Everyone seems to have an opinion about Forest City and their involvement in the redevelopment of Downtown Fresno. The vast majority of the views I have encountered are essentially that the developer is evil and that inevitably they will ruin downtown by creating a cookie cutter project with no character. While there are merits to this argument it is important to realize that Forest City is not being given the entire Downtown area. There are still many empty buildings all over the rest of the area just dying for some life to be brought to them.
Instead of fighting this development aspiring entrepreneurs should take advantage of the residents that will be brought to the area. The very people who oppose Forest City should be rejoicing that finally there will be more housing in a downtown that currently dies after five P.M. I know it might it might not seem like the ideal solution, but this infusion of local residents can be the jumpstart that many small businesses need to thrive. Simply by changing the way we look at things, Forest City can switch from being our enemy to the catalyst needed to obtain the critical mass to support growth of new businesses.

Tyrell Gillett