I just got back from a Creative Fresno function on the Fulton Mall after a quick stop by Teazers for a green matte. I was priviledged to tour the mall with a small group of interested individuals guided by some very informative and caring people. There is a strong heritage here, and anyone who does not see or appreciate it should keep the snyde sarcastic remarks to themselves. When I was a child, the Fulton Mall was the place to be, and there is no reason why it could not be just that again. The Fulton Mall is an icon, a symbol of our passion for art, innovation, beauty and life. The vision that was so obviously there at one time is not gone, it's just been overlooked and forgotten.

Fresno is a center, a hub if you will, for innovation and vision. We should be the model that sets the standard to which the rest of the world turns. We have done it many times before and in many different ways. We can do it again regardless of what the ne'er sayers say. Open your eyes. Look around. There so many opportunities that abound. The Problem with a focus on looking back (especially at "failure") is that it makes it so hard to see where to go. It also has a tendency to fog out the vision for the future.

The poor and the less fortunate, as well as the beggoted ignorant are everywhere among us, but that is no reason to becom skeptical or to lose hope. So what if some people could care less about others and more about themselves. What they choose to do does not affect who I see when I look in the mirror. It is my own actions that determine the character behind those eyes that look back at me every time I shave. Wheter your glass is half empty or half full does not depend on your outlook. It depends whether you are emptying it or filling it up. Try considering that the next time you feel like criticizing another persons efforts to solve a problematic issue. If you think something better could be done, DO IT! The world would be a much better place if we would all try being a part of the solution rather than compounding the problem.

Just another tool in the shed

Brent

Even though this isn't the original topic, I'd like to add a post about the homeless really quick.

I agree with some of the things Orangebear started to say about the failure of the city to provide real assistance to the homeless and the ineffective use of taxpayers' money on homeless shelters. After that he (assuming he's a man) lost me with all the anger and hate. That doesn't help the situation.

I work, live, and shop downtown and I've been here for over two years now. I get annoyed by the panhandling, but it doesn't hurt me for people to ask me for money. It happens all over the world wherever there is economic inequality, poverty, or mental illness. In other words, every city in the world.

If they're panhandling in front of a liquor store; becoming harassing in their approach; consuming liquor or drugs in public; exposing themselves; or disrupting the peace, the police need to be involved because the person is committing a crime.

Obviously people in this situation have severe problems and need professional help, but if they are committing crimes they have to pay the penalty. I have called the police a few times when I witness crimes occurring, but 99.99% of my interactions with homeless people on the street end without incident. Being homeless is not a crime, and neither is asking for money.

As I said in another post, problems aren't solved by ignoring them.

Additionally, I have never personally seen or heard any sexual acts committed by homosexuals in public bathrooms downtown , but it wouldn't be any more disturbing than sexual acts committed by heterosexuals. As a matter of fact I once saw a woman lying naked on the floor of a public men's bathroom, propositioning the men using the facilities. (This was one of the times I called the police) It was pretty disturbing, but I got over it. Let's not label homosexuals as criminals because the two have nothing to do with each other.

Strangely enough?
Though I know that there is a liturgical calendar, I don't know it by heart, --but it turns out that 'Gospel,' passage at church was St. Luke's Gospel, Chap. 16, verses 19-31.
(This will be a little sidenote that fits in later...)

It's the story told by Jesus about the beggar (Lazarus,) and the Rich man.

-Basic synopsis?
-Poor beggar with health issues, (Lazarus,) who lies outside the gate of a rich guy's place, (passed by day in and day out, by the Rich Guy,) -dies due to his health issues.
-He goes to (what is referred to in the Sacred Texts/Hebrew (Old Test.) as 'Abraham's Bosom,' --It was kind of an earlier version of heaven...
-Anyway, the guy, who apparently had a faith, dies, and is now comforted in the afterlife by (who was considered to be the founder of the faith: Father Abraham.)

Rich Guy?
He buys the big one too, -and finds himself in eternal torment.
-Rich guy calls out to Abraham, 'Hey, it's hot over here, have Lazarus (who now apparently can walk,) bring me some water...'
-Abraham states: 'Sorry, He lived in hell on earth, (made in part by your failing to care for him,) while you lived in comfort and splendor,
-Now it's time for him to live in peace, and for you to suffer...'

-Rich guy says, (realizing what he's done,)
-'...Well then at least send Lazarus out to tell my (remaining,) brothers who (are acting the same way I was,) -They'll listen to somebody come back from the dead, to tell them to straighten out and care, (else they wind up like me...')

Fr. Abraham responds, '...They have the book of Moses and the Prophets, if they don't 'get it,' via them, ---what makes you think a resurrected dead guy will have an impact?'

1.) WHERE THE SHOE FITS Dept.

-There are a lot of reasons why Fresno does not see 'the homeless,' and 'street people,' as the same.

(This may ruffle a few feathers, not unheard of with my stuff, but it's not meant to condemn, -it's just saying what I see.)

A. PECKING ORDER, (read: Animal Farm.)

-First off, this is, at it's heart, a very 'agrarian,' and 'competetive,' society. (SJ Valley.)
1. -There is nothing wrong with such things, (I'm not anti-farmer/rancher and anti-competition.)
---But that, pushed out too far, can lead to the following:
-'It's all about competing and succeeding, Second Place is the First Loser, I, we, us, are better than _________ because I, we, us, have ________ and you don't.'

2. '...It really bothered me that all this time and effort was being spent on somebody who was defective...'

If 'quality of life,' (IE: Who we spend out time and energy on,) is defined by the first premise? --It's only the winners who are worth anything. (And this mentality I see played out a lot in the area.)

If 'quality of life,' (etc.) is defined on the second premise? It's a wast of time to even try to 'cure,' or 'help,' those who are 'not going to make it.'

--Comment 2?
By the way?
-Was from a conversation I had with an area nurse at a major hospital, when we were talking about our mutual experiences working with the Developmentally Disabled.
(They were referring to a young woman who had eaten part of her mattress, had a major obstruction, needed surgery, and then went back to the institution that she started out at, she was in a type of direct/managed care...)

-When she was telling me this story?
I figured that she was going to say
'...it's a shame that all this time and effort, and money, was spent on somebody who was just going back to an institution...'
--Instead she said
'...was spent on somebody who was defective.'

-Though I've worked with medical teams that were no comfortable working with people who were mentally ill or had dev. disabilites, (they can be difficult to work with when stressed out,,,)
-I have NEVER had another health care professional make such a comment in such a blatant way (in ANY way,) regarding a person with a disability, (calling them 'defective.')
-First time EVER in twenty-five years of working 'human services,' --that I've ever had anyone say such a thing, and it was here in Fresburg...

