We Need to Fix Fresno's Downtown
Submitted by tigrestiny on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 13:52.
People need to spring into action to improve Fresno’s downtown. Fresno has been my home for two years after moving to attend Fresno State from the Central Coast. Living in the Central Coast with two great downtowns, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, is normal to me. As a result, finding out Fresno’s downtown does not thrive, shocking. The following consists of my opinions on Fresno’s bad decisions in downtown.
The $60 Million River
Fresno officials plan to build a $60 million river in downtown. When I found out my first thought was, all the homeless will use the river as a private pool. Why does Fresno need a river if people can visit the San Joaquin River or the three National Parks nearby?
I learned about it from a Fresno council member during his speech for one of my classes where he expressed his passion for the project. I asked if the city had any evidence of the success of a river in other towns. His response: “No research has been done, but I believe people will like the river.” My classmates and I discussed his answer, and we did not agree with his reasoning. To illustrate, if a student gives the same excuse to a professor telling her, “Professor I did not do any research for my paper because I think I don’t need other experts’ research to prove my reasoning.” They would receive an F on the paper. In college, one must always research the subject assigned, as a result, taxpayers should not allow politicians to spend 60 million of our tax dollars on a river they think people might like. In conclusion, before spending money on a project of this magnitude, extensive research is necessary.
Billion Dollar Tour
Another expensive topic came up at the talk: the Billion-Dollar Tour. Admirably, we learned that Fresno spent a large amount of money in its downtown; however, spending one billion dollars to improve government buildings will not help bring people downtown. When was the last time anyone went to a downtown because it has a nice city hall?
Fulton Mall
Lastly, we leaned most Fresno citizens like the Fulton Mall and believe it should stay as an open are mall. If people like it so much why don’t they use it? In addition, the Fulton Mall has killed Fresno’s downtown because it does not allow for enough foot or car traffic; sadly, business owners cannot direct their customers to their shops because of the complicated mess the Fulton Mall provides.
Suggestions
• Look at other successful downtowns and replicate what they are
doing.
• Open the Fulton Mall to car traffic.
o Santa Barbara’s State Street only has two lanes of traffic and
people love visiting it every year.
• People need to invest in ways to entertain all of the Fresno community.
o San Luis Obispo’s farmers market attracts San Luis Obispo residence, very wealthy people, but also middle and working class people from other towns like Santa Maria, Oceano, and Nipomo. Fresno residences can coexist with each other as long as the downtown provides a means of coming together.
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What we need to do first is
What needs to be done is to first create a better pubic transportation system. With the cost of fuel these day and the lack of parking people can barley get to work and also be expeted to spend money on supporting our local business. Afrer that our leaders who we vote for need to do their jobs and start trying to get business to open in downtown and somehow stay there instead of looking out for their own needs.
But then again maybe I'm wrong.
On another note, I hear people bring up alot of good ideas does anyone ever come together and go to city hall to voice their complaints or express their thoughts?
yakittyack
Participating in local policy decision making isn’t as difficult as some may be lead to believe. Any group of local citizens willing to join forces and meet for a particular agenda item can verbally petition any planning decision. The only challenge is finding people that care enough to actually get involved and form a coalition to lobby on any position.
In December 07 there was an EIR scoping meeting for the Forest City project. The total attendance was nine people: 3 from the environmental engineering company, 4 from the City staff and 2 citizens.
There are ample opportunities to be involved and have a voice. Since the government workers are employees of the citizens: it is an easy process to become involved.
Our private organization is all about addressing vital issues with viable solutions: www.centraltransit.com The company has become very busy, however, I continue to welcome conversation and will be happy to talk to anyone from FF interested in the project.
yeah, that shit's going to be tight.
Don't forget
The new Fresh and Easy food market going into the Old Fresno Hofbrau property! That's a key addition to downtown!
p.s. For the record, all the money I can spend here, I do.
I see my view as more realistic than caustic.
How I came of my opinion is simple. I look around at the worn out infrastructure, ponder the mindset of the money-spending demographic in Fresno and come to the conclusion that the bulk of the upper-middle class money spent in Fresno has moved elsewhere, permanently.
I am without a doubt a representative of the subset of folks who would appreciate the value of a revitalized downtown. From a realist approach, however, I just don't see it coming to fruition.
Feel free to prove me wrong (not in rhetoric, but in doing) everyone.
:D
no no and no
nobody's coming downtown to see a movie.
trust me.
nobody.
here's what you could do with 60 million...
120 half-a-million dollar loans to local business, art galleries, restaurants, clubs, etc.
or better yet...
240 quarter of a million dollar loans...also to the above mentioned.
heck, i could make Yoshi NOW! rock the Beautiful Lovely Downtown Area with a mere $100,000 low interest loan.
You could even budget in a $1,000,000 for a Downtown Czar & Coalition to make City Hall happy.
but first, you would have to give the ever illusive phantom "Forest City" the boot and stop talking about leveling all the potential businesses -i mean empty buildings- i see around me every day.
if it sounds simple it's because it is.
i know there would be miles of red tape and bureaucracy to wade thru but that's what the $1,000,000 Downtown Czar Coalition is for, right?
we could "tear up Kern Street again" (a euphemism for costly, ineffective & pointless Downtown renovations) and throw our money at faceless out-of-town saviours that apparently don't rate us highly on their to-do list OR we could spend our money on locally owned businesses...the people we've come to know and love...our friends and neighbors.
