Sightings of comedian Jerry Seinfeld created some excitement Saturday on Tempe’s Mill Avenue.

The Tempe Gateway building in the Mill Avenue District is set to become home to the Valley’s third Loco Patron Mexican restaurant.

Before Tempe’s Mill Avenue became the anchor of trendy restaurants and high-rise housing, the downtown was known for a mix of aging retail stores, biker bars and head shops. But a transformation in the 1980s brought the iconic red brick sidewalks and ficus trees — along with new businesses that revitalized the historic downtown.

The old Harkins Centerpoint theater on Mill Avenue and Seventh Street in Tempe is vacant no more.

From grandiose redevelopment plans to vacant storefronts - and don't look for a revival anytime soon. But what to do with Tempe's Centerpoint on Mill until then?

A microbrewery planned in downtown Tempe could open by year’s end.

Making money on Mill Avenue hasn’t been an easy task lately. It started with a citywide smoking ban at bars and restaurants. Then construction on every major downtown road.

Time may be running out for one of Mill Avenue’s most beloved features, the ficus tree. The aging trees probably have only a decade of life left in them, their caretaker says, because of their unforgiving urban environment.

Time may be running out for one of Mill Avenue’s most beloved features, the ficus tree. The aging trees probably have only a decade of life left in them, their caretaker says, because of their unforgiving urban environment.

If you were born in September, be at Long Wong’s. If you were born in February, be at Fat Tuesdays. If you were born before 1983, go to Coffee Plantation. And look for the man or woman with the red balloon.

Tempe Festival of the Arts: Over 400 artists line Mill Avenue at this nationally ranked art gathering, where attendees also enjoy live music, street performers, food and beverage booths, wine and beer samplings, and a Kids Innovation Station, where kids can make their own take-home art.