I think, at it's core, there is a sort of 'natural selection,' thing going on,
---'That' and the generations of people who have had to fight to attain any sort of status as 'decent,' or be considered a 'viable human,' let alone as 'equal.'
--that still carries out.

--I am very aware how the migrant workers are seen as 'less than human,' by so many other folks,
(folks who's own families have histories where THEY were not allowed in the borders and played out that whole 'Tom Joad,' Grapes of Wrath,' thing.)

If the old Military illustration 'shit rolls downhill,' can be applied to human nature, (and this area?)
-there's always somebody who is indignant, feels threatened, and wants to either 'force out,'
'-or not let in,' group 'x,'
---and will do all possible to convince itself that 'those other,' people are of 'less quality than they are.'

Even a casual understanding of history will show this going back clear thru time,
---and walking around anywhere in this area with your ears open will reveal that it still very much exists as a mindset.

What blows my mind is how unchallenged it is here.

-I mean, people freak out about 'urban sprawl,' and flat-spread growth of the city going on 'unchecked,'

---but it's quite common to hear stuff like
'...I ain't no racist, I just hate Mexicans...'
--where the person who raises an eyebrow at that is viewed as being 'some commie liberal who wants to give away the whole state to the wetbacks, unemployed slackers, welfare mothers etc. etc...'

-I think people don't realize how bad it is around here because they tend to 1.) stick only with folks who think like them, (or are from their culture subset,) or
2. really don't have anywhere else to compare it to...

This is a very isolated world (California) to begin with, then this area of California on top of that,)
---and when there's nobody who's going to say
'...dude, that's messed up, you can't think like that.' (either out of fear, or not even realizing how racist the whole thing is? --it simply goes on and on.)

And that's just 'races and social class,'
'The homeless, or street-people,' aren't even afforded that, half the time, ---and (if) they are people who fall into any other easy racial or social catagory? -double-trouble.

In a simple understanding of something:
-A person who is homeless, who has issues that are causing them to fall out of 'regular,' society faces immediate rejection and judgement.
-They are not seen as 'winners,' in any sense of the word.

-Because you have people who
'are just barely allowed to be here, who are here (and defined as 'worthwhile,') (fieldworkers, etc.)
---they are accepted only because of their ability to do 'menial labor,'
--they are not seen as 'human beings,' but are 'human doings,'
--(Ergo) Most life begins to be seen as '...if this person is productive, and can earn their keep, they get to exist,
---if they cannot?,
-than they need to be replaced by somebody who can, plain and simple.'

--This area has been built to include the mindset that there are people who are little more than 'worker-bees,'
-and when they no longer work, -they are no longer human, -and become a drag to the system.

All that stuff, sitting all too close together?
Reduces people to being little more than 'productive beasts of burden,' or 'healthy heads of cattle.'
--That 'when they cannot keep up with the herd,' 'jeopardizes it,' 'and would be better off gone (dead.)'

So, again, basic 'quality of life: based simply on existing'
(IE: people have a value just because they exist (period,)
Is not what we have here.
---folks have to 'make the cut,' to be merely recognized as viable, and are always 'earning their keep,' -just as being considered human, ---but still, you're gonna hear:
'...yeah, for a mexican, he's not so bad, for a black or hmong, for somebody from 'that,' town (or part of town,) they're okay...'

I think THAT, fueled with the racial issues, the fear of unknown cultures (because people have no reason to interract with what is 'strange,') just builds it.

B: THAT WHOLE RELIGIOUS THING:
-Now this may get a little weird, but I think it holds out.

California is the 'Self-Esteem,' State.
(Not only is it all about competition, but it's also all about the 'big me.')
--When you raise a generation of people and keep drilling into their head how 'they need to come first,' how 'I am the most important person I know,'
---Who are they going to care about first and foremost?

-Does connecting the dots from
'I LOVE ME,' to
'I'm First,' to
'I'm selfish, care about me first, and don't give a rip about others,'
--take that much ink?
Oh Heck no.

So, --you take a couple of generations of people,
who are raised to be all about their own self-interests,
--and then introduce them to
'people who need to be cared about.'
--It ain't gonna work.

It can't work.
You cannot simultaneously look at others and be self-absorbed. (And these days people are taught to be all about their own interests.)

-So, ANYONE who is not 'ME,' immediately becomes a challenge.
-The best you can hope for?
Some sort of appeal:
'...Care for others, you'll feel better about yourself, because you know you'll be doing a good thing...' (blah-blah-blah.)
--The emphasis is one (still,) of seeing the self first, ---and others benefiting as a byproduct.
(This method sucks, it's not the same as just caring about others because they're standing there, (and don't need an evaluation as to being 'viable or not,' --but it does work...)

But, here in the Bible Belt of Central California?
It gets weird.

((For those who care about Jesus and are reading,))

-One of His most memorable passages?
'...If you love me, DENY yourself, take up your cross and walk.'
'...A new commandment: Love the Lord thy God, with all your heart, mind, and strength, --and love your neighbor as yourself.' (some folks have said that this was the ten commandments simplified for the rest-of-us.)

(The real understanding of that last passage, btw
'...you already love yourself, -now, how 'bout loving your neighbor instead???'

How this plays out (even those who can't stand Christians or any references to Christ will be interested in this, -or not...)

-To be a Christian means that you are always being confronted by a God (be they God in the form of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or the Creator,)
---who is constantly telling you
'...if you love me, take care of others...'

--As Christians we're commanded (as a display of our love for God, -and as an outlet of God's love (not just for us,) ---but for others
---demonstrate it, and care (not for ourselves,)
---but for others MORE.

-You simply cannot read the Bible too far without being hit with that as a directive. ('Old Testament, New Testament,' whatever...)
-(It's even called a life in relationship with God (only,)by the death to 'self.')

Now... Fresno is an EXTREMELY churched town.

There are thousands and thousands who go to churches on Hearndon alone... (There are more mega-churches here among 500,000 people than I've ever seen anywhere else...)
---Why...? with so many people into Jesus, ---is there such a glaring issue regarding 'homeless,' 'racism,' 'social-darwinism,' (you name it...?)

It's a condition that you will find among the heavily churched, (religious,) that is quite unique.
---You see, we're told time and again to care for others more than ourselves, and to pour out our lives in service (to God,) via caring for others, (with some pretty direct passages about the poor, the sick, the widowed, -those who are addled or have nobody who can defend them,)

-But when you hear it, again and again, ---you are faced with the first hurdle:
-To do this? I have to put my own interests (last,) and put Christ's First.

