Sanger, selma, Fowler, Reedley, Kingsburg even are probably closer to the Francher creek area. From that place (by which i mean the location of Fancher creek development) if you take clovis avenue south these cities or towns are about 10-20 minutes away. Which is a lot closer than Visalia. I know for a fact because I live where the developement is and have traveled to this towns from there. Selma, Fowler, Sanger are all about 10 minutes away. Kingsburg is a little further by maybe 10 minutes.

Reedley and Selma DON'T GO TO VISALIA...it's ALOT closer to FRESNO...TULARE county people go there..Orosi, Dinuba, Tulare, Lindsay, etc..NOT REEDLEY or SELMA!!!!

Funny the sign on the property says beginning fall 2007, yet it is almost 2008 and nothing. Here are some recent links about the project.

http://www.thielenonline.com/clients/FancherCreek/5124website_p1/

http://www.lance-kashian.com/

Oh yeah,

I was watching local news and there Duncan was. I think it was 1996 or 97. He put the ceding issue to the City Council. The news interviewer asked him what did he propose the name to be, if the city council voted for a cede, and he said "Why, Reaganville!" His face beaming with pride at his cleverness.

After I picked myself off of the floor I had a title for my novel. And of course we all know it didn't fly. Now he's running for Mayor.

Very interesting thread.

First of all, Fancher Creek kind of sounds gross. Sounds like a type of Fart, or person who farts a lot, "He's a real Fancher."

And what about Manchester Mall? The theater obviously didn't help much. I remember as a kid it was full of shops, top and bottom! For Christmas or back-to-school shopping it was a toss-up between Fashion Fair and Manchester. Ever since then Fashion Fair just gets more expensive and Manchester is dying on the vine... I just thought it was telling that it hasn't even been mentioned!

What about an enormous farmer's market downtown? Lots of music, lots of food (Burgers and Burritos, I'm thinking). All with some kind of street fair. Lots of outdoor shops, stores downtown and from other parts of town would have booths. I'm thinking something like Big Hat Days but on Fulton Mall... Anybody know who is in charge of Big Hat Days or Clovis Fest?? We could totally do that on Fulton Mall, and then maybe go a step further by having bigger bands at Rainbow Ballroom or another downtown venue that night.

My reason for this idea, is that we should utilize what we have before asking for more development. Why should someone build in an area that doesn't have much proven drawing power. Events like that will bring in some dollars, perhaps even a few people will have such a good time they consider living in the area. The fulton mall would be great for an event like that.

If there was ample FREE parking... hmm...

http://www.toomuchchris.com/

yeah, it was in the paper. i remember. don't remember exact time though.

although, i don't think they were necessarily trying to secede from fresno. maybe they were. or maybe he just wanted to have the district named, like chinatown, tower, mayfair, etc.

you know they have the Reagan Educational Complex?

Jerry Duncan, propose that that district cede from Fresno and have the name Reaganville.

was this ever in the paper? I don't remember that?

Yes and no. I play, compose and almost eat guitars for dinner but I'm not the guitar bum in Reaganville. I am the author and it is not a memoirs unless you consider the contention that all fiction is somewhat taken from the writer's life. In some way, that is.

The Bluffs or the Hood.

Your still in Fresno

Get over it!

fiction??

"...a curse and a guitar bum who is actually Everyman for the Baby Boomer generation."

don't YOU play guitar larry cooperman??

My novel, Reaganville, is out now and can be bought at amazon, PublishAmerica and in a short while at my website.
I can tell you that I had a different working title until I heard District 6 City Council member, Jerry Duncan, propose that that district cede from Fresno and have the name Reaganville.

After I picked myself off of the floor I had a new title for my novel.
Reaganville is much more than a novel about Fresno. It is about a curse and a guitar bum who is actually Everyman for the Baby Boomer generation.

Sometimes it is best that someone else describe an author's work and as in many novels works of fiction, and other works of creative output, it is left for those consuming the work to decide for themselves what it is.

