Rob, you're too kind...seriously. The last thing Fresno needs is more people like me (but for reasons other than those asserted on this thread).
I, as many others have already, applaud all of the work you are doing for your street; it's been an inspiration for me, and I'm now looking at ways to bring my neighbors together more in a united front.
Truth is, none of us want to see areas like the one that sparked this discussion, but expressing our objections and judging others, as opposed to acting for change, only marginalizes people and neighborhoods.
I'd hate to imagine Calaveras St. if you had simply cast judgment on your neighbors and moved somewhere "better."

Rob DeFrees

Pido, have always hated folks who post and will not let world know who they are. Tend to discount anything they say.

Fresno needs more folks like YOU.

Sadly, when you tell true, folks do not like to hear. Perhaps when they get set upon by the drug dealers selling 'poison', have gangs threaten personally or see home destroyed they will bet the message. Folks call MOI shrill, that I may be, but will not stop banging on about what is evil in Fresno until 'good folks' step up and make a stand.

Ta, for caring so much you question what is wrong and try to get answers. You are what makes America great.

1) How does my comment make me naive? I acknowledged that I'm familiar with DT, I'm familiar with that area, and I'm quite familiar with many of the problems that plague this community, having immersed myself in the nonprofit sector since moving here four years ago. I also know that when people talk about Fresno as a divided town, or as one that has high concentrations of poverty/crime/whatever, those perceptions are fueled by divisive comments like the one I responded to earlier. I wasn't commenting on the buildings--slapping a coat of paint might go a long way, but it's certainly not a comprehensive solution. My comment was regarding the attitude expressed towards people in the area.
2) How was I bitching? By addressing someone who cowardly left out their name, and insisting that they care more for the people in our community than their own insecurities? Or more than their need for a prom dress?
3) Don't assume that you know me or where I live. My neighborhood faces graffiti, theft, absentee landlords and an extremely high number of foreclosures, among many other issues.
4) I won't bitch when people stop spending their time taking "A GOOD LONG HARD LOOK" at areas like this and put their hands and minds to work toward something positive.
Oh, and don't knock the rose-colored glasses--I just wear them to tint the smog.

Maybe Pido would like to have some compassion for Residents like i and Famous guest are talking about
Maybe he/she would'nt bitch if they moved into*their* neighborhood

well your naive opinion is the reason areas such as the one Fresno Guest described will never improve
I know that area -it is terrible,borderline dangerous
You must live in the rose colored world
Take a look down that area-not just pass thru-TAKE A GOOD LONG HARD LOOK and then say it is not a vile place to work,shop or live.
Downtown Fresno needs to improve in all aspects ,not just slapping on a coat of paint,and growing trees
The quality of people(or lack of) and upkeep(again ,lack of) is what needs to be addressed,and not just in the Fulton Mall-all areas of Downtown Fresno
Get a clue.

@Famous Guest
Can you let us know the other areas you'll be avoiding, so that we all know where we can go without your judgment?
I realize that it's not a pretty area--it's about as lively and attractive as your compassion for others.

i was just there(Divisadero and Van Ness) i had to buy a dress for my nieces' Prom-oh god,talk about filthy-pitt bulls running loose in the lot-The tenants that own them ,their kids looking in the customers cars-trying to see what they own?or what they can steal?
The father or whatever pulling trash out of his trashy van while his young son lit up a cigarette,and the other kid about 16 sipping a Budweiser..oh i was appalled-not too mention the other relative blasting his music so loud it could be heard several feet away.
And i see The taxi cabs-Azteca,Fajita Fiesta restaurant and Barr Bros Formal wear and the beauty salon-all doing their buisness and these"people"sticking out like a sore thumb-that is just filthy,i might avoid that area from now on,felt really unsafe.

has anyone looked further into Divisadero and Van Ness? God ,talk about trashy,there is that olde Corte Madera apt complex-the new tenants there-oy vey,talk about Deliverance,i have to shop in the area sometimes and i'm afraid i'll either be chewed up by their loose pitt bulls,or runned over by these stupid people's skateboarding pot smoking teenaged kids
There was supposed to be a revitalization in that area..what happend?
Things like that bring the enthusiasm to shop Downtown way down.
Merchants are annoyed as hell by tenants in apt complexes that disrupt their buisness.
Check em out on rotten neighbor.com