((Let's put it in proper perspective:

(on one hand: -California,
land of the ‘big me,’ where everybody is taught that 'they themselves are the most important thing that there is.'

(on other hand?: -Cbristianity:
the practice of the big 'denial of self,' -and being 'emptied of self,' -and filled by a God who is all about serving others.

-Think there will be a clash?

So what happens is:
People hear more and more what they are supposed to be doing (according to this belief that they're in...)
---but they are told in their society more and more,
---that such is the complete OPPOSITE of what life should be.
--What happens is a serious bunch of callouses and justifications that folks will develop,
---just so they can stay Christian ('great, I don't go to hell,')
--but at the same have to twist such obvious 'self-last, others first,' passages ---that do NOTHING to take the ever hungry 'ME,' off the throne...
(There is a lot of 'internal noise and prompting,' that has to be nullified... (it really doesn't work, actually.)

-So the stuff that we (as Christians,) tell ourselves to avoid the direct heart(intent) of Christ
'...care for the sick and the poor...' becomes louder and louder...

To get away with it?
We make these distinctions and false diagnosis:

-'They're defective,' (-they'd be better off with God in heaven.)

-'God wants me to do my best,'(-so I want to be a 'winner,' not a 'looser,' (and I don't want to 'empower loosers.' )

--and even the (shot down by Christ himself) mindset:
-'...They came across a man begging and ill, and said to Jesus: Who sinned, this man or his parents,' (the apostles asked this,)
-Jesus response? '...Neither, He's this way so that God may be glorified and Grace revealed,' (to which Christ took the time to heal him.)

--(The concept: 'You are sick, you are ill, you have a messed up life, you don't have any money, ---obviously you did something and God is paying you back, (judging,) or you don't have enough faith.'
--still exists.

--By example, (according to our faith-system,)?
We are to try to assist in the healing of those with broken lives.
By NOT doing this?
We just act louder and are more irritated by the presence of others who (by their existance,) are opportunities to care as God is trying to get us to...

PS: that story of 'Lazarus and the Rich Man,' (at the open of the post,) is kind of different from other ones in the Bible.
--Some say that it's just a parable, and a morality tale that is supposed to teach us to care for the sick and poor.

-In actuality?
It's the ONLY story of it's type, ('parables,')
-where actual names are given.
Usually the parables go: 'there once was a man,' or some non-descript thing.)
--It's very possible, (if Christ was God,) that this was a true account, (not some 'morality tale,')

--and, yeah, the sad fact is?
-Even a person back from the dead can tell you stuff that's true, -and folks aren't gonna care.)

B. These Phrases: ‘HOMELESSNESS VS. STREET PEOPLE,’ ARE DESTINCTIONS GIVEN AS JUSTIFICATION FOR ‘NOT CARING.’

(Real quickly:

-These destinctions, when you look at them, don't hold water.

False comments:

1. 'It's the mentally ill, who need our help, they're already in programs, and need a home and caring, THESE people aren't they.'
-In fact, (when you think of it,) for someone to 'choose,' to live on the street and live in such a dangerous and unhealthy manner (even abuse drugs or alch.) --which not all do, btw.
IS a sign of mental illness.

(Ans)
Most mentally ill people (the hardest cases,) who do need the most care?
Are the hardest to get into treatment.
(part of their illness usually includes severe distrust and paranoia, it's one of the most basic aspects of a truly sick person, ---they stay away from others out of self-preservation.)

2. 'They are already in programs, (and they are a. being over-run by illegals, or b. are want for lack of participants, -but those who do participate 'really want help, (nobody else does...).'

(Ans)
Yeah, some of them are in programs, ---but this area (compared to other cities,) is woefully deficient in actual 'programs,'
(or) treatment facilities (even overnight shelters,)
--and will continue to be so,
--as folks around here don't see (even 'the homeless,') as being worth the time and energy.

3. 'They're not 'homeless,' they're 'street-people.'
(Ans)

Completely bogus qulifications as to which is which.
The same things that are held up as damning behaviors of 'street people,' can be said for homeless, (as well as most other walks of life.)
-Further? That a person (again,) 'chooses,' to be on the street is not a sign of defiance or lawlessness,
-it could be for a variety of reasons, and (even) some of those programs 'meant to help,'
---can be more dangerous (to an individual,) to become involved with than not.

Why?
Shelters can be very dangerous places.
Someone who is there, (as a person in need,) is also surrounded by others who are (also in need,) but who (also,) can be predatory. (That's just human nature, you are dealing with people in desparate states of mind.)

(PS: the tag 'street person,' (actually, among social services people, (at least in NY, Pa. NJ etc.)
-Actually refers to people who have been homeless for so long, that they've really reverted to an almost 'animal,' state, (has trouble communicating, severely poor to physically deteriorating hygine skills, inability to determine friend from foe, -usually with advanced mental conditions and probable physical conditions that will likely require hospitalization (if,) they can be persuaded to 'seek help.'
-It's not too long after somebody becomes a 'street person,' that they usually die from their own poor health, the elements, or are killed by ner-do-wells.
(This may cheer up the 'they're not homless, they're 'street people,' crowd, --real 'street people,' usually aren't too long for this world...)

C. (Finally: MENTAL HEALH ISSUES:)

There is no way to dress this up and make it pretty.

Mental illness can be very dangerous and messy.
(It is what it is.)
Truthfully, the poorer you are, the less likely that you're going to receive adequate health care, -let alone decent consistant 'mental health care.'

MOST Mental illness, (however,) actually manifests in the deterioration of the individual, cripples their being able to be around or in society, to which they usually retreat away from it.
--it usually does not include 'attacking,' others or being any sort of menace to society.
People with mental illness are much more likely to ‘implode,’ than ‘explode.’
(It's one of the first ways I can tell if someone has really worked with 'the mentally ill,' --those of us who have? realize that nine times out of ten, they're more a threat to themselves, -than to anyone else.)

-Also: a person who has succumbed to mental illness?,
(for example)
-who now drinks (to self-medicate and escape their own circumstances, (strangely enough, both 'mentally ill,' and 'everybody else,' tends to do this btw...)
--looks NO different than somebody who 'wants to be drunk all the time,
' -or someone who '...is trying and deserving of our care, -but is too messed up to ask, so we need to be kind..'