I lived and worked in Fresno for over 20 years, met my x-wife and had my son. I lived in district 6 a good part of the time and saw it, as Duncan did and does, as another place that bled out the multiculturalism of Fresno proper in order to make an antiseptic community where if you weren't white you acted that way, a place where that district's car is a Hummer. It's where the women hold their heads up a little too high as they are spoils of their husbands and really are secretly knowing that they are really nothing but what they own.

But Reaganville, that proposed ceded place, was a curse to me. I was not fit to be there and the people bothered me in a way that made me sad. I saw an upsurge in SUV purchases after 9/11 as Bush said the patriotic thing to do was to buy stuff, the subtext being things that were large and consumed gas. As I picked up my son at Liberty School the SUVs piled up in the driveway as women kept the windows shut and the air condition going in great gas consumption, insulated in their 6 thousand pound living rooms not looking at anyone else's beautiful child. I've never seen such a bunch on non-maternal women. Society is very sick whan the women are so un-maternal?

What is rediculous is that people use to refer to life north of Ashlan as being the well off side of town and now it is north of Herndon. That is just pathetic, what does it matter anyways. I guess ignorance is bliss to these people. Most of you who live north of whatever street, has never even venture past your back yard to know what is on the south side of town. There is life south of Herndon you know. The next large growth in Fresno is predicted to be in the South East side of town for those who dont know. This is in part due to the fact that most of the land in the northern part of fresno will be used up soon. Also an FYI, there are lots of new home developments going up on this side of town, the same exact builders as those on the north end of town by the way.

I live in the Sunnyside area, and it is way more quieter than any neighbor hood I've seen in the north side of town. Also I dont get the influcts of trick or treaters during halloween. And I hope the Fancher Creek project isnt like that of River Park, River Park is an ugly development in my opinion. It is not very pedestrian friendly, hopefully Ed Kashian will give us a place where we can walk store to store with SHADE.

From the Fancher Creek development the cities of Sanger, Selma and Fowler are about 10 minutes away. So I think when Fancher Creek gets going many of the customers at River Park will find a new shopping area, sheerly based on convinience. Of course there will be die hards who will swear by river park.

Whenever I send an invitation or letter to the 93720 zip code, I always write "Reaganville, CA" and it always gets delivered. Try it.

We do name all new major developments so they are like its own town: Tower, Huntington Blvd, Mayfair, Old Fig, Van Ness Extension, Fashion Fair, and now River Park. Each of those areas were/are the best thing in Fresno when it was built,and sadly,many of them are decaying and show major signs of age and neglect. It will probably happen to River Park some day as well. The major problem is the poor planning and the auto-centric policy of the nation that has led to this ever expanding sprawl that leaves the once proud parts of town behind. With good planning and a better public transit system and a pedestrian friendly mixed use development ,much like how Tower and Huntington Blvd. were originally designed can we prevent the decaying of River Park and other developments over time.
BTW, Herndon is already being used as a name of a town.

ajvf97 says:
Those of us here north of Herndon can think of a name for our new city to detach ourselves from Fresno and all the negativity and business-as-usual politics associated with it.

So North of Herndon there's no buniness as usual politics, negativity and crime? Wow, you should feel so specail. I'll just keep fighting the good fight here in the HELLISH living conditions South of Herndon, and you stay there in Fantasyland - there's the new name of your town BTW.

If everyone is arguing over different parts of town then those respective areas should just become their own cities and then they could join in on cities slandering each other. Fun! Those of us here north of Herndon can think of a name for our new city to detach ourselves from Fresno and all the negativity and business-as-usual politics associated with it. So what sounds best? River Park, CA. Woodward, CA? Just wishful thinking. Just for fun. I think certain things trigger certain actions whether they are verbal or physical. For instance, nobody likes a certain neighborhood because it's run down and not safe so they move to a better part of town and once they start meeting their new neighbors, bashing of the old neighborhood is bound to be brought up and then the arguments start. A reputation about the neighborhood and demographics develops and people from the old neighborhood bark back at the exodus of residents because they are jealous not realizing they are the ones causing people to leave in the first place. In other words, "Yo, man. Why did you leave the 'hood? You think you is better than us now?" Response: "No. It's because I got tired of YOU shooting at ME."

