I love the Wrigleyville in Downtown Mesa concept, but there has to be more to it than Spring Training. Mesa could use a bigger restaurant and entertainment district as has been happening down on Main Street. Maybe the stadium could field a minor league team through the summer. How about High School championship games during football season. Whoever controls the stadium and the property around it is going to want to make sure that there is something going on there year-round. If they have invested in it, you can bet they will make sure there is. Look what the Suns have done with their arena; WNBA and Arena Football are products designed to extend the season at the Phoenix downtown arena.
Removing zoning restrictions in the immediate area around the vacant land would allow entrepreneurs to make their own choices about the uses of their property. I believe that informed individuals investing their own money will make the best choices about what to do with their properties. I know this seems like a contradiction in the middle of a city-owned redevelopment area, but we are dealing now with an already existing situation. The city owns the property and it is sitting vacant now, so why not do whatever we can to make it more productive. Setting loose the free market, while providing infrastructure in terms of transportation and access would help encourage development around the stadium area.
Speaking of transportation, how much could we afford to improve our bus system by foregoing extension of the light rail. It seems much more economical and flexible to go that way.
I hope some really smart people will add their own ideas for this blog.
