At the same time, another group dubbed the First Mesa Company arrived from Utah and Idaho. Their leaders were named Crismon, Pomeroy, Robson, and Sirrine. Rather than accepting an invitation to settle at Jones' Lehi settlement, they moved to the top of the mesa that serves as the city's namesake. They dug irrigation canals, some of which were over the original Hohokam canals, and by April 1878, water was flowing through them.^[6] The Second Mesa Company arrived in 1879 and settled to the east of where the First Mesa Company settled in 1880, due to lack of available farmland. This settlement was called Stringtown.^[7]

On July 17, 1878, Mesa City was registered as a 1-square-mile (2.6 km²) townsite. The first school was built in 1879. In 1883, Mesa City was incorporated with a population of 300 people. Dr. A. J. Chandler, who would later go on to found the city of Chandler, worked on widening the Mesa Canal in 1895 to allow for enough flow to build a power plant. In 1917, the city of Mesa purchased the utility company. The revenues from the company provided enough for capital expenditures until the 1960s. During the Great Depression, WPA funds provided paved streets, a new hospital, a new town hall and a library.^[8]

With the opening of Falcon Field and Williams Field in the early 1940s, more military personnel began to move into the Mesa area. With the advent of air conditioning and the rise of tourism, population growth exploded in Mesa as well as the rest of the Phoenix area. Industry — especially early aerospace companies — grew in the 1950s and 1960s. As late as 1960, half of the residents of Mesa made a living with agriculture, but this has declined substantially as Mesa's suburban growth continued on track with the rest of the Phoenix metro area.^[9]

Demographics

According to the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:

• White: 84.9% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 65.6%)
• Black or African American: 2.7%
• Native American: 2.1%
• Asian: 1.8%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.2%
• Some other race: 5.8%
• Two or more races: 2.5%

• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 26.5%

Source:^[10]

As of the census^[11] 2001 estimate, there were 442,445 people, 146,643 households, and 99,863 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,171.3 people per square mile (1,224.4/km²). There were 175,701 housing units at an average density of 1,405.7/sq mi (542.8/km²).

The racial make-up of the city was 81.6% White, 2.4% Black or African American, 2.2% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 9.3% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 146,643 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.20.

The population was diversified with respect to age with 27.3% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,817, and the median income for a family was $49,232. Males had a median income of $35,960 versus $27,005 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,601. About 6.2% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over. Mesa's residents exhibit a great deal of economic diversity, with low-income areas constructed somewhat close to high-scale neighborhoods with expensive custom homes. The neighborhood "Marlborough Mesa", along with many other neighborhoods, has won a community award.

Defining East and West Mesa

Due to Mesa's extremely long east to west travel distance, in excess of 18 miles(29 km)^[12] and large land area 133.13 sq mi (324.2 km2), locations in Mesa are often referred to as residing within either East Mesa or West Mesa.^[13][14][15]

Commonly accepted boundaries

Center St

Mesa employs a grid system for street numbering. Center Street, running north to south bisects Mesa into eastern and western halves and serves as the east and west numbering point of origin within Mesa. Streets west of Center St., such as W. University Drive or W. Main St. are considered to be in West Mesa; whereas, streets east of Center St., such as E. University or E. Main St. are considered to be in East Mesa.^[16]

Mesa Drive 1/2 Mile East of Center St. (By Zip code)

Mesa Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sectons, is located one half mile(800m) east of Center Street, and serves as the zip code boundary between the 85281, 85201, 85202, and 85210 zip codes of Western Mesa and the 85203, 85204, 85205, 85206, 85207, 85208, 85209, 85213, 85215, 85220, and 85242 zip codes of Eastern Mesa.^[17]

Country Club Drive 1/2 Mile West of Center St. (By US Congressional district)

Country Club Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sections, is located one half mile(800m) west of Center St, and serves as the jurisdictional boundary between Arizona's 5th and 6th congressional districts.^[18]

Cultural attractions

LDS Mesa Arizona Temple

• HoHoKam Park of the Cactus League home of the Chicago Cubs during spring training and former summer home to the now defunct Mesa Miners professional baseball team of the Golden Baseball League.
• Mesa Arts Center
• Mesa Amphitheatre
• Mesa Arizona Temple, a large LDS temple, where an elaborate Easter Pageant is held every spring.
• Museums
  • Arizona Museum for Youth
  • Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Aircraft Museum - B-17 Sentimental Journey
  • Mesa Historical Museum
  • Arizona Museum of Natural History
• Archeological Sites
  • Mesa Grande Ruins
  • Park of the Canals
• Public Libraries
  • Main Library (MN)
  • Dobson Ranch Branch (DR)
  • Red Mountain Branch (RM)
• Water Parks
  • Golfland Sunsplash waterpark on U.S. 60.
• The only skyscraper in Mesa is the Bank of America (formerly Western Savings) building near Fiesta Mall