No Ice Ice at the stadium.
Thats right hot days and no ice machines in the stadium are working? Six food stands. Six broken ice machines. A quick peek behind the scenes into stands revealed broken Ice machines and broken sinks too. Why doesnt the hot water work in those kitchens? Can we say E Coli? Where is the County Health Department? Or do they look the other way? I find it interesting all equipment and machines in the food stands are tagged property of the City of Fresno. Rod I guess the Diamond Group is feasting off the public purse. There are also piles of broken benches and equipment at the stadium. More "public purse" payouts? Is there a yearly audit of the Stadium and how much tax dollars are spent on stadium equipment and supplies. Shouldn't this all be paid for by the Diamond Group? Remember when he Vetoed the stadium Mayor Paterson warned the public about it. He told you so! Truth Hurts!
Also what is up with food servers? Sloppily dressed. Shirts untucked. Baggy Jeans with backside to knees and underwear showing. Face paws tattoo's. Lip and check piercings. Does Madame Mimms have an early release program from County Jail to Grizzlies Stadium. What happened to employees serving food looking professional and following proper hygene and sanitation? Visine does get the red out and a bath and good cologne will remove the herbal smell.
Is it a baseball stadium or your crazy Uncle Willies front yard BBQ and hand carwash.
Atleat on hot days uncle Willie turns the hose on the kids washing cars to cool them off.
The foodstand kitchens tested out at a 130 degrees. State Law says work environments must be a comfterable 78 degrees. The Stadium exceeds that by 52 degrees. No wonder food servers have bad attitudes and are dripping sweat on your food. Extra salt for the fries?
I'll buy my Buck's STL before the game.
Hopefully you can't catch E Coli from garlic fries. I definatly will not eat any meat there now or drink fountain sodas.

But I think the City needs tougher laws for old slum buildings. A lot of slum owners do let buildings rot on purpose. It's one thing to protect a familys house or farm from ED but not slum property that is that way on purpose.

Rob DeFrees

Time to drag out the 'raisin costumes' and get that Raisin Day Parade going.

I have a feeling that absent 'slumlords' are just salavating at the thought of getting paid off from the 'public purse'.

Doug-

You're reading my mind. Fresno downplays its positives (Ag) and promotes the negatives (strip malls and "mediterranean" architecture). Despite the best-wishes of north Fresno, this town still runs on Ag. Without, we'd all be toast. It's time to throw a little love to the Ag industry.

You're also right about the absentee landlords. We're nothing more than a tax write-off. And if you vote for the two propositions on the ballot that curtail the government's eninent domain powers, you will rob the city of its only weapon against these guys.

As Leo mentioned, the primary focus of the Downtown Association has been the Central Business District including the Fulton Mall and the blocks surrounding it. However, there is nothing to say that the DTA can't be involved in activities outside that area, or even outside the triangle.

Re: thevalleyisforlovers

There are over two dozen plans and studies about Downtown Fresno, each one of them with a map, and many of them with proposed districts, etc. However, there is little or no agreement or consensus on what the geographical boundaries of these areas are, or even their names, let alone design guidelines, etc. And in many cases, the process of how they've been "created" has been very "top down" and not "bottom up" meaning that they have little public support from the people in those districts.

For example, if you talk to the Mayor's office, there are four "districts" in downtown:
The Cultural Arts District, the Fulton District, the Civic Center District and the River District. The RDA however, does not recognize the Cultrual Arts District by that name, to them it's the Uptown District. Then there's Old Armenian Town and Chinatown, South Stadium, District of Fountains, Sportstown, etc.

Rob is correct when he says that these areas that lay outside of the "triangle" are important to any improvements in the core of downtown, such as Jefferson Lowell. Also the area south of 41 certainly was part of downtown before the freeway was built, so why it no longer is considered so is somewhat puzzling.

