Nick Bastian - Tempe, AZ Real Estate Agent

Tempe Arizona has a ton of great communities and offers many different types of housing options. Camelot Village in South Tempe is a place where neighbors know your name and the sense of community is alive year round.

The annual Camelot Village 4th of July parade and picnic is what the 4th of July is all about. Neighbors gather and have their own parade through the subdivision with flags a flyin' and horns a blowin.' The Tempe Fire Department sends a truck for the morning festivities as well. Kids of all ages enjoy a good old fashioned celebration which ends up at Stroud Park where the grill is fired up, neighborhood businesses pitch in to offer raffle prizes and everyone has a chance to relax and have a good time. Stroud Park is located just East of McClintock Drive and just South of Guadalupe Road. The 101 Freeway is to the East providing residents easy access to the entire valley.

The parade starts at 9:00am and is a perfect start to the day. Afternoons can be spent by the pool and the evening can be spent watching the amazing Tempe Fireworks show at Town Lake.

Tempe's Depot Cantina is THE place to be for Cinco De Mayo again this year. Live music, tons of specials and the most fun along the light rail line that the 5th of May has ever seen!

Rail Life is having a contest to win a FREE VIP pass and a Cinco De Mayo t-shirt. Join the Rail Life crew, our friends and the Depot staff as we sport the coolest Cinco De Mayo shirts in town. All you have to do to enter to win is leave a comment on their blog. <-- The Depot Cantina "VIP" Party Pass includes cover charge, 4 drinks and a taco platter($5.00 cover charge begins at 3pm.) Rail Life will draw from the list of comments on Monday at 6:00 PM. The winner will be notified by email Monday evening.

The Depot's doors open at 10am with 13 hours of live music beginning at 11am. Bands include:

• 2 Tone Lizard Kings

• Tyme Will Tell

• Silver Medallion

• Katastro

• Claybyrds

Getting to Macayo's Depot Cantina is easy! Just jump on the light rail and head to the Mill Avenue district. Exit at the 3rd / Mill light rail station and head west one block to the Depot. If you have never ridden the light rail before, be sure to purchase a light rail pass prior to boarding! Currently, an all day pass is just $2.50.

The place is sure to be packed, so take advantage of a park and ride lot and look for the Rail Life banner out front and inside the patio where we will be hanging out!

Tempe is a great community with a ton of fun things to do... Have fun, stay safe and enjoy the lifestyle!

Light rail expansion plans have been quite the topic of discussion lately due to reports in the paper and because of a Mesa city council presentation where Metro recommended the extension of light rail down Main Street in Mesa. The route appears to make a lot of sense to Metro and to the council, as the questions and comments at the presentation appeared to favor an extension along Main Street. Many of the reasons to favor the plan have to do with demand, development and potential for growth. The high cost of light rail was analyzed against other options and is thought to be superior in long term costs and return to the community, by moving more people and creating economic development opportunities in the region.

There has been a great deal of study and analysis on three different routes for light rail expansion in Mesa, as well as bus and rapid bus along the same corridor. Several months ago, discussion centered around Mesa expansion, costs and parking questions, and the feeling was (in my opinion) that Main Street made a lot of sense. Some new options have been made since then, with one ending the line just east of Mesa Drive at Lesueur Street, instead of at Horne. Apparently, some opposition has come up near the Horne area due to parking challenges and neighborhood concerns. For those familiar with Main Street in Mesa, Lesueur is directly west of Pioneer Park on the north side of Main with the mormon Temple on the south side of the street. Currently, there is vacant land at the NW and at the SW corner of Lesueur and Main where they could add a small park and ride structure. This park and ride lot could be closed or re-developed if a new park and ride lot is built after future extensions are added.

There are some neighborhoods nearby that would likely see some real change, and the proximity to Pioneer Park could bring a fun and interesting dynamic to the equation. Historic homes and small businesses near this area could benefit from the fixed mode of transportation that would run through downtown Mesa, where there have been revitilazation plans for as long as most of us can remember. Many are of the opinion that the direct route along Main is the best choice. With it's street-facing shops, Main could really thrive with these transit-oriented developments. Other benefits are the fact that less property would be needed if they go straight along Main, as opposed to heading to 1st Street or First Avenue before continuing east; and the fact that a direct route east on Main is faster, because of the time it takes to make the additional turns. If the goal is to get further east and to move people efficiently, then taking the tracks off of Main Street would be un-wise.

