Photo illustration by Tom Carlson / Source imagery: Mesa Preservation Foundation
By Chris Malloy | Phoenix New Times
At noon on a weekday, Jeff McVay sits on the street patio outside Worth Takeaway in downtown Mesa, his grilled cheese and tomato soup untouched. People drift by on Main Street’s sidewalk, people walking dogs under colonnades, slurping iced coffee, cradling boxes of tacos, curry, and fried chicken. Sun falls. Down the center of the road the Valley Metro light rail rumbles, shaking. Heedless of it all, McVay points at a map, breathlessly explaining.
His map shows downtown Mesa from a hawk’s viewpoint. He points to one empty lot where a new multifamily housing unit is rising.
“Three hundred new units,” he says.
His finger slides to another lot. “A thousand new units, if the city council approves it this month.”