Churches

• Newlife Fourquare Church - 4151 E. Pueblo Avenue
• TNT Ministries - A Spirit-Filled ministry
• First United Methodist Church of Mesa - 15 East 1st Avenue
• Unity Church of Mesa - 2700 East Southern Avenue
• Central Christian Church - 933 N Lindsay Rd
• Living Word Bible Church - 3520 E. Brown Rd
• First Assembly of God - 1303 South Lindsay Rd
• [1] - 7923 East 1st Avenue

Amenities

West Mesa

The Fiesta Mall is located in West Mesa, and owned by Westcor. The mall's anchors are Dillard's, Macy's, Sears, Best Buy, and Dick's Sporting Goods. It is located near several shopping centers, Mesa's Bank of America,^[19] and other retail stores, banks, and restaurants. An expansion of Fiesta Mall has been planned.^[20]

Mesa Riverview is a new outdoor destination retail center in the northwestern corner of the city, near Loop 202 and Dobson Road. At build-out the center will include of 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m²) of retail space.^[21] The anchors include Bass Pro Shops, Cinemark Theaters, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot. Mesa Riverview also includes restaurants and specialty stores, such as Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill.

East Mesa

The Superstition Springs Center is a shopping mall in East Mesa also owned by Westcor. It features an outdoor amphitheatre and fountain which convert to a stage. Anchor stores at the mall are Dillard's, JCPenney, Macy's, "Home Sleep Home" furniture store, and Sears.

Transportation

Mesa City Hall in downtown Mesa

Several area freeways serve the Mesa area, such as U.S. Route 60, locally known as the Superstition Freeway, which runs between Apache Junction and Phoenix. It is also served by SR 87 and bypass loops Loop 101, which skirts the western city limits as the Price Freeway, and Loop 202, which bypasses the city on the north and east. Public transportation is provided by Valley Metro with most buses running Monday through Saturday only; until July 2008, Mesa was the largest U.S. city with no public transit service on Sundays. West Mesa is connected to the METRO Light Rail line at the Dobson Road station incongruously called Main and Sycamore (Sycamore being a minor one-block-long street).

Air service in the city is provided by two airports. Falcon Field, located in the northeastern part of the area, was established as a training field for British RAF pilots during World War II and was transferred to the city at the end of the war. Boeing builds the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter at a facility adjoining Falcon Field. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is located in the far southeastern area of the city, and provides alternate but limited air service to Sky Harbor International Airport. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway was formerly Williams Gateway Airport, and before that, Williams Air Force Base, which closed in 1993. Williams Gateway was announced as a new Focus City for Allegiant Air. Service started October 25, 2007.

Education

Almost all of the city of Mesa is served by public schools operated by Mesa Public Schools; however, a small southern portion is served by the Gilbert Public Schools, and a small western portion is served by the Tempe Elementary School District and the Tempe Union High School District.

Mesa is also home to Mesa Community College, the largest of the Maricopa Community Colleges, which enrolls over 24,000 full and part time students. In addition, the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University lies in southeast Mesa. This satellite campus enrolls over 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students in scientific and engineering fields. In addition, A.T. Still University's Arizona School of Health Sciences operates an Osteopathic Medical School in Mesa.

Sister cities

Mesa has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

References

External links

• Mesa city government.
• Mesa Arizona Convention and Visitors Bureau - Tourism
• Mesa news, sports and things to do from The Mesa Republic newspaper
• City of Mesa Library on the Web.
• Mesa travel guide from Wikitravel

Municipalities and communities of Maricopa County, Arizona County seat: Phoenix Cities Apache Junction‡ | Avondale | Chandler | El Mirage | Glendale | Goodyear | Litchfield Park | Mesa | Peoria‡ | Phoenix | Scottsdale | Surprise | Tempe | Tolleson Towns Buckeye | Carefree | Cave Creek | Fountain Hills | Gila Bend | Gilbert | Guadalupe | Paradise Valley | Queen Creek‡ | Wickenburg | Youngtown CDPs New River | Rio Verde | Sun City | Sun City West | Sun Lakes Unincorporated communities Aguila | Anthem | Arlington | Chandler Heights‡ | Circle City | Fort McDowell | Higley | Komatke | Laveen | Liberty | Mobile | Morristown | Palo Verde | Sunflower | Theba | Tonopah | Tortilla Flat | Waddell | Wintersburg | Wittmann Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Arizona     Phil Gordon (Phoenix) Bob Walkup (Tucson) Scott Smith (Mesa) Elaine Scruggs (Glendale) Boyd W. Dunn (Chandler) Jim Lane (Scottsdale) John Lewis (Gilbert) Hugh Hallman (Tempe) Bob Barrett (Peoria)