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!

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Come join us! For residents of Arizona, or anywhere else, if you would like to show your pictures of light rail cars or of the fun places, businesses, housing, restaurants, hotel's, schools, entertainment etc along the 20 mile light rail route, we have just created a "Phoenix Light Rail" group on Flickr. Please join in and participate! I KNOW some of you have some great pictures to share!

In addition to the group, you can view all of Rail Life's pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/raillifepics/

Do you live near the line? Do you have a favorite restaurant on the light rail line? Are you a student that will be using light rail? Sports fans that can't wait to take the light rail trains to the games? Serious, the choices are endless. We will post links to the best ones from time to time right here on the blog. Hey, there's an idea; maybe a weekly link to our favorite pics?!? We want to help show some excitement for the changes coming to our communities.  So, click on THIS PHOENIX LIGHT RAIL GROUP to join in and share pics as you take them. If you already have some good pics, go ahead and add them..

Basic rules are.. Keep it clean, keep it relevant to life on the line. Have fun! We will be adding pictures regularly and hope you will too. Thanks for stopping by!

Light Rail fans might want to make sure and take a look at the upcoming, May 16 issue of the Phoenix Business Journal. They will be doing a feature called "Block by Block by Light Rail" which sounds pretty darn cool.. Our friend Karen sent us this brief description of what to expect..

"The Phoenix Business Journal has a 20-page pullout, Block by Block by Light Rail, coming out May 16. The section focuses on businesses and neighborhoods near light rail stops. There's a feature on transit oriented development (TODs), Apache Boulevard and coverage of businesses that have actually survived construction hassles. The Business Journal also spoke to a number of those in the Phoenix business community about if they think light rail will change the city. The section also includes a list of landmarks near light rail that will be undergoing renovation, a light map, and a time line on the history of Phoenix commuter rail."

Stay tuned.. By the end of the summer, Rail Life will begin to roll out our community pages, hotel pages, shopping pages, sports pages etc., complete with searchable mapping capabilities, line section information, park and ride information and all kinds of really cool "stuff" for you to enjoy. Stick around Phoenix... "Your Life Is On The Line!"

This December, when the light rail trains begin to connect Phoenix to Tempe and Mesa, riders will have all kinds of new entertainment options. Several of these options will have to do with grapes, as in wine bars! Although the Mill Avenue District hasn't ever been considered a wine lover's paradise, I can think of four wine bars that will be a short distance from the light rail stop at third and Mill. Of these four spots, only one is currently pouring wine but they do it really well. Cafe Boa is a long time Mill Avenue favorite and has recently won the 2007 "Award of Excellence" from The Wine Spectator for their "complete and well rounded wine list." If you haven't been there, you really are missing out! Later this year, PurVine will open in the new and exciting Centerpoint project that is in the heart of the district. I recently toured Centerpoint with the developer and was quite impressed with the entire project! (much more on their project later) PurVine will be an amazing place for wine lovers! In fact, I read that they will be a "fully functioning winery, minus the vineyard. The $1 million facility is split into thirds, with an intimate tasting room in front, a cooler stocked with barrels of aging wine in the center and a warehouse of 20 large metal tanks in the back." These same developers are also the ones that will develop the famous Hayden Flour Mill located just a few blocks away. Guess what, I've heard that it will also have a wine bar! Just a block North of there is the amazing community of Hayden Ferry Lakeside. SunCor development has done a remarkable job with this project that consists of top-notch residential and prime commercial space. In fact, there have been people give up the posh 24th St / Camelback address to move their operations to Hayden Ferry for it's amazing views and wonderful freeway and airport access. Last but not least, of my four Tempe examples will be located at Hayden Ferry within the existing "Romancing the Bean" space. From what I understand, they will add a wine bar for residents and business people to enjoy after a hard day at the office. I spoke with the owner and it sounds like the plans are in the works, it just might take a little bit of time. I'll have to drag myself back over there for lunch again soon to see if I can get an update.

Now, don't think Tempe is the only ones with grapes galore.. Phoenix will have a wine bar inside of the posh new "Hotel Monroe" called The Vault. Opening soon, I understand this chic and newly renovated boutique hotel will be a transformation of an old 1930's bank building and the old vault from the basement has been saved to be part of the bar. Another hot spot is Portland's Restaurant and Wine Bar which is located near the Central / Roosevelt light rail stop. I tried to meet a friend at Portland's for lunch yesterday at 12:30. Apparently, we were not the only ones in the area as we were told it would be a 45 minute wait! (Some kind of special event that particular day) I'll have to try it again another time.

So.. There you have a bunch of new places to try. Once light rail is in, it will be a pretty convenient way to get from downtown Phoenix to downtown Tempe. Be safe, have fun and get ready to enjoy the new lifestyle that is coming to our downtown.. Cheers!