Win a copy of '50 Ways to Play, BDSM for Nice People'
Sometimes we get stuff in the mail that is too good (well,... Enter Now
SEGA, El Paseo and the legacy of Sprawlzilla
- Dec 16 2010
- 3
Update: Last night the city council approved the environmental-impact report for phase one of the El Paseo project. The vote was 4-2 (can you guess who voted which way?) with Blong Xiong absent. The funny thing is: even the members who voted yes don't seem to support the project.
From the story: "This is not an easy decision," said [council member Andreas] Borgeas, who represents the district where the project is proposed. "It's not something I'm crazy about. ... I'm reluctant to move forward on this in any way beyond Phase One."
Question: Is approving phase one opening the floodgates on the project? If you're not behind it, why carry on with it at all?
Original post:
Fresno loves our sprawl.
OK, maybe we don't love it, but we seem unable or unwilling to stop it, as evidenced by these two stories. The first deals with El Paseo, a new development in northwest Fresno (Herndon and 99-ish). The other deals with hearings on the SEGA (Southeast Growth Area) Plan.
The first is a classic example of Fresno's development strategy: built something shiny and new. Then, bound northward (in this case northwestward) to build something shiner and newer. And on and on. Read Bill McEwen's take.
The second is something that's new to Fresno. Longterm planning. The plan will set the path for how the area will be developed in the next two or three decades and it's come under attack. Which makes sense, in light of the current economic situation. The city doesn't know how it will get by from this year to the next, so why worry about something that might play out 30 years from now.
As Hostetter points out in his post, chaos can bring happy results. Yes, the 14 square miles of Ashlan-Maple-Nees-Palm come out great, but one has to wonder if it was the cost of downtown and Chinatown and a Blackstone Avenue that's full-up with strip malls.
* Thanks to Blake Jones for the photo.
3 Comment(s) for "SEGA, El Paseo and the legacy of Sprawlzilla"
and yeah. c'mon. as I said on another Fresno site....this plot's getting so boring. When will Fresno choose something new and thrilling rather than the old "person who lives out-of-town builds something that we have 35 of already, throws us a bone having to do with property taxes, and expects us to kiss them on the mouth (or worse) in thanks"....which aPPARently the City Council does every single time. Be careful council members. Remember that herpes has no known cure.
in all fairness, the picture (though thanks were given me) was the product of my ol' pal Ross Garcia and a talented lady called Pam Severson. Ross did a cover on spec for a magazine called TapeOp...his work had been on the cover a month or so previously...but this Godzilla holding a microphone wasn't chosen....so I scooped it up!!! Pam changed it to the beast holding and threatening the iconic water towers of both Fresno and Kingsburg.----and that's the rest of the story.
I live in the general area of El Paseo and I'm not happy about it being approved.
Ten years ago one of the deciding factors when we purchased our home, was the fact that is was away from the shopping areas. The area was mainly fields with very few homes. We loved being on the very edge of town, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
We had no idea that the city would allow multiple subdivisions, an apartment complex,two schools, and the two shopping centers at Herndon/Milburn. With all this came increase air pollution, increased crime and decreased property values.
The direct area of this shopping center has been hit extremely hard with foreclosures. It is killing everyone else's property values. The house across the street from me is currently for sell for less than I paid for mine 10 years ago. I have a feeling once this mall gets built, my property value will drop even more.