Mesa
2010: 439,041, #38 in U.S., #3 in Arizona 1950: 16,790 Mesa is in the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area. Setting Mesa, founded in 1878 by Mormon pioneers, was named for the mesa on which it is located. It was mainly an agricultural community until the population exploded in recent decades. In 2008 the city of Mesa annexed five square miles in an area southeast of the existing city. A new city center is planned there. Buildings Tallest building: Financial Plaza, 224 feet, southwest of downtown (1985) Stores Mesa has no downtown department stores. Trains Mesa has no Amtrak service. METRO Light Rail opened a light-rail line from Phoenix to Mesa (west of downtown) in 2008.
|  Mesa Bank Building and Mesa Arts Center Museums The Arizona Museum of Natural History and the Arizona Museum for Youth are in downtown Mesa. Mesa Contemporary Arts is in the Mesa Arts Center.Theaters Mesa has no downtown movie theaters. The Symphony of the Southwest plays at the Mesa Arts Center Ikeda Theater (2005). The Theater League presents touring musicals at the Ikeda Theater.Sports Hohokam Stadium (1997), north of downtown, hosts spring training games of the Chicago Cubs, as well as the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League and the Mesa Cubs of the Arizona Rookie League. |