You see, mental illness is just plain mental illness. Both 'normal,' and 'abnormal,' looking (or acting,) people can be mentally ill, ---(PS: same thing applies to people who are 'homeless,' or 'street people.' (as it's being taunted here in Fresno.)

-Some guy (or girl,) playing with themselves or urinating on the lawn (can and should,) be approached by the authorities,
(they are (both) a societal concern, -as well as in need of personal help, they have lost their grip on reality.)

---btw? that person could be (otherwise,) law-abiding but just severely delusional.
(I've seen 'normal,' folks drunk or stoned behave this way, but the difference was: they had homes to go to, and friends who thought they were funny...)

-They could be somebody's 'retarded,' kid brother,
-or somebody's 'addled' grandfather,
(even same person at different phases of life,)

---Their behaviors are wrong,
(and that’s what matters in an immediate sense,)

--but how they can be worked with to NOT do these things anymore has all the world to do with ‘…are they people who deserve our help?
Or
‘criminal perverts who are choosing to be this way.’

The most bizarre issue with these people who insist on this ‘they’re not homeless, they’re ‘street-people,’ argument is:

-Having worked with people who (were?,) abusing the system?,

---having had to make the distinction (legally, clinically,) which meant either prosecute, (or) assist further) people who could be seen as: ‘in need,’ vs ‘ parasites to the good will of others?’

-I know what has to be established (as track record-data) when it comes to habitual offenders and ‘users,’ of the system.

-I see NONE of those distinctions, no credible criteria, nor desires to understand ethical and just understanding of such situations in any of this ‘homeless vs street people,’ jargon.

(in the preceeding post? the comment was 'fresno doesn't hate homeless, it hates street people.'

-you want to know how I know this individual is no longer a part of any credible system that is (actively,) helping out either camp?
-When you are in human services, -particularly the 'public health,' sector, --you cannot allow yourself the 'indulgence,' of hating anyone... (It's like flypaper, once you allow it in one area? all are affected.)

-All of their ‘qualifications,’ are subjective at best, -and perjorative more often than not.
--(It’s a series of determinations that are guaranteed to fail.)

Their whole argument can be explained quite simply:

-Whoever is ‘getting help,’ –is worth the help, has done so, and will achieve success as 'we,' see it.
-Whoever has not ‘gotten help already, –is a criminal, a threat, and needs to be punished.)

Notice how this works?

---First off?
There will be NO growth in programs (nor budgeting,) to really ‘assist,’ folks ---as ‘all those who need the help, who deserve it, ---have done so…’
---Under this distinction, even NEW cases will be seen as ‘those who are just now looking for a handout.’

It's a completely political and 'spun,' argument, -based not at all upon social, medical, or mental health science.
It's not the same as '...don't vote in a Democrat, they'll give all the money to the poor and make programs for people who don't deserve it..'
-but it's closely related.

-Further:
-The issue of being homeless often takes years to get out of, (particularlly if you've been homeless for a while.)
--And that's in a GOOD and advanced system of care.

-It often is a culmination of many different situations that have been ‘worked with in spite of,’ for a long time.
(There often is a sudden ‘straw that broke the camel’s back,'(true)
–but there is often much more to it.)
It’s far from being a ‘bounce in – bounce out,’ condition.

---You are very right that a person who now finds themselves ‘homeless,’ could have it happen by a sudden catastrophe,
----that and (a lot) of people live,
-are already just barely making it from check to check.
(Mix this in with people who suffer job cut-backs,
who suddenly cannot afford to live where they used,
to (or another real scenario: ‘regular employed folks,’ –who had medical coverage that included ‘wellness,’ meds, ---who now no longer can afford them???

-It’s just a matter of time before ‘the homeless person who deserves our help,’ becomes ‘a lawless' ‘street-person.’)

--Once a person ‘falls into,’ homelessness, (even into ‘the system,’)
---It’s very hard to get out, and successes often come after many failed attempts.

So what do we have?
(By the definition of the ‘homeless vs streetpeople’ crowd?

-A sealed, limited, group of people who will either make it (back,) to social health on the first try,
(again, remember, no newcomers,)

---with everyone else being ‘criminals,’ or 'street people.'

D. (FINAL)

The reason why I tell people, who are homeless, to leave the area (if they can?)
-Is because the whole situation is so overloaded with judgement.

-Working with people who are mentally ill,
--particularly with those who have become so disturbed that their concerns (be they primary? –or as a result of their diminished living situations,)

-Takes a lot of attention, a lot of perseverance, a ton of effort and focus, a lot of training---and a lot of ‘non-judgmental,’ environment, and lots of empathy.

Fresno, as a culture?
-simply does not support this way of thinking, (not even among the healthy.)

There are very definite ways to abuse the system, --and there are great reasons why NY has shut down a lot of it’s ‘homeless,’ services.
---(But even in so doing? There is still TONS more going to help ‘homeless-street people,’)

-Even if the money was there (which it probably is, actually,) ---it would only see spending money on such a problem as being 'wasteful.'

Fresno has a general attitude that is not conducive to being ‘tolerant,’ ---let alone being ‘clinical,’ and ‘restorative.’

Until the ‘cement clad,’ mindsets, who refuse to see others (who are not like themselves,) as worth their time, effort, or money?

Things will not improve,
---and anyone who assists these folks will be held in suspicion, ---or seen as aiding and abetting some sort of crime, (when all it really is, is caring.)

(None of this is a reason not to care and continue to help others,
---but it may help in understanding and explaining what I’ve
(and others,) have run into,
---and will continue to run into in this town.)

There are a bunch of (smaller,) efforts, (some very very grass roots, some only a handful of people who want to make a difference directly... ---but again, compared to the magnitude of the problem? It's a drop in the bucket...
(Very honorable drops, in my opinion,)
but still,
-mere drops.

Happy landings.

Drugs and liquor are not a mental problem.
They are a choice.
Society needs to stop enabling them.
That's why the ones that live on the street don't want to stay at the shelters.
They can't get high or drunk.
They yell, whine, and complain the Pov and Mission are like prisons.
Thats because they can't roam wild and do what ever they want inside.
If they ask for money for food offer to buy them food.
They get mad and don't want it.
They are street people because they don't want help.
They want enabled.
They hide behind the term "homeless" because they want people to feel sorry for them.
Plus anyone critical of them will look evil for picking on the poor weak homeless.
Poor weak homeless that harass and scare old ladys for money outside of stores.
That why the Manager of Rite Aide at Kearny Palms and his employees have to walk most female customers to their cars.
All the drunk and drugged up street people harassing customers loiter at the bus stop all day in froont of the store.
In my nieghborhood they stand if front of the liquor store and drink and use all day and the school kids have to walk past them.
The Police are there regularly.
If you like the street people let them camp in your yard.
Let your child look out the window and see them urinating in the yard or playing with themself.
I bet if a grown man stood on the side walk drunk playing with himslf in front of your house youd be the first one on the phone to the police.
Why is it ok if he does it in another nieghborhood?
Also I want to know why the street people can use the Pov as their address to get foodstamps?
They eat at the Pov and sell the foodstamps for drug and liquor money.
Some stores buy the foodstamps or take them for liquor

who could charm this hound off of a meat-truck,
Vally is for Lovers, -it would be you...