I know that addressing once and for all the district concept, and developing design guidelines for each of them, and actually implementing them in real life, not just paper, is something that many of the people on the Downtown Task Force (not to be confused with the DTA) feel strongly about. We brought up this issue last fall at a meeting, but the Deputy Mayor indicated that Mayor Autry would not be supportive of doing that, because it was already decided upon by his office in the My Downtown, My Choice report (which lists those four districts above). At some point though, most likely with a new administration, there has to be some reconciliation of all of these plans and maps and projects, which in many cases are in conflict with each other.

Rob DeFrees

It is indeed a pity that everyone wants to use
Divisadero as the dividing line.

The area I live in was once the Downtown of Fresno. And last time I looked there is shining new addition 'north' of Divisadero.

There is the hospital, and what every else you may want to call it, it is a commercial enterprise, in that it is in the business of making a profit.

Until folks learn that getting to the 'core' area requires travel through other road, and that might not be areas folks feel comfy with, Downtown will not get where it wants to be.

What a shame that building a New Downtown requires folks to ignore the past and continue to search for a fix that might not work. Frersno will not be the first to get it totally wrong. Nor the first to spend the 'public purse' freely talking itself to death about what if, when it can not see what is.

Circle the wagons, keep the old boy club funded, and if it does not work, there is always the 'public purse' to pick again.

Leo,

Thanks for the update on the DTA. I'm glad that it's becoming more in the limelight as an active group as its' presence and energy is crucial to the successful revitalization of downtown. A force outside of City Hall is definitely needed to keep the ball rolling.

Regarding the geography of downtown, the 'official' boundary is the 41-99-180 triangle. However, it is somewhat broken up into districts and to clarify one comment I read, most 'downtown' efforts are usually directed towards the area south of Divisadero (when speaking of downtown, as that is the true commercial core).

If we are going to dress the dwaves up someone needs to be there to keep them in line. In fact as part of their job lets require each council member spend time dressed as a mascot representing Fresno somewhere each week on a corner in their district.
Maybe Ms. Sterling can dress up as Parker and roam the alleys of Calaveras for you. Hey man are we smoking some good chris or is that a neon green bear following us?
Now if the folks in the aluminum crown on P Street can't take a few jabs they shouldn't be public officals. This is still the United States if your an elected official and say or do stupid things your fair game.
Love you idea about the theaters trouble is I'm sure most owners of these Grand Fresno Jewels are out of town owners like your neighborhood slumlords that don't care.
The buildings are probably used on their asset sheets to look good and also used as a tax write off for not being rented out.
Other cities would step in and lay the smack down on out of town landlords. Either fix it up and use it, sell it off or be fined for blight. But Fresno doesn't want to alienate business people. The Crest would be a shining neon jewel in the Downtown skyline at night. Personaly I think the worn out Hardy's sign needs to come down and restore the lower front of the Liberty Theater back to its original (pre word War 1?) front. The upper levels look like theyd make fine apartments with grand views.
Fresno's City Council would rather support grand schemes like Forest City or Running Horse, when the same money could be used to place old buildings in the hands of local people and fix them up. Take the theaters and a few other buildings fix them up. Make them affordable to rent space in them and establish 5 or 6 points of intrest. People will see whats happening and want to be there and be part of it.
As for the Raisin Parade idea there use to be a Raisin Day Parade and Festival. It was all the rage and advertised in Big City media. But honoring the Ag Industy is seen as being small town and low brow. Fresno want's to be seen as Park Avenue on the Bluffs. They don't want to see Granny Moses with her little brown jug running for Possum Queen. Or see a parade of Ellie May's critters marching around with Granny for Possum Queen signs at the Villagio
Fresno's dwarves would rather cater to special intrests groups and spend money on parades catering to the "flavor" of the month.
While letting traditional Fresno Parades suffer as the dwarves pander for votes. The Raisin Parade is gone. The 4th of July Parade is gone. High School Home Coming Parades are gone. Fresno almost killed of the Veteran's Day Parade. The oldest and largest Veteran's Day Celebration on the West Coast. They bowed to th PC crowd and tried to change the Children's Christmas Parade to the Children's Holiday Parade. We dont celabrate "holiday". It's a Christmas Parade. If you don't aprove then stay home. Offending someone might cost a vote or two. Santa rides on the fire truck not the Great Pumpkin or the Mystic Baboo.

