I first heard about the formation of a Midtown Museum District Association back in July of this year while reading Ed’s blog about Life at the ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus. In his blog, Ed described the idea for the new association as follows: “Our mission is to be a group of residents and businesses that seek to network with each other. At the same time, we seek to be an inclusive neighborhood and an urban catalyst seeking to improve the quality of life for our residents and the prosperity of our businesses. The boundaries are a bit confusing but they are:
- McDowell Road to the south,
- Indian School Road to the north,
- 1st Avenue or thereabouts (between McDowell and Thomas) and 3rd Avenue (between Thomas and Indian School) to the west, and
3rd Street to the east”
While the idea sounded interesting, I had no idea how well organized this new association would be. I was glad to learn of their inaugural meeting being held at the Fairfield Inn on Central but didn’t have a ton of expectations. What I found was two very charming, articulate and well prepared women had been working very hard and quite passionately within a community they clearly enjoy very much. Margaret Dietrich and Julia Tourville opened the meeting by telling us about the reasons behind the formation of the district and a little bit about their background. To me, it was clear that these two ladies will help make this group a huge benefit to the community. Basically, they are looking to help create a sense of community within the boundaries of this cohesive neighborhood. Margaret also spoke of the rich cultural community and the fact that the light rail line runs right through the district. In fact, there are three light rail stations within the newly formed district and another just outside of the northern boundary. Julia also spoke very fondly of the area and as another participant pointed out, it would be easy to listen to her speak at any time with that beautiful accent of hers. You should come to the next monthly meeting just to take a listen. 🙂
The meeting had several very good speakers and community activists. Representatives from Council Districts 4 and 7 were on hand along with Community Action Officers from the Phoenix Police Department, local developers and small business advocates. It was also nice to see one of Metro’s outreach staff, Amy Bratt at the meeting. Amy is very friendly and informative, having her at the meeting made a lot of sense given the fact that this district is fortunate to have such great access to the light rail system. As usual, people discussed the fact that construction was hard on the businesses along the line but it is great to see the excitement for light rail as we get closer to opening day. For residents of this area or for people that want to take advantage of what this community has to offer, I highly suggest getting involved with the Midtown Museum District Neighborhood Association. These are the kind of things that Rail Life is all about. In fact, if you are a member of another association or community group along the light rail line, we would love to hear from you! Remember, “Your Life Is On The Line!” and we want to help people learn more about these great communities!
View Midtown Museum District in a larger map
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