By Jessica Boehm | Axios
Downtown Mesa, with its ample breweries, award-winning restaurants and artsy vibe, is one of the trendiest gathering places in the Valley.
Reality check: You don’t have to look far into the past to know it hasn’t always been that way.
The big picture: Mesa is the Valley’s largest suburb. With more than 512,000 people, it’s larger than Atlanta and Kansas City.
- Yes, but: For decades, its downtown faded into oblivion as residents moved into newer neighborhoods and shops and restaurants followed.
Flashback: When I moved to downtown Mesa eight years ago, one of my friends called it “the armpit of the Valley” and I could hardly blame her.