Having been raised locally, I would agree, except for Bakersfield. You spelled Calwa wrong, it is actually Cow-way, oh that's how they used to spell Clovis...

The dyslexia is from my eyes crossed.

I also don't like when Fresnans put down other towns ,usually smaller towns, for the same reason some, not all, San Franciscans, feel it is ok to do the same. Usually ,it is Bakersfield, Calwa and Malaga, that I hear people putting down. I used to the same, and , now try to be more open to other towns,and, what they are doing well.

Thank you Andy in speaking for me to the out of towner that knows nothing about the local condition.

There will be no infill redeveloment for Downtown without addressing the mobility component of how people can get around.

First of all let me say, Fresno is not shitty! For all its greatness SF has many downfalls too. But for some reason people focus on the negatives here more than those of their own cities.

Fresno has plenty to offer, if your willing to try different things. Even for all the opened minded people on this board, some would cringe at the thought of going to a country music hang-out. So to that extent I do agree with you, we do have our own little cliques. But I dont think Fresno is shitty because we have differing opinions on which direction OUR city should take.

I can't believe someone from SF has a problem with one part of town arguing over the different parts of a town. SF may be one of the most provincial towns in the country, putting down everybody not from "The City" (one of those snobby terms that I rarely hear anyone form outside SF use). After SF has put everybody down from outside the Bay Area like Fresno and Sacramento they go after the suburbs of Livermore and Pleasanton, and anybody down in San Jose and the rest of the Southern Peninsula, disregarding the reason they moved there because nobody can live in SF and expect to have a halfway decent house or afford to have children. If SF would have done a better job of providing affordable housing for their firemen and teachers and the rest of the middle class, may be the population of SF would not be dropping .
As for the shitty parts of Fresno, there are plenty of places in SF that I wouldn't be proud of having in my city. I am sure San Franciscans argue which part of the town they prefer just like people from other towns.

I'm from San Francisco visting family for the weekend and I just can't believe how many people here argue over the different parts of this town. Downtown against Northeast, Clovis against Fig Garden, whatever the heck.

What a waste of time guys, get together and get your whole town together. The WHOLE TOWN is shitty (pardon the French).

Think more like the "The Shops at Waterford" in eastern Dublin CA. & less like "Santana Row" in San Jose. They have a SaveMart as one of the anchors and 4 story apartments. The Fancher Creek project looks more like Waterford. It's a finished project now (I was in the leasing office last month) and busy.

I am not aware of a website for the Fancher Creek development, but if anyone wants any information on the project (such as more detailed maps and such)--and really on any development in Fresno, much of that information is public at City Hall, in the Planning & Development Department on the third floor. Just ask nicely!

And for the Kingsburg/Selma people, everyone I know in Kingsburg is all about Riverpark and Fresno in general. It's 30 minutes to Riverpark and 30 minutes to Mooney Boulevard or downtown Visalia. I think if there was something in the southeast they might be more inclined to go there. Personally, I like to go to the theatre in Dinuba because it is WAY cheaper ($7.50) and it is never crowded.

I work in Kingsburg and many of the people from there will go to Visalia before they come to Fresno. I've heard the same about Reedley, Dinuba, Selma, and Handford. I dont know if it actually is closer for them, but having driven to Visalia from all of those towns, it sure seems closer.

Those south of shaw such as Selma, Kingsburg, etc. have Sierra Vista Mall and Clovis before they reach Riverpark. Believe it or not, not everyone goes to Riverpark. Clovis is growing and stretching all over.

