Mesa is Arizona's third largest city with a population of approximately 463,000 people. It is a suburb in the east valley of the Phoenix metro area. It was originally founded by Mormon settlers who were led by Daniel Webster Jones in 1877 and called their settlement Jonesville, but at the behest of Brigham Young the name was changed to Lehi.
Another group arrived from Idaho, the First Mesa Company. Rather than join the group at Lehi, they opted to settled on the name "Mesa:. In 1879, they were soon joined by the Second Mesa Company and called their settlement Stringtown. During the interim between the arrival of the First Mesa Company and the Second Mesa Company, in July of 1878, Mesa City was founded. It was originally one square mile and within a matter of months they had built the first school. The original town had a population of 300. Mesa continued to grow through the years and to this day enjoys a modest growth year after year.
Mesa's primary growth today, is not from those seeking to found and grow a religious settlement, but is instead the retired segment of society that desire the warmth of the Arizona winters. Mesa has more retirement community per square mile than any other Arizona city. Farnsworth Communities offers several different master planned communities with single family homes and townhomes, with easy maintenance yards, golf courses, and clubhouses.
Leisure World is also located in Mesa, and is deserving of a mention when discussing retirement home options, with its world class golf and the active lifestyle it offers neighborhood residents. There are also manufactured home communities and RV Parks with some of the most spectacular clubhouses found in any community with literally hundreds of activities per month. There are apartments offering independent living with the option to have the services of assisted living should one need, again offering numerous activities to keep the resident young at heart. Prices range from the mid $50's to a half a million dollars depending on your choice of home.
Of course, Mesa offers many traditional neighborhoods for young working professionals and families. Mesa has many older neighborhoods surrounded and accented by the remnants of the orange groves that one stood there, with lovely brick homes and mature lushly planted common area landscaping. There are also large numbers of neighborhoods on one to three acres where you can still have a few farm animals and plenty of room to store your recreational type toys. These are favorites for folks who prefer not to have a home owner's association.
Mesa also has beautiful master planned communities of large custom homes, as well as those with more affordable track home plans, all with wonderful park-like common areas that enhance the look of the neighborhood, but also provide a place to enjoy the outdoors.
Mesa has a great bus system and is also connected to Tempe and Phoenix by the light rail system. If you love to shop till you drop, Mesa has two malls and hundreds of retailers to choose from. Mesa offers innumerable dining choices to satisfy any palette from quirky diners to finer dining choices. Downtown Mesa is like a walk back in time, with its famous statues of people, who look as if they were captured in everyday poses, from life in a simpler time. Downtown Mesa is still a place where you can have lunch, go to a local jeweler, find a hardware store or shop in a knick-knack shop with unique gifts and curios.
The average sales price for a single family home or condo in February 2010 was $144,710. This information is gleaned from MLS data, and while deemed reliable, is not guaranteed.
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