While funding is always a huge hurdle, it appears the current extension is a piece of the larger puzzle whereby the system can be extended to Gilbert Road and even serve the Gateway area in the distant future. This morning, I recall Mayor Scott Smith saying that it "opens up a whole new world if we get to Gilbert Road", and he went on to mention that the return on investment getting to Gilbert Road is significant. Plenty of talk surrounded the fact that billions of dollars in economic development have been attributed to light rail in Phoenix and Tempe via the initial 20 mile "starter line." Mesa, with just a mile of track, is looking to get some of those large economic development dollars to their city, which may seem odd to those that still think of Mesa as having a "small-town-mentality".

For now, no "official" decision has been made as to the light rail extension, but there is mention of a city council meeting on May 18 where a decision could be made.

Expansion plans are interesting in that, the entire line benefits from the "city within cities" mentality that is catching on here in the valley. These neighborhoods are changing and it is fun to watch. If you have any questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425. You can also learn more about these communities and about the Phoenix Light Rail system by visiting the real estate section of RailLife.com.

I realize that "luxury" homes, lofts, condos and high rise units mean different things to different people. For this post, I chose the $750,000 price range to begin my search of some really cool homes near light rail.  Today, I looked at a search and found 59 homes priced at $750,000 and above available in this "city within cities" that we call the light rail corridor. The highest concentration is near Hayden Ferry in Tempe with several in Phoenix along Central Avenue ranging from gorgeous single family homes to luxurious high rise living.

Here is a partial breakdown of the data:

Active listings priced at or above $750k - 59

Avg, list price $1,173,036 (low, $759.9k - high $3.3 million)

Approximate square foot range: 2,609 sq ft. (low 791 high 5,537)

Average list price per approximate square foot: 504.14(low 188.68 high 1,078.38)

Cumulative days on market: Average 273 days (low 13 day high 924 days)

If you have any questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call us at 602-803-6425 or toll free at 1-888-343-6425. You can also learn more about these communities and about the Phoenix Light Rail system by visiting www.RailLife.com.

Here is an example of some of the cool homes at Hayden Ferry. Let me know if you would like a list of any others.

Niche marketing isn't exactly new to the real estate business but it can be a very fun and effective way to "build a community" within a region, market or area of expertise. I feel very fortunate to be heading to Seattle this week to attend "REBarCamp" (has nothing to do with alcohol) at the Zillow headquarters. There, I will learn a lot more about social networking, blogging and more ways to promote my business. One of the many reasons I am heading to Seattle is because of my friend, Rich Jacobson. You see, Rich has agreed to join me in a session at this "un-conference" to talk about "niche marketing." To be honest, I am really looking forward to it, partly because I think it will be a lot of fun and partly because I have a LOT of respect for Rich and for many of the people that will be attending the conference.

The timing is interesting as just yesterday my friend Mike Price from Diverse Solutions called and asked me to do a "podcast" with him about a niche market that I have been working on. Mike took some time to talk to me about the work I have been doing with RailLife.com and put together this very nice blog post titled "Nichefy Your IDX - Running The Rails With Nick Bastian" One of the many things we talked about in the podcast is how we have used the Diverse Solution product on the Rail Life Real Estate pages to show people what types of housing is available near many of the light rail stations. Their product has been really great to work with and I am looking forward to adding a lot more options in the near future, I can't thank their design and support staff enough...

The term "nichefy" might be a Mike Price original but it sure was fun to talk to him and it was a great "warm up" to what I hope to share with my friends in Seattle. If I'm lucky, all will go well and I won't trip over too many of my words. Rich has promised to do all of the heavy lifting as his experience as one of the "Active Rain All Stars" certainly qualifies him for much more than I.

The niche I will be talking about has to do with homes located near the new, 20 mile stretch of light rail line in Arizona which travels from Phoenix to Tempe and into Mesa. If you can't join us in Seattle but you have questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call me at 602-803-6425. You can aslo get some great information on the subject by visiting www.RailLife.com.

You can listen to the Diverse Solution podcast here...