Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson, the 36th-most populous city in the U.S., and the most populous city that is not a county seat. The city is home to 504,258 people as of 2020. It is the most populous city in the East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler and Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, and Apache Junction on the east.
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the city of Phoenix. It includes much of central Arizona. The United States Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defining it as Maricopa and Pinal counties. It anchors the Arizona Sun Corridor megaregion along with the second-most populous metropolitan area in the state, the Tucson metropolitan area. The gross domestic product of the Phoenix metropolitan area was $255 billion in 2018, 16th highest amongst metro areas in the United States.
The Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority, more popularly known as Valley Metro, is the unified public brand of the regional transit system for the Phoenix metropolitan area. Within the system, it is divided between Valley Metro Bus, which runs all bus operations, Valley Metro Rail, which is responsible for light rail and streetcar operations in the Valley. In 2023, the combined bus and rail system had a ridership of 36,374,000, or about 122,600 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Tri-City Pavilions, formerly Tri-City Mall, is a shopping mall in Mesa, Arizona, United States. It was developed in 1968 as an enclosed shopping mall featuring Diamond's and JCPenney as the anchor stores. The mall underwent a period of decline following the opening of Fiesta Mall in 1979, particularly after Diamond's consolidated with its store in that mall in 1984. Despite a mall-wide renovation completed in 1985 and the addition of new tenants such as ZCMI and Bealls, Tri-City Mall continued to diminish throughout the 1990s, with JCPenney closing in 1998. The mall was demolished in 1999 in favor of a strip mall anchored by Safeway Inc., although the former JCPenney building remained until 2006. Tri-City Pavilions is owned and managed by Lamar Companies.
The Phoenix Street Railway provided streetcar service in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, from 1888 to 1948. The motto was "Ride a Mile and Smile the While."
Valley Metro Rail is a 29.8-mile (48 km) light rail system serving the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa in Arizona, USA. The network, which is part of the Valley Metro public transit system, began operations on December 27, 2008. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 10,797,600, or about 34,400 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Sycamore/Main Street, also known as The Asian District, is a station on the Valley Metro Rail line in Mesa, Arizona, United States. The station is located one block east of the intersection of Dobson Road and Main Street, in front of the former Tri City Mall. It was the original eastern terminus for Valley Metro Rail when the line opened in 2008. Adjacent to Mekong Plaza and other East Asian businesses, it serves as an access point to Mesa's Asian district. A large park and ride lot is located adjacent to the station's bus terminal on the north side of Main Street.
Transportation in Phoenix, Arizona is primarily via private cars. Public transport is run under the brand Valley Metro, and consists of buses, light rail, and a streetcar system.
Many arterial roads in the Phoenix metropolitan area have the same name in multiple cities or towns. Some roads change names or route numbers across town borders, resulting in occasional confusion. For example, the road known as Apache Boulevard in Tempe continues east as Main Street in neighboring Mesa and then as Apache Trail in Apache Junction. Although Broadway Road maintains the same name through Goodyear, Avondale, Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, and Apache Junction, each town uses a different reference point for address numbers.
Valley Metro Bus is the public transit bus service in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Valley Metro Bus provides local, regional, express, and rural bus services in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, covering a service area of 525 sq mi (1,360 km2). In 2023, the system had a ridership of 24,215,700, or about 83,300 per weekday in the first quarter of 2024.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mesa, Arizona, United States.
The following is a timeline of the history of the area which today comprises the U.S. state of Arizona. Situated in the desert southwest, for millennia the area was home to a series of Pre-Columbian peoples. By 1 AD, the dominant groups in the area were the Hohokam, the Mogollon, and the Ancestral Puebloans. The Hohokam dominated the center of the area which is now Arizona, the Mogollon the southeast, and the Puebloans the north and northeast. As these cultures disappeared between 1000 and 1400 AD, other Indian groups settled in Arizona. These tribes included the Navajo, Apache, Southern Paiute, Hopi, Yavapai, Akimel O'odham, and the Tohono O'odham.
Alma School/Main Street is a station on the Metro light rail line in Mesa, Arizona, United States. The station is located one block east of the intersection of West Main Street and Alma School Road and opened on August 22, 2015.
Country Club/Main St is a station on the Metro light rail line in Mesa, Arizona, United States. The station is located one block east of the intersection of West Main Street and South Country Club Drive and opened on August 22, 2015.
Mesa Dr/Main St is a station on the Valley Metro Rail line in Mesa, Arizona, United States. The station is located one block east of the intersection of East Main Street and North Mesa Drive, and opened as part of the Central Mesa extension on August 22, 2015. It served as the eastbound terminus of the line until the Gilbert Road extension opened in late Spring 2019.
The Tempe Streetcar, referred to as the Streetcar Line on regional transit maps, is a streetcar extension of Phoenix's Valley Metro Rail system. Construction began in 2017, and the line opened for service on May 20, 2022. It serves 14 stops across three miles of track serving various parts of the city's downtown, as well as the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, with the Valley Metro Rail main line.
Gilbert Rd/Main Street is a light rail station in Mesa, Arizona, on the Valley Metro system serving Phoenix and surrounding areas. It opened to revenue service on May 18, 2019, becoming the new terminus of the light rail line. The station has a park-and-ride facility and a bus station that is served by local routes.
Valley Metro Bus: 40, 112, Downtown BUZZ [1] 
