Good city, and well planned for it's Urban Renewal - 4/8/2024

Mesa is a really good city despite some trouble with Superstition Springs and the failure that is Fiesta Mall, there is nice areas throughout and some areas that need to be Redeveloped badly, also there is solid transportation in Central and West Mesa. East Mesa and Southeast Mesa is a growing part of the city, and the City Council does an excellent job of staying on top of all the problems residents have and they are very communicative as a whole. There is tons of good Ice Cream places, Restaurants, and even Downtown is starting to renew itself with new buildings coming online in the coming months especially with Melody On Main. I will say that Mesa in contrast to many cities and towns has good staffing when it comes to Public Safety and also has excellent programs to help the homeless who are down on their luck to rehab in society. They also have an eye for the future with approvals for Fiber Internet, Water Storage smart meters, Cybersecurity investment for the city and even an understanding of a need for Public Transit and Urban Renewal as a whole. Mesa is slow moving with it's projects as the 3rd largest city but it thinks things through rather than quickly builds out and not understanding where and how everything will work. I would positively recommend anyone to visit this city and potentially move if they are interested in what i am saying above. Mesa is not the same city as it was 10 years ago, and is moving towards something much greater and more grand. Although it will take time to see it will be great when it does happen.

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Building Back Greater. - 11/16/2023

As someone who was born in Mesa and has lived here in the 85210 in Dobson Ranch for the last 13 years after moving out from Chandler. I can tell you that most of the reviews you have read were true at some point but no longer, such as Crime & Homeless- Yes it did exist back in the day, it was an issue but over time things have cooled down over the last decade and crime is much smaller than it used to be. Also there was a homeless issue for almost 3 to 4 years especially on Alma School & Baseline, but i can say Police and Nonprofits have worked together to help find them a home, rehabilitate them and eventually either get a job or be sent back to their home state to see their families instead of arresting their way out of the problem. Success rate is high at 80% and i have not seen that as an issue since then driving in the area anymore. Grocery Stores, Failing Areas, And Lack of Retail options- I can say that Mesa has great areas like the Asian District of Mekong Plaza that is a pride and joy of the city, including various Latino areas, and diversity of options and people surrounding the city from the West to Central Mesa. The city council has acknowledged that it does need to rebuild failing areas especially in Dobson Ranch on the West Side, Central Mesa and even East Mesa as well as a whole and has plans to do it within the next 3-4 years with more Retail, Housing, Entertainment, Mixed Use and Missing Middle. Like always with Mesa the problem is not the fact we do not have Grocery Stores or Retail, there just is not enough of them including entertainment areas. Too much office space has been the focus and Mesa is reversing that completely. Cost Of Living- Yes Cost Of Living is higher and i can agree there is not much housing affordability for lower incomes or those working minimum wage while feeding a child, or even a starter home. But i have spoken with City Council about this issue in an email and they have seem to understand this is an issue and are taking steps to address it as i am writing this with more missing middle housing and making sure they are market rate or affordable within the next few years as of this writing. Sprawl & Future Of Mesa- There is tons of it here with Parking Lots, Drive-Thru's, it may as well be worse than LA despite the fact we have a Light Rail system and a future Streetcar connection with Tempe coming in to connect with the Asian District and Fiesta Mall Mixed Use Rebuild happening, we have too much parking and Drive-Thru's. But like i have said, the City Council understands and has done some infill lately on parking lots and is on the quest to rebuild the city away from Sprawl and become an actual medium sized city that is worth being called the third largest next to Phoenix and Tucson, to even out competing Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe. They even approved 7 Fiber Internet Providers, including Google Fiber which is unheard of in America and even in the Metro area itself. The future is bright for those who are interested in it's upcoming successes. You do not want to miss out if you are on the younger side moving here. Mesa is a Business friendly yet Progressive City that is on the way to greatness.

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Worth a read before moving - 9/13/2021

I’m a native to Arizona and growing up here has taught me that people just don’t care, and the Mormon community is huge! It’s normal in the state of AZ for kids to start having families at 16, and getting married by 18. Oh that STD are seriously something that nobody discusses, but Arizona has the highest rate of it, you think they would. Jobs are under payed for what living expenses are really, my boyfriend and I share a one bedroom apartment for 700sq ft for $1300 and my SRP bill on the saving plans $220, grocery that are healthy and not bad for one week $150. The air quality for people who have COPD and Asthma, this isn’t the place. Also back to saying people don’t care at the top, people can still get into Walmart wearing a chastity belt, during renaissance festival!

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It's always darkest before the dawn. - 4/26/2019

My in-laws are huge Meza fans , it might be because their last name is Meza. We have our own Americaucasionispanic cultura.Thats pronounced Americ_aucasion_ispanic, genes. This is a perfect place for a Tesla factory.

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Beware of Police - 12/13/2017

Mesa police department is out of control. I do not recommend living here. They get away with killing innocent, unarmed, compliant people. Google Daniel Shafer.