14 days till '..mahwidge..'

Sweetheart, feel better, know that I'm praying for you and (seriously,) one of the coolest guys I've ever met, (certainly one of the nicest,)
(...my little sister just called this week, she's like '...um, you niece has a boyfriend it looks like, (niece just started highschool...)
--Me going... 'okay, deep breaths, not all guys are 'guys,' some of them are worthy of your nieces time and affection...'
-Still, is it too late to clone your fiance' Val?

Re: Wedding: Try to remember to have a good time.

Songs to play:
'Cherish,' by the Association,
'Close to You,' by the Carpenters,
'If I could be with You,' by Louis Armstrong
(and: semi-ancient Christian chestnut:
'Stay Close to Me,' by Margaret Becker (off of Immigrants Daughter, ---you-will-love-it, (I promise.)
...and this gorgeous thing by Snow Patrol about just 'lying there with somebody, just for a little while..' (no idea as to title.

-Songs to Avoid:
'Cool and the Gang,' songs at all cost, (ditto: 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light,' by Meatloaf...

---okay--- subject at hand.

There is no distinction (clinically,) between 'Homeless and Street People.'
--How it has been introduced into the local catalogue really explains most of the root of the problem.
-A 'homeless person,'
-is simply a person without a home.
(which does and should evoke concern, sympathy, -and explains this as being a person (human being,)
who should have a home,
should be in a home,
(home not 'house,' HOME (the emotional and very real condition of well-being where safety, rest, nurture (often involving other people,)
IS.
-Even our worst enemies, when we view them in any positive and redeeming light, we wish to 'go home.'
It's a signature of human decency.
It's not something that you 'earn,' or is ever purchased, -It's a God-Given right.
---Everybody deserves a home, -even animals,
---Everybody deserves a 'good home,' -where there is no abuse, no mistreatment, --and the most heinous sociological, ethical, and moral disaster of a being, deserves to be able to sleep, take care of personal concerns and be not left to the elements of nature or other miscreants.
-Even 'criminals,' deserve a decent shelter, (along with swift and fair justice.)

We all understand this.

'Street People,'
-(I've written about this earlier.)
-First off, People and Person are two very different words.
Person is intimate and carries with it commonly understood boundaries and understandings that define 'humanness.'
'People,' is kind of a distanced 'outsider,' term.
'People,' is to 'Persons' as 'Numbers,' are to 'Me.'

Street-People is (in terms of word use,) connecting two words that don't belong together, --and letting that association bring on a disturbing air and direction in the mind of the person you are using the word regarding.
-If I say 'Street-Car,' (vs Race-Car,) or 'Street Light,' (vs Hallway-Light,)
-Nobody has issue with that.
(You have cars designed for street use (and) racing, as well as lamps (light is what comes from a lamp, actually,) that are designed for various uses.

To call persons 'street-people,' immediately identifies them as 'freestanding individuals, (who are actually in group, (there are more to them than there are of you, (people=plural) --and they are 'on the street,'
(where people do not belong...)

(...I need to hit church, I'll finish this when I get back...

-stay tuned.

Just an FYI--

The tour guides were not paid on everyone's tax dollars today, it was a volunteer effort. (Feel relieved?) So thank you to everyone who donated their Saturday to talk about downtown! (Maybe it was scripted....and exaggerated, but it was something! At least momentum is gaining for downtown, in a diverse array of stakeholders.)

(I would have love to joined the tour and was planning on it. Apparently I have bronchitis. And a stressful job. And a wedding in 2 weeks. But this time I will be the one in the white dress.)

On the comments on the homeless....I really dislike the name "Street People". Call me PC, but regardless of maybe their mental condition or addictions (and not assuming that all homeless people can be classified under these categories, because by no means are they all) they are just people like us in a very unfortunate situation. And if we stop treating them inhumanely, then we might find that they might just find the dignity and confidence to get out of their situation. I say this knowing full well that whatever mental condition they have might prevent them from being able to do that sort of thing.

Eric--in your experience with the homeless in different metro areas, do you think that people act more adversely to them in Fresno because we are quite segregated (socio-economically) and maybe because they are so concentrated in one area, so the average Fresnan does not come into contact with them as often as they might if they were an urban dweller in another city? Just a thought. Because the homeless are everywhere, in every downtown, and they were definitely in San Luis Obispo when I lived there, at the same coffee shops that I hung out/lived at, and walking the same street I shopped on.

Joey, thanks, really...

'...im not OOTV. i have no soapbox. i dont write long drawn out paragraphs, but i do hope that one day we'll really look past the ignorant stereotypes, stop perpetuating the fear and get out of cowardly sarcastic-speak and make some changes...'

For your information?
That was a long drawn out paragraph.
-It was also a passionate, good, and well constructed long drawn out paragraph at that.

Do I like it because it was long and drawn out?
No.

I like it because it showed thought, showed somebody who is actually a good writer, tackling a subject, -and a good mind (very good mind, actually,) saying 'enough with the endless professional wrestling, we need to really deal.'
Thank you for not just riding the pendulumn.

As an FYI?
I don't have a soapbox.
I just take some things seriously, I'm detailed in my writing style, and tend to write a lot.
-Some subjects lend themselves to that.
I also am emphatic when it comes to some issues that I feel are really worth caring about and writing over.
(--such as the drunk driving thing, -you remember the drunk driving thing, right? (ps: congrats on the win, and the massive support, I was invited to the match, almost made it, but I had to work... someday I'll make it out to actualy support SCRG in person, and
(despite drive-by postings stating otherwise,)
-I don't drive 'tipsy,'
-and would have no need of the offer of a 'ride home on the back of a roller-grrll' if sloshed... Coffee or dinner with one would be cool, though, you're all quite pretty, actually, I'd rather be face to face, (NOT eating pasta in a white shirt though, I'm a disaster...)

