Light Rail, ASU and Surrounding Communities

Light Rail will be a huge benefit to ASU and to ASU students commuting between the Downtown Phoenix Campus and the Tempe Campus. With the ease of traveling between the 2 facilities and the many new housing and entertainment choices along the line, many of us will undoubtedly appreciate the added convenience. Students are a perfect fit to use and ride the light rail as life around both of the two campuses will be easily linked. From concert venues like the Marquee Theater near the Priest / Washington stop to sporting venues like the Suns and the Diamondbacks near the 3rd St / Jefferson stop to the proposed "Jackson Entertainment District," it will be easy to live, work and play within these two booming areas. Of course, these areas will also see much more interest from many other valley residents, vacationers, convention center visitors etc. This is just the tip of the iceberg.. Stay tuned for more information about many of these upcoming areas and "life on the line!"

Light Rail Journey - Construction to Completion

With more than a year remaining before Light Rail cars begin their daily journey's here in town, business owner's are slowly gaining more confidence in their future. The effect on some small business owners has been tough but many have thought similar to Denise Bismore, owner of Silver Spoon Express and the Daily Grind. "I see a tremendous potential coming up the road with the condos, light rail and the revitalization of downtown Phoenix."
The papers have been reporting on how bad rail has been to business along the line but the amount of current optimism and actual development is not to be ignored. Phoenix has "tried" to help with their un-impressive and un-inclusive "Shop the Line" site. I'm not sure why they don't have a list of all businesses along the entire route. Time and completion of construction is what the current owner's need.
Today's AZ Republic has some interesting quotes from well known local business owners. Keith Earnest, of CityScape mentioned that "The light rail was one of the factors that influenced our decision to buy that block." ... Dale Jensen (part owner of Suns/Diamondbacks) says "The most valuable land in Phoenix is one to two blocks from light rail."
It is becoming easier to drive along many parts of the rail line but there is obviously still a ton of work to be done. It might seem like an eternity to some of the "little guys" along the route but soon, they will be able to say.. "remember when.."
Check out our Light Rail site for more info!

Newberry Terrace,Tempe Homes near Light Rail

This morning, I attended an "Open House" showcasing the new residential project called Newberry Terrace which is located just South of Apache and East of Rural in Tempe. The future Dorsey / Apache stop for Metro's light rail project is just a short distance away.. Homes range in size from 1376 to nearly 2400 square feet and current pricing begins near $280k and goes up to the $400's. Their B and D plans consist of single family homes from 2-4 bedrooms while the E and F plans consist of loft/town-home style units with attached, common walls. This is a nice in-fill project with a couple of "common areas" that are well landscaped and look pretty good. The two main streets for entering/exiting the community are wide enough to accommodate parking and drive through traffic which is nice for this type of density. The City of Tempe appears to be very excited about Newberry Terrace as evidenced by City employee comments and the fact that the Mayor attended this mornings "festivities." (coffee, juice and some pastries were provided)

Several other projects are being developed along this part of light rail line. Stay tuned for more info on other happenings and more homes near light rail in Tempe in the near future.

We will be constantly adding lists of projects along the entire line. Feel free to use our free mls search for all kinds of homes that will be located on or near Metro's Light Rail.

More Light Rail Stuff

This past Saturday, I attended another "public" meeting in Tempe with City officials, APAC members and members of the Community Design & Architecture group that is working with the City of Tempe by doing light rail impact studies along Apache Blvd.
The public interest hasn't quite peaked. You see, there were at least a dozen people there to handle the questions of maybe 6-8 citizens. The main discussions centered around making the light rail line easy for people to live, work and play near by. A lot of effort seems to be in place to get input from people as to the types of development needed along Apache. If you ask me, there are some less than desirable areas that need a ton of help as well as some really great areas that will be even more enhanced by the coming of this project.
Access from near by neighborhoods will need to be improved to make it convenient for people to walk to a station. Some of their studies focused on areas within an 800' walking distance to each "platform" (rail stop.)
Some things of interest to me were looking at many of the very small parcels along Apache which do not seem exactly perfect for developing large, quality projects. We saw slides and projections of "potential" ways to develop the area but it is still pretty early to see how the development community is going to react. From what I have heard from some of my friends in the commercial real estate business, the light rail line has a lot of interest.
This is going to be fun for us to watch.. Stay tuned. :-)

Tempe Light Rail Meeting

There will be an "open house" at the Tempe Police Substation ( 1855 E Apache) this Wednesday at 6PM to discuss the light rail stations on Apache Blvd. Currently, there are four stations on Apache ranging from Dorsey to McClintock to Smith-Martin and down to Price Road. These stations look to be fairly significant as 3 of the 4 also will have Park-and-Ride Stations. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be to share ideas for the area, discuss future light rail stations and to provide an overview of existing conditions near these areas. The area in discussion is considered Line Section 5 and has some pretty interesting "dynamics" that will come in to play. ie: Great access to the 101, a lot of commercial potential and some housing areas that will undoubtedly go through some changes in the near future.
Other public meetings are held monthly to provide section updates and for people to voice their opinion on construction etc. I have been to several of these meetings and try to drink a Red Bull before in case something of real interest is discussed. This Wednesday's meeting sounds like it will be pretty interesting though. Maybe I'll see ya there.. Feel free to check the Rail Life blog for info on more Light Rail meetings..

AZ Light Rail - Fast Track to Good Grub

Arizona's Light Rail line will be a great way to check out some very good and some very "interesting" restaurants. A few month's ago, I found this blog that's got all kinds of restaurants on it along the rail line. Pretty cool stuff, even if I didn't see two of my favorites; They would be.. Monti's La Casa Vieja and Pizzeria Bianco.
Monti's is located at 100 S. Mill Ave near the future stop at Third /Mill. Michael Monti also has a blog with some great info..
Pizzeria Bianco is located at 623 E Adams St. near the future stop at Third / Washington.
Ever tried to get in, or to park, near Pizzeria Bianco? The place is ALWAYS packed. I remember going in there after a D-backs game one night and we sat next to Jerry Colangelo. What a nice guy he was!
Once the line opens, it will be fun to check out a bunch of new spots to try.. Stay tuned..

Sports Fans and Light Rail!

As we drove down Washington on our way to see the Diamondbacks win game one of their playoff series against the Cubs Wednesday night, the traffic was horrible. I was glad to see it though as we were driving right next to the future light rail line. Soon, there will be stops near many of our major sporting arenas. ( Like this at 3rd St / Jefferson ) Getting to Suns, D-Back and ASU games will be made easier for many people. The fans at the game this week showed that AZ is finally becoming a really great sports town. With the Devils un-defeated and the D-Backs looking to go deep in to the playoffs, people can find a lot of excuses to be in down town Tempe and Phoenix.
My 3 year old son loves trains and I can't wait to take him and his little brothers on a light rail ride. I think it will be a blast to go to a game downtown AND get to ride the "train."