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A poor place to live... - 12/9/2016

I've been living here in Mesa for the past 20 years or so and I can tell you firsthand it's a terrible place to live. Nice schools. Okay neighborhoods. They are closing most of the grocery stores and have closed practically all of the candle factories in the city due to a lack of demand, apparently. When I first moved here, if you wanted a job near home the candle factories were always hiring, but now it's changing. Also it is not a safe place for pets. The residents are extremely careless drivers and dead dogs or cats on the roadsides is a fairly common site. Feral cats are also a pressing issue in many neighborhoods where the cats breed without limits or intervention. The city needs to donate some time and money to clearing up some of the feral colonies here. People and kids occasionally take one home but the majority continue to breed and overpopulate. Close to Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa is considered part of the greater Phoenix area. I would not recommend it to people who like an extremely civilized environment and lifestyle...but it is good if you like adventure and don't mind undrinkable tap water.

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HOT HOT HOT, long commutes to get anywhere, crime - 6/30/2016

Lived in Mesa, AZ for 18 years, having moved there from Iowa. Lived in the 85210 and 85202 zip codes, near Dobson Ranch area for many years, owned several residential rental properties as well. Worked in Phoenix and I will say commuting anywhere in the Phoenix Metro area is an absolute nightmare, doesn't matter how dark your window tint is, you will roast in your car and it takes over an hour to drive the approximate 20 miles to Phoenix during morning and evening rush hour traffic, so be sure to plan that in to your day. Mesa was OK, it was one of the more affordable suburbs and having no children, I wasn't worried about the school systems. We lived in 2 different planned communities (Rancho Del Mar and Park Place) and neighbors in both areas were OK, not too friendly but not too stand-offish. Not the friendly neighborhoods like I experienced in Iowa. The economy tanked in 2008 and Mesa seemed to be having a rough time recovering from that, grocery stores and shopping centers had boarded up storefronts and our neighbors were reporting a lot of break-ins on the NextDoor app, even though we were in a "nicer" neighborhood. Property taxes were OK, not too expensive but electricity and water are very expensive, car insurance rates were very high and it took forever to drive anywhere because of traffic. Nightlife is lacking, mostly dive bars and pizza restaurants, unless you want to spend a ton of money dining out in Scottsdale. There were some nice bicycle trails along the canals and if you head out east, some beautiful hiking in the Superstition mountains but that's only a winter-activity, too hot to hike in the summer. The dust storms were pretty bad and during the 18 years we were there, it kept getting hotter and hotter and drier and drier, you can see the effects of global warming and urban sprawl in this area. We left and moved to the Nashville area in 2014 and our quality of life is much better here.

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Mormons - Extremely Honest - 5/25/2015

Just so you know, in one comment on here someone said that Mormons are money laundering. That is completely false. Their religion expressly prohibits dishonesty. Mormons are extremely friendly, great neighbors and extremely honest. Meza does have a population of Mormons, which makes it a great place to live. They create safe neighborhoods and "good" kids :-)

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Decent - 4/8/2015

We recently moved to Arizona from northern Virginia (right outside of DC). We love it here, however, the cost of living was not as low as we expected. Sales tax is higher, groceries are comparable. If you are buying a home, you will find that it is much less expensive however, if you are planning to rent, it is not much less than NOVA.

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Mesa AZ - 3/31/2015

Mesa will seem more like a neighborhood than an actual city. For those of us who live in Mesa, we typically drive to other places nearby to work, shop, and eat. Mesa downtown area is not quite yet developed into a real city downtown. But, in 15 min we are in Scottsdale or Gilbert where we can visit new malls & restaurants, and in 30 min or less be in downtown Phoenix or Chandler, where there are numerous places to work (tech, manufacturing,aerospace,healthcare), as well as to the airport. If you are OK with driving a bit, you can have what you are looking for. Mesa itself is very diverse. There is an upscale area with beautiful homes in the orange groves, NE Mesa with higher altitude and more open spaces, scenic views and upscale homes, SE Mesa with new homes and schools which appeal to new homeowners, in addition the historic downtown Mesa area (where higher crime exists). Northeast Mesa is ideal, an easy drive up north on the Beeline highway to northern areas where the weather is cooler. Fantastic place for anyone into outdoor sports, especially cycling, hiking, and golf as well as those who enjoy scenery. People in general are friendly and there is a mix of those from the midwest and eastern states. Great access to good healthcare and variety of supermarkets, overall very clean streets, lower-cost living arrangements available. Since housing cost in general is low, many can afford several summer escapes driving distance - San Diego, northern AZ, for example, if they don't already own or rent cabins in the mountains. Downsides: you have to drive everywhere, population generally older so young people may feel more isolated, air quality not great, workplaces limited to healthcare and retail primarily unless you commute to Phoenix/Scottsdale/Chandler or work from home.

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Living in Mesa, AZ - 12/10/2014

Many people seem to find Mesa just an OK place to live, but for me it's entirely different! I absolutely love living here because the weather is absolutely gorgeous here and the winters are very mild. Yes the cost of an AC conditioner is quite high, but there is so much to do to take your mind off of this. The housing market crashed here so the houses aren't that expensive, which isn't great for the sellers, but for the buyers it's a plus. Also, usually a house here has a nice pool to help beat the summer heat. I also found that it was quite easy to find a job here in AZ and meet a lot of nice people. That's another thing, people are so pleasant here!