Disclosures:
i manage Yoshi NOW!...a building in the path of Phase I of the Forest City Plan and i have NO idea what's going on Downtown.
I'll tell you exactly how to fix it:
Build a huge movie complex, the kind that would rival Edwards in Riverpark and a few select shops around to get things started. Provide easy access parking, bright lights, security etc and watch investment pour in following public curiousity.
Sounds simple and stupid, but I've seen it happen many times over.
Err..
Sixty million dollar river downtown?? That is DEFINITELY a bad idea. I wish I could have been around to hear that nonsense so I could ask what the heck they planned to do when people started drowning (and/or being dumped) in an overpriced, ground level sewage line?
Who the heck is coming up with all these poop ideas? There are so many awesome areas in downtown that could be fixed up with all of that money, rather than using it all to create something as new and atrocious as City Hall, CRMC or the pending Fresno State Library.
I do like the Fulton Mall, but it is pretty inconvenient. If you didn't have to pay for parking at every corner and then fight it out with the meter man because you're 2 minutes past due or you parked over the white line... I'm sure more people would be inclined to visit.
& 2 steakhouses plus
Joe's Steakhouse & the Smokehouse, both on Van Ness (but several blocks apart, between Merced & Inyo)
Lilly's No. 2 Mexican & Kikku Japanese, both on Tulare by M St
those are all new, within the last 2 years
hey,
and not to be trollish, but i see you posted while i was writing, which has me wondering...if you live downtown, why does your first comment seem so caustic? if you live in vagabond/h street lofts (like it seems you may from another thread) you know first hand that $ is being invested down there. i assume that you visit other places down there besides your residence. do you not see where $ is being invested?
(this also reminded me of another place, though not yet built but announced: the supermarket the cvbi is funding/affiliated with)
and really, i'm not trying to be a troll or pick a fight, just trying to put info out there and discuss.
keystroked
and thanks for correcting reza's name. i didn't mean to put that n there, although i did intend to write it with one s, which still would have been incorrect.
here's some
it's true that fashionable housing has proven viable. but, this industrial area that you speak of is part of downtown, and is an easy and clear example of a smart business person putting money downtown.
and, the article mentions the city sponsored billion dollar tour that showcased how a billion dollars has been invested in the downtown area in the recent past. although, truth be told, i went on that tour and one of the places included on it was city hall which was completed quite some time ago.
here are a few other areas where money is being spent, some by the city, other by private investors in downtown, particularly close to the fulton mall.
tourist related $ being spent downtown:
-hotel @ van ness & tulare being renovated (so i've read on, i think, mindhub).
-redevelopment of selland arena + new housing there
-redevelopment of saroyan theatre (almost finished?)
-kern street sports walk
-chuckchansi stadium
-train station redevelopment
retail related $ being spent downtown:
-ultralounge 2039 (or whatever that number is)
-cafe corazon
-milano
-savannah's brazilian soul
-mezcal (it's been there a bit now, but recent to the last few years)
-hotel virginia redevelopment into mixed use
-yoshi now
to those areas, let me also throw in the art focus on downtown that regularly bring people downtown (which can = retail $):
-large cluster of galleries on van ness & mono
-broadway studios (arthop/archop/working artist studio)
-the metropolitan museum's huge redevelopment
-artes america
-etc
now, mix in the forest city proposal, and that's big time money being invested on retail. if it happens.
finally, throw in the businesses that cater to the hispanic clientele on the mall (not that those others don't).
and that doesn't even deal with what is going on downtown that isn't tourism/retail related (bank buildings, courthouses, armenian town).
but even with all of the money being spent downtown it doesn't mean that downtown doesn't need further investment. it does. but, there are definitely intelligent business people investing in downtown, and people patronizing downtown businesses.
just as many people will buy an older home and fix it up over an brand new, tract home, business people are investing in downtown.
and actually, while it's extremely unlikely, i think that if gentrification forced the business owners who now populate the fulton mall out it'd be a bigger mistake. but again, if it were to happen, life isn't fair. things aren't ideal. that's why the old gottschalks isn't a target, and fallas paredes isn't an apple store.
also, to clarify... i think what reza assemi has cultivated is pretty brilliant and ambitious. i wasn't anticipating anyone to question my stance on the viability of rental housing downtown, because i live there. not that i expected you to know, moreso i didn't see it coming because i'm so used to living there.
fashionable housing in industrial areas has proven itself to be a viable and profitable business model across the country...
as far as retail and tourism, which is what this particular article focused on -- downtown fresno / the fulton mall and its decaying buildings don't really offer much. which is why smart retail developers aren't dumping money into the area, and also why the spanish-speaking subset of fresno's population has capitalized on the area's low overhead.
i think it's fine how it is. that's how things go.
yessir
"no smart business person is going to put money into repairing downtown"
i guess reza ansemi must be an idiot. 'cause, you know, those housing developments he has going downtown are doing terribly.
no smart business person is going to put money into repairing downtown when they can put money into north fresno and get something brand new.
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