I tend to go with deeper issues.
It's been a problem of mine I've had for about as long as I've been alive.
Not everybody gets it.
That's okay.
It's not about that.

Looking at all of this?
(The 'downtown/homeless') topic at least...?
(Having been a counsellor for years who worked with the homeless?)

I've written so much on it already, have been a part of some of the efforts here to an extent, and am coming to a conclusion:
(ready?)

Fresno's going to do what Fresno is going to do.

(yep, deep, huh?)
I've considered writing on the subject further, but really think it would be a waste of time.

When working (hands on,) with the homeless down at Roeding as I did for about a year?
Know what I told them?
'...Leave if you can... This town will not tolerate you, and it will not support services to help you, go where they will...'

Why?
This town hates the homeless.
(Read Oj Bears remarks, read others, -it's rampant.)

-It's the only place in the world where I've heard a completely bogus distinction
'they're not homeless, they're 'STREET PEOPLE,' -hold any water,
--and be used as a credible way to withold effort to care for people who are 'not already in programs.'

The only reason why such reasoning will fly?
People want it to.
(yep... that's all needs to happen,
-people WANT a justifictation for their derision.
-so plug in a few pseudo-facts and there's now reason to pull the trigger.)

There is a very basic fact about Fresno, and it's no secret.

-It's STILL very much an agrarian lifestyle.

-It's kind of like a national geographic film watching a herd of whatevers thundering along the prarie
-That which is born addled,
-That which is born deformed,
-That which is not able to pull it's own weight,
-That which is is a 'drag,' on the rest of the healthy herd?
-Is seen as just that.
'Anti-productive,' and some sort of affront to proper husbandry.

The poor are seen as a blight.
The sick, (who cannot afford for their own healthcare,) are seen as a threat.
Those who are 'different,' (and you've named the scenario in other posts,
'not white,'
'not straight,'
'not wealthy,'
'not competetive.'
--all of that is seen as a threat to this competetive eugenic society that drives this area,
-It's way-mad-huge-social-darwinism.

And it's rampant.
(But it doesn't have to stay that way...)

Here's how this works, Joey.
Ready?

Keep talking.
(that's it... Write what you feel, write what you see, write the truth that you know.)

Don't worry about others saying that you're on a soapbox.
(I don't, -and trust me, kid, you're way tougher than I am.)

Don't sweat the people who will laud your thoughts and writings as 'brilliant,' one minute,
--and then deride them when the public doesn't like them, the next.
-Don't be afraid to hold up a mirror,(whether you're in it or not.)
-Don't fall for this
'...it's all okay, whatever it is, it is, we're all the same, there is no right or wrong' pseudo 'Zen' crap...

Care, Joey,
just care.

Why?

Because what you have to say, if it's true?

Will stick.
People will react to it.
You don't have to be anyone,
just be accurate, tell the truth, (nicely if you can, if not, just say it..)
That's the beauty of it.

Don't think that because people react in a positive or negative fashion that you're incorrect,
(or that your views are 'hot-stuff,' either,)
-it's simply an issue of speaking the truth, (not 'your truth,' THEE truth.)

Sometimes the most honest stuff you can write will bring out the most adverse reaction.
(...hell, I had somebody flip out on me when I just thanked them for being a friend...)
-oh well.

See,
here's the deal.
If you tell the truth, and you speak it directly, (even if you're wordy,) people are going to read it, and it's going to inspire them.

-It may cause them to attack you,
(that happens, but you already have a thick skin.)

-I guarantee it will also inspire others who maybe are afraid to 'say it,'
--or figured that 'nobody else cared,'
(whatever,)
---but they'll read your comments, or hear you speak, --and they'll say:
'...damn, this is serious, this is worth caring about...'
-Even if they don't tell you directly.
(...like the Piece you wrote on the skating rink... kinda like that...)

That's how change happens.
(no need to goose it or exaggerate anything, just tell the truth.)
-But realize something else.

(Ready? I'm going to kick a light on here..)

Most people don't really want change.
(most of them.)
They're afraid of it,
-and they realize that it's uncomfortable.

A screwed up society is seen as better by most, (because it's known,) than that which is unknown.
It means destabilazation.

-They'll feign advocacy, activism, standing up and opposing,
(all that stuff,)
---but nine times out of ten?
They really aren't looking to change stuff,
-they won't take it that far
-they're just griping.
-or they're riding on the popularity of being some sort of 'rebel,' among other people who feel the same way, and are acting as little more than as a contrasting color on the same wall.
(Which is fine, I guess, it causes stability and governing.)

Really standing for something?,
really speaking out?,
really saying what can be very unpopular?
(because it's true,)
Not just singing to the choir?
--can make you also a target.
-You really have to take that into consideration, and weigh out how much it's worth,
(-If there really is going to be a difference made in your speaking the truth, and acting on it.)
-So choose wisely.

There are some of us, who, no matter how hard we try to put on a poker face, and 'blend in,'
-when things are wrong,
-and we have issues with it?
It's obvious.
(And all you can do is live your life, tell the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.)
-Most people, however, really aren't this way, -which, kind of is a good thing, because, lemme tell ya, it's not always the most fun.)

So you have to look at it in very simple terms.
-This is going to suck,
-but is it the right thing to do?

-This is not going to earn a crowd or friends,
-but does it have to be said?

-Maybe nobody is going to get this, (or maybe people will get this, but not agree,)
-but should that have an effect on whether I tell the truth, or not?

-Regardless,
is this worth taking a hit over, (if not believed nor supported,) or even if attacked over it.

I'm not talking martyrdom here, or being a rebel without a clue, (though that's kind of a trend these days.)

Just realize that there will be times where you are both loved and hated, and you can't let that affect doing what you know is right.

Joey?
At the end of the day.
You have the mirror, and whatever god you serve to look at,
(as well as your family,)
-and answer very few questions.
-Was I honest?
Was I fair?
Did I do what I was supposed to do?

-(and, since I know you're in law,)
-Was justice served?
-And did somebody who had no voice, who was about to be taken advantage of and treated unfairly,-championed?

In the end, it's people like you (who are from here, who are part of here,)
who will make a difference.
(Not me, I'm not from here, never will be.)

That's the beauty of it.
This town cannot deny you, -because you are of this town.
So what you say and do, CAN effect change, (if you want it.)
...Try to use your superpowers for good and not evil, okay?

But: regarding your comments about the generalities, etc,,,, good insight.