Rob DeFrees

Can not speak for the 'drag' part, but will fess up to the calling to mind the 'raisins'.

Was just trying to add some thoughts about what could be done for a Downtown event, then someone got emotional.

Personally, I liked the report. It was right to the point. The gentleman who added colourful comment, added a bit more passion than one would like. BUT, did he?

If Downtown is going to take off like a rocket, it is going to need passion on the part of all who want it to brilliant and be that CROWN JEWEL all are waiting for. There has to be passion on the part of every single business that ventures into the re-birth of it. They will have to be full of vision and they will have to feel desire of folks to breathe life into it.

Downtown Fresno has the ability to make folks step back and gasp in wonder at the brilliant jewel that has lain hidden from view for so very long.

Folks who are putting heads together will have to use imagination and create a space that will beg to be filled with the sounds of people. People shopping, dining and having a party.

Businesses that moved into the Downtown area are going to have to shout out loud that they are different and worth taking a look at. Ages ago in a certain Downtow area of a large city on the east coast, there was a cinema that was not doing well. The owners of the cinema were beside selves as to how to get folks to come and see the latest film after work. To get them to call wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, or just a friend and stay Downtown and catch a show. Today it might sound corny, but then air conditioning was not the norm as it is now. They spent buckets of cash to make the cinema the best air cooled space for folks to come to.

They illuminated the outside brightly and hung an enormous banner that said; 'Catch the hotest stars in the coolest cinema in town'.

It worked. Folks came to see films there. They also went to restaurants. They also paid to park motors. It became the smart place to go and be seen with friends and to meet new folks.

I walk around Downtown. There are grand old cinemas located in the area. Wonder why one has not been turned into a multiplex. Can you just see how brilliant the lights would seem as they played off the pavement and brought the night to life.

That is just one idea. Am sure there are many, if one is prepared to 'step out of the box'. Oh, do not be too harsh on the chap who got carried away, at least he let his imagination to take flight.

Man it didn't take long for this thread to take a nasty turn. The guy is just trying to keep us updated on the happenings of the DTA. What does that have to do dancing raisins and drag?

Rod are you goig to dress as Gladys Knight and sing "I heard it threw the grapevine" as they dance down the street?
I want to see Rod yell, "Gotcha' Boogie Grapevine!"
You might have competition from the one that likes to dress up similar to Cramen Miranda.
Will he give it a latin flair?
Temptations sing, Wo wo wo wo boom chicka chicka boom.
A raisin is something you should eat every day.

Rob DeFrees

Now all that has to happen is have some right clever folks invest in the Downtown area and get folks to want to do it there.

I love to read and I gave a look in at the DTA site and who is on the roles and where the monies come from to support the organization. I should be so lucky to get funding for programmes on the road I live.

What the folks here could do with that.

One hopes that the monies will get some real answers to what ails the Downtown area. There are certainly some very clever folks connected with DTA.

Now about the event to be held at the ballpark.........I loathe Baseball and am not one to drink Ale. Is that such an original idea? How 'out of the box' is that?

What about some music on the road. No alcohol, just folks in lawn chairs eating out of picnic baskets enjoying the lovely sounds and talking to one another.

Or...........we are the Raisin Capitol of the world.......what say you to a bake off with things that can be done with raisins. We could dress up all of the members of City Council as raisins. Challenge famous folks in Fresno to an eating contest.

Just thinking here........Elliott will probably drive a stake through this old geezer's heart.

I haven't googl'd the address yet, but I have a feeling you are in the triangle of influence.

Currently what I have heard referenced as being part of Downtown is all that is bordered by freeways 180, 99 and 41.

Just to put this out there, the main area the DTA works with is business and the business relation/partnership with Downtown. I need to learn more about that myself. However, that's what I understand at this time.

Diablo

Rob DeFrees

There are some who us a map which cuts my road off as to being a part of Downtown.

I live at 119 N Calaveras.

If this organization considers MOI a part of Fowntown, do let us chat.