Sure isn't much green space in the artist's conception published in The Bee. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy living in the middle of a parking lot.

I don't believe that people would go downtown if we were to pop in a Sports Authority, Target, etc. Why would they when these kinds of stores are found all over town? Downtown needs something unique..a draw..definitely not a "Big Box Mall Version 2.0". Also, I think downtown needs people living there in order to really bring in retail development.

No one claimed Santana Row was a big box development. Josh said people from south of Shaw, and south of the city of Fresno would go to shop in Downtown instead of River Park, if Downtown offered the kinds of stores River Park does. And those are mostly big box stores (Target, Sports Authority, Best Buy, Comp USA, etc)

I tried finding something that would show the layout of where everything might possible go. The bee article explains the location, but I am a more visual person.

Anthony

I would have liked to see the library, post office, and police station hub to be more centrally located to the development, instead of at one end. It would be better if the development has pedestrian walkways from the surrounding subdivisions so people would not have to drive from just the next development over. This would save parking and gas, and decrease air pollution and congestion. There still is way too much allotted for parking, and, very minimal is put aside for some type of public transit. It has elements of the New Urbanism style of master planning but lacks in the over reliance of the automobile. It is till better then what Fresno has, but not what Fresno had with the downtown in its heyday.

It seems like a Santana Row type development could work, especially if there were more organic develpoments on the outskirts. So, while some part of downtown would house the "box-box" and boutique stores, there would still be the "Cultural Arts District," "China Town," etc.

..let me take that back about downtown. After re-reading the article I realized that downtown may be better suited to a more organic development approach. I think a Santana Row style development may be what Forest City had in mind at one point or another but I'm not sure this sort of "corporate neighborhood" is what I would want to find downtown. Hmmm...what to do...

Agreed with Mike Oz, Santana Row has no resemblance to River Park.

The Fancher Creek project doesn't sound that much like River Park. With housing over the stores and whatnot it sounds like a much more innovative mixed use development. It looks like it may be more pedestrian friendly and less focused on the big-box-with-football-field-parking-in-front formula. Lets not compare it yet to that monstrosity on the north end (which by the way has nothing truly "upscale" about it. If you want to talk upscale, Fashion Fair and Fig Garden are better models). Further, I think developments like this are what downtown could use. The problem: I dont think there is a way to do it without asserting eminent domain, at least not if it is done on a somewhat mass scale.

Santana Row is not "big-box." There's a Best Buy there and a Borders, I guess those count. The other big stores are Crate & Barrell (which would do well in Fresno no matter where they put it, I think), The Container Store and Urban Outfitters. Those are the big ones. The rest is boutique-ish type shops, very high end -- Burberry, Gucci stuff like that. There's fancy restaurants, an expensive hotel, a couple bars. All that. So if the idea here is make something like Santana Row shopping wise, that's not making another RiverPark.

The residents were in place before the business'. Fancher Creek is following the same basic plan "residents first, shops and restuarants second". I believe until we have residential projects take hold in downtown, whether it be condos or apt's, we will continue to see small gains towards a vibrant downtown.

I think most people don't like the idea of turning Downtown into a big box palace, Riverpark south though. If the goal is to get people to go Downtown instead of River Park, you'd have to do just that.

That is a possibility that I did not consider. I would hope that happens. Something major really needs to get done in Downtown or the Kearney Park area or nothing is ever going to start happening. I can really see a difference in downtown over the last decade but can not wait for something MAJOR to happen to bring social activities in. Grizzly Stadium has helped, but I don't think it has had the impact that everyone hoped.

Anthony

The scores of people who live south of Shaw (or south of Fresno in towns like Selma, Kingsburg, etc.)? Wouldn't it be more convenient for them to shop downtown (or in southeast Fresno) than drive to Riverpark, if there were attractive shops?

People still will not go downtown because of what they perceive as a bad neighborhood. There is no way that side of town will ever be like Riverpark or North East Fresno.

Anthony