-Will Fresno ever get past the name-calling, and the endless arbitration (and nullifying?) of real concerns?,
---and actually deal with it's issues?
-Money says it won't, ('...it never has, and it never will... etc. etc.,')

But I see my own odds and read them my own way.
I'll put ten bucks on somebody like you,
who's starting to get fed up,
wanting to see decent change happen,
(who's not afraid to try it.)

Best of luck

Eric Field (Out of the Void)

...OrangeBear fell off his meds again!

We will go behind the glitz and glam to where it gets down and dirty.

The side of the Fair and neighborhood around it the City and County don't want you to see.

Where we will explore the gang infested neighborhoods, the behind the scenes drug parties, the scary carnies and reports of homosexual activity in the bathrooms.

What happened to my dirty nasty old Downtown.
It was still there Friday at 5 PM when I was at the Kern Starbuck's.
The streets were swept clean.
Gone were the nasty street people that pester the honest working people.
There were no drunks passed out in Court house Park.
No Drugs were being sold by Bullmutt gangmembers at FAX bus areas.
No crazy nutt case roaming either.
Where were all the stolen shopping carts
During the tour we only saw one street person pushing a stolen shopping cart full of junk.
Another stolen shopping cart full of junk was chained up in front of the County Library.
The Fulton Mall was clean.
The fountains were clean and working on the mall.
The mall statues were clean.
Bubba must have had the City crews working overtime thru the night to get ready.
Downtown is never that neat and nice.

Arriving at the Chuck(Stadium) to catch a bus for the tour I knew something was up.
Mayor Bubba's shills and PR people were out in full force to show us the beauty of downtown.
But I knew somewhere the ugly darkness of Downtown was still there.

There were no big surprise on the tour.
The City buses and trolleys were immaculate.
They looked like they just came out of the factory show room.
Definitely not the puke, urine, and vomit smelling graffiti covered buses that roll thru Fresno daily.

Our tour guide was an older Asian women who claimed to work downtown but she didn't even know what or where most of the places she was talking about were.
The woman couldn't speak properly.
Half the stuff in her preprinted tour propaganda guide she couldn't understand or pronounce.
Yep she was very professional and was tax money well spent.

Most of the stuff on the tour were buildings everyone knows and has seen.
Starting with the Chuck a stadium that still doesn't make enough money to cover the expenses.

Then there was the Hobbs Parson Building being remodeled to house Fire Department Offices.
Why waste that money when the City wants to build a New Complex for Fire and Police.
Which by the way was missing from the tour.

We saw Buildings like the West America Bank which only has the bank the rest of the space in the building is empty.
The only the business on that block Coffee Heads is long closed.

We saw the old Water Tower and Eaton Plaza.
Eaton Plaza approed by voters and taxes collected 60 years ago.
Just being ever so slowly built now.

We saw the "New" City Hall.
Why was this included?
It's not new?
Bubba was desperate to find things to add up to a billion.
If Bubba can spell a billion?

We saw the remodeled Santa Fe Depot which still isn't finished according to Bubba's grand plans for a Santa Fe Promenade.
The front of the depot still is empty.

We saw the remodeled Saroyan and spruced up Convention Center where the ice rink "may" be built.
No mention was made of the already cracked inlaid new walkway in front of the Saroyan's front doors or all the dying and dried up plants in front of the Saroyan.

Lots of the things on the tour were just Bubba's grand dreams and schemes.
A 60 million dollar trolley connecting Downtown to the Tower.
We all know it won't work and is a huge waste of money.

The river and lake Downtown that will never get done.
Yet Bubba views it as leaving it as his mark and legacy of Fresno's Mayor.

Since most of the things have yet to be done, it should have been then Billion Dollar Tour of things yet to happen or will never happen.

It was interesting to talk to developers and hear that the same reasons they don't touch Downtown is the same reasons most normal people won't go Downtown.
The parking and safety "AKA" street people issues.

But the main problem the developers cited was City leadership and permit process.
It's easier to build something new or in North Fresno then to renovate a Downtown building.
The City goes over every plan for an old building stricter then plans for new buildings and holds up plans for petty reasons.
Developers said it's not worth wasting money and time on being hassled by the City.

It was interesting to talk to the guy trying to sell the condos in the Security Pacific building.
He couldn't answer simple questions.
If you buy a condo where do you park and is your car safe.
Are you safe?
Parking would be in a locked and enclosed area underground not open to the public.
But you still have to get from that area past the public to get into the building.
How many robberies and stabbings have there been in that underground garage?
If you buy a condo, what happens if the building is not finished like Running Horse?
You lose out and lose your investment.

If you kept your eyes from being blinded by Bubba's shills you could see the dark parts of downtown lurking as clear as the graffiti on the bathroom walls of the stadium.

Why didn't the tour go thru China Town?
It was talked about but not shown.
Would the hookers scare the people on the tour?

Also left off the tour was the Kearny Palms shopping center.
There was a few more million.
The place is newer then "New" City Hall.
Maybe Bubba was scared of all them street people that loiter in front of Rite Aide demanding quarters.

Why didn't they show us the land the city bought for the new homeless that that they decided not to use?
They paid for the land?
What about the money they want to buy sheds and to landscape the area around the Pov and the Mission.
There's a few more million to add to Bubba's total.

By Monday morning it will all be back and the street people Dyer's Blue Shirts swept off the street will be sober and released from Sheriff Maggie's County Dog Pound.

By Tuesday morning Downtown should have reverted to its normal look.

We'll be running a story on the tour on our newscasts Saturday, after the football game and at 11 p.m.

I give you my personal promise... no sarcasm will be used to tell this story.

Tune in.

thanks press,
i'm so lame. josh had the link to more details in his original post.

i hope this link will work.

http://www.fresnoedc.com/_pdf/8.5%20x%2011%20sign.pdf

If not Google search Fresno edc, it worked for me.

how long does the tour take? i'm trying to convince people i know to do it, but i'd like to have as much fact that i can.

I'll be honest, i have used sarcasm to make a point. I have also attempted to use humor to get a point across. But something tells me these two posters aren't using either. Which in turn gives great insight as to why downtown is the way it is. It frightens me knowing that they aren't the only ones that feel the way they do.

That is what makes the effort of downtown revitalization all that much harder. I am like you, I don't have alot of money, so I do what I can. I eat out when money permits. I support the local organizations that put on special events like the Roller Derby this past weekend (which by the way, was WAY awesome) But when people like these two posters get diarrhea of the mouth and spout off their stupidity. It shows just how much work is actually ahead of us.

