It isn’t getting developed tomorrow, but ambitious plans for a radically urban development in Mesa prompted some smiles early Tuesday morning from city leaders.

The Metro light rail extension into downtown Mesa has helped spur several proposals for new urban housing developments on or near Main Street, involving several hundred apartments.

Bonnie and Dave Ender gave up a north Scottsdale address (and a sprawling five-bedroom home) for a loft in downtown Tempe.

Sue Murphree walked outside her Scottsdale home early last week to find three scraggly coyotes staring back at her. “They saw me coming and they just froze,” Murphree said. “Then they leaped upon the 6-foot block wall and hopped into my neighbor’s yard.”

Sue Murphree walked outside her Scottsdale home early last week to find three scraggly coyotes staring back at her. “They saw me coming and they just froze,” Murphree said. “Then they leaped upon the 6-foot block wall and hopped into my neighbor’s yard.”

Dense, urban spaces, narrow pedestrian pathways to a nearby coffee shop or bookstore, a short drive to work. That's the kind of urbanism southeast Mesa can expect in the future, if things go as planned by the developer of 3,200 acres of property.

Editor's note:

Like the rest of the languishing housing market, Valley condominium sales have slipped in the past year.

Gary Woods moved to Gilbert in 1978 for one reason: It’s a horse town. Or, it was. Many equestrians now feel unwanted. The town has boomed from 5,000 residents then to more than 180,000 today.

Gary Woods moved to Gilbert in 1978 for one reason: It’s a horse town. Or, it was. Many equestrians now feel unwanted. The town has boomed from 5,000 residents then to more than 180,000 today.

Part 4 of 6 North Scottsdale’s scenic landscape stands to be shaped for decades and beyond by the city’s quest to expand its McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The preserve has come to define the Scottsdale lifestyle.

December 8, 2004

There was a time when "downtown" was the undisputed heart of the East Valley’s cities.

A small parcel of urban land just north of downtown Chandler will soon be home to a mixed-use residential development.

Homeowners associations can’t turn their communities into senior housing simply by the board amending its bylaws, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

A massive complex of 20-story towers is being proposed along Tempe Town Lake in what is one of the most ambitious new projects contemplated in the East Valley since the recession crippled new development.

Mesa is looking to create a multimillion-dollar loan pool using a federal program to boost economic development and job creation in the city.

Bonnie and Dave Ender gave up a north Scottsdale address (and a sprawling five-bedroom home) for a loft in downtown Tempe.

Bonnie and Dave Ender gave up a north Scottsdale address (and a sprawling five-bedroom home) for a loft in downtown Tempe.

Bonnie and Dave Ender gave up a north Scottsdale address (and a sprawling five-bedroom home) for a loft in downtown Tempe.

Gilbert diversity agitators are again pushing the worthless and divisive diversity agenda, despite Valley diversity departments (DD) being completely discredited by 2006. The agitators hope we have forgotten that, so let’s recap.

Developers of a planned 130-acre commercial and office project in the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport area have settled their differences with city officials over construction plans.

State Mortgage in Scottsdale will host a seminar Thursday to educate real estate professionals on the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act.