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Don't do it - 11/7/2014

As a well traveled individual, I can say the Mesa is the worst place I have ever lived. There is no sense of community, and the spirits of the people are awful. The drug addicts are actually some of the nicer people. It is an uncultured bubble community with no sense of inspiration, and no...there are no smiles here. The business are horrendous, and will do anything to skirt the law or rip their neighbors off. Employers exploit lax employee protection laws here to recycle them and take advantage without conscience. The Mormons here are appalling, running numerous money laundering outfits that go unnoticed since they own and run the city. Normal people are few and far between. Do not move here for a job, and there are 1000 better retirement options. If you young and going to college, it is affordable so that could be considered. This is a city with no soul.

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Really Good and Hellaciously Bad - 5/8/2013

This place is ideal for the "snowbird" who can afford to bug out in the summer. winters are sunny, mild and beautiful and there is plenty to do in Arizona as far as shopping, culture, nature, sporting events, casinos, etc. But summer brings 100+ temps -- literally around the clock for at least a month and sometimes two -- so you are basically trapped in a box (house, car, store) with a/c roaring for 3-4 months straight. That said, if you have the time and money to escape to the mountains (Flagstaff, Springerville, Alpine 4 hours away, Payson/Show Low/Heber/Overgaard 2 hours away) you can get some relief. Prescott is about 20 degrees lower than Phoenix/Mesa/Tempe/Chandler/Gilbert/Glendale area year round and so another summer getaway (if you don't mind 90's daytime temps some summer days). Arid climate... not a lot of rain or moisture but also not much in the way of mosquitoes, etc. for that reason which is a bonus. If you like warm temps, you'll love it here.

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Indoor air quality at Delta Mechanical, Inc. - 3/31/2013

I am expressing my concern over indoor air quality at Delta Mechanical, Inc. There are over 100 employees including managers that are being affected by mold spores resulting from a leaking large reverse osmosis tank over a period of 1 month. Finally the tank was drained and removed leaving wet carpet that was not dryed properly. I have been sickened for the past 2 months with bronchial pneumonia and now left with acute bronchitus. The owner refuses to have the carpet removed or even have the problem investigated. This is a serious violation and all I am asking for is an investigation. Please help me and all the employees of Delta Mechanical, Inc.

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Mesa - 3/15/2013

Sleepy town, even sleepier schools

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The little city that tries - 10/22/2012

Mesa is actually a "bedroom community of phoenix. parts of it are very nice, but, boy oh boy the other parts are almost beyond description. Coming from New York I am very surprised at the good quality of public transportation on this side of the valley. As everyone knows the summers are brutal and the entire year in insanely dusty, but the other 8 months are fantastic climate wise. there are some pretty good museums here and a variety of things to do. Overall it is kind of boring and unless you live in one of the "right" areas it is down right ugly.

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Mesa is ok - 6/1/2012

I had lived in mesa for 5 years. The rent is more affordable than Phoenix. The police were at one time trigger happy. This is the wild, wild west. The mormons are here! Flash news.The mormons moved to Gilbert. Flash news. The light rail is cool.flash news superstition springs mall is clean. Clean city like phoenix clean and new. Many mexicans here. working at the fast food places. The sheriff Joe Arpaio failed to get them out they have the jobs americans dont.

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Mesa - 4/5/2012

It is not great for young families or basically anyone. The summers and fall are so hot that asking your kids to walk or bike anywhere is actually cruel. There is no mass transit other than buses. People feel cut off from each other because its all nothing but strip Malls and houses. No culture, few places to gather or meet people in fact the indoor Malls in the area are about as exciting as it gets {pathetic}. When I grew up there in the 60's and 70's it was a truly charming small town and no ugliness. But all the ethnic crap, neighborhoods going downhill and too much sprawl ruined it. And that is sad--you will see yards decorated as if you are in Mexico City and that is about what it is. Tacky-

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Horrible Place to Live - 1/15/2012

I moved to Phoenix 10 years ago from Colorado for a job. What a shock it has been. I have been ripped off from almost every business I have dealt with. I had a local moving company move my furnishings when I moved to another house and damaged my furniture. I have yet to see any type of compensation from them and I filed a complaint with the attorney general over 2 years ago. The people here are rude, selfish and don't want anything to do with you unless it directly benefits them. The drivers here are dangerous and are on your bumper everywhere you go. I get flipped off at least onec a week here. The summers are insane!! I live in a 1500 sq ft house and work all day and keep the inside temperature at 78. My utility bills run about 600.00 a month. The cost of utilities is outragous. The resteraunts stink, the service is horrible and over crowded. There is nothing to do in this place unless you like counting how many scorpians and black widows you see at night...The pay here is below average and employers treat you like crap. Stay away from here!! I can't wait to get out of this hell hole!!

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Mesa is the armpit of the west! - 2/12/2011

They don't call it Meth Mesa for nothing!

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