Thats why i think the Billion Dollar Tour is a good idea. There is a chance that someone on that bus has the wrong perception of downtown but has the money to start a business and is willing to change their mind. Thats about all we can ask of people, check it out for yourself, don't read some blog and think you know all there is to know about downtown. There is a lot of good things happening downtown, it's time more people knew it.

yes, very productive, folks.

-----------ANYWAYS-------------

here, change! don't faint: i will now say something positive.

woo! i'll be there.

but, who else is going to know about this other than those of us who have read it? make noise!

i forgot to add, how typical it is to see that OrangeBear resorts to speaking in a "southern" aka "black" accent when referring to the homeless folks in downtown fresno. cuz of course, only black folks are homeless, right?

"Tha maya Bubba got mo money, mo money, mo money.
"Yo Maya buy a brutha a 40!"
Is Dyer going to sweep all the quarter boy of the coners?
"Yo gives a me a quarter!"

your mother must be very proud.

yeah i said it, what?

its really interesting to see just how deep ignorance runs in Fresno.
Whether you are a "whitey" or need a "minority" friend to make a "shank" or you are just being sarcastic or just plain stupid, do we really need to speak every single ignorant/facecious comment that pops into our small little minds? really folks, it it necessary? do we find this all funny? do we think sarcasm is an educated way to get our points across? do we absolutely need to perpetuate the stereotypes of Downtown Fresno by jokingly referring to it in stupid blogs that do nothing but make us appear as if revitalizing downtown is a joke? i for one have no money to offer greater fresno. i can buy my lunch downtown where i work and i can give my extra change to the local homeless and i can allow downtown to thrive as it will no matter how ignorant the banter will be but i have to say, making jokes that make light of the reasons why ignorance will keep downtown from growing is not only unsettling but annoying.
im not OOTV. i have no soapbox. i dont write long drawn out paragraphs, but i do hope that one day we'll really look past the ignorant stereotypes, stop perpetuating the fear and get out of cowardly sarcastic-speak and make some changes.
besides, so what if some homeless person takes a free bus-ride. are bus rides only for the elite now?
stop masking your fear behind sarcasm.

wait.....on second thought, all you small-minded people who wouldnt dare step foot into downtown without their shank-weilding minority friends should stay far far away. i would be very frightend to live in an environment with them. day to day i enter downtown and have very pleasant exchanges with local politician, business owners, lawyers, judges, homeless folks and like-minded people who all love downtown.
i think Orangebear and folks who think like him should stay on his side of town. he may corrupt my happy existance.

You make alot of accusations in your comment, but i didn't see any suggestions as to a solution.

Yeah, you should see all those homeless advocates and people working at the Poverello House drive up
in their new Mercedes cars and then, after laddling soup you see them jam on over to the airport to catch their flight for their every-other-week trip to the Bahamas.

[That was SARCASM in case ya didn't get it.]

The Pov and Mission do not help the homeless.
They are in business to continue the cycle.
They enable the drug and drunk "street people" while they make money off of them.
There is big money to be masde off keeping these user high and drunk.
These street people don't want help.
They are not homeless they are on the street by choice.
A lot of the live at the Californian, Sivler Crest and Maston Towers.
They get subsidised housing and Government checks for being disabled.
They blow thier money and foodstamps on drugs.
You see alot of the roaming around the Pov and Mission even thogh they have a place to live paid for by taxpayers.
A high volume drug trade exists right outside the Pov and Mission.
Dealers, users, pimps, and prostitutes all hang around there.
Everyone in the area knows the police look the other way and are in on the take.
They want the City to buy 44 more sheds and pay the Pov $10,000 a month to feed them.
What about all the State and Federal money the Pov gets plus all the food donated from local stores and farms?
How does it cost $10,000 to feed 88 people?
Do these meth freaks and crack heads expect to be served Steak and Shrimp?
Who's pocket is that $10,000 going into?
They want more portable toilets and more trashbins.
Whats wrong with the toilets at the Pov or the Mission?
They can't shoot up and get high there.
Why should the City(taxpayers) have to pay for security?
Can't the Pov afford security?
If the area is to bad then maybe its time for the Pov to shut down.
Wait wasn't that Papa Mike on tv that time saying they no longer feed homeless families, that its druggies, pimps and prostitutes.
The City wasted $173,000 to buy land to build a camp then dropped the plan when neighbors near it protested.
Why buy land before plan is final?
Did somebody that knows someone at City Hall have a piece of land they wanted to dump?
How much will this latest scheme cost taxpayers.
But then street people are taxpayers too.
They pay taxes on every beer and pack of smokes they buy with the money from the stuff they stole.
Your socalled "Homeless Advocates" like the Pov and Mission like to parade out the poor homeless families with kids and the homeless veterans because its good for business and getting funding.
They don't like to talk about where the money goes or about the money they make off of having all the druged up and drunk street people around.
Keeping a large population of street people insures thier funding.

But, i wonder if anyone would use it.

If the person who posted "the shank" comment is any indication. I doubt any amount of money would convince people from up north to come down here with all the shank wielding minorities.

What I can't believe is this is not the first time i have heard a comment like this. I work with a guy who thinks that downtown is unsafe for white people. It's ok for all other races. Just white people would be targets.

In reality I'm sure you would get a couple of people from up north to get on the bus. But i think the people that are going to take advantage of this tour are people that feel fine driving themselves downtown then boarding the bus.

What also might be good idea is to survey the people that take the tour.

What did you think of downtown?
Which part of town do you live?
Did you feel threatened?
Is downtown safe for white people?

That sort of thing.

Ok maybe the last question will get someone in trouble. But, you get the idea.

Notice the tour avoids the Pov and the Mission.
Free rides.
We can Panhandle the Rich folk.
"Tha maya Bubba got mo money, mo money, mo money.
"Yo Maya buy a brutha a 40!"
Is Dyer going to sweep all the quarter boy of the coners?
"Yo gives a me a quarter!"
Anyone notice they don't have bus lines connecting the richer North parts of town.
They don't want them in thier neighborhoods.
How about a tour of the crackhouses downtown?

I like the idea, but I have two wishes:

1) That they'd run a bus from the north-end for this tour.
You could even make it a 'party bus' ---whatever it took to entice.
I think it's the parts of town that are disconnected and have folks that aren't familiar
with downtown who are the actual 'target market' for this info--or should be.

2) That Mayor Autry, Deputy Mayor Jeff Eben would be reading Fresno Famous
to get a feel for what this little cross-section of the area is thinking.

Just thinking about making connections where there are sometimes disconnects.

But a shank is never a bad idea, regardless of what area of town you're in.

is there a cost?

will i need a shank? i'd hate to run into whitey without one.