The comments are as expected as fog in January after a rain: Some national magazine or website disses Fresno, and then someone local chimes in with a dose of downtown bashing. This time it was Yahoo trumpeting Fresno's high unemployment rate, and the downtown negativity soon followed:
The city and the county need to work on getting major corporations to come here, not worrying about what to do with the Fulton Mall.
And another:
If something is viable, it doesn't need subsidies. And if it has subsidies and is still not successful, it's a total waste. Why do we spend time on land no one wants?
OK. Deep breath here. I've frankly never understood how people can be seemingly content living in a city with a less-than-stellar downtown. Even if you live miles away from it, even if you interact with it only occasionally, a downtown is important. It is the face, the heart, the core, the home page. If it isn't thriving, the city feels less a cohesive unit.
As for practical advantages of thriving downtowns: Major corporations aren't just interested in cheap land and labor, If they were, Fresno would boast a big roster of them. Instead, big firms -- especially the ones that have to recruit national talent -- are keenly interested in such issues as livability, an educated workforce, cultural amenities and "quality of life." Just think of all the companies that make the uber-expensive Bay Area home.
Even when you read about big companies fleeing for lower-cost locales, such as Idaho, Texas and Utah, quality-of-life issues are often touted: better recreational opportunities, a cultural scene on the rise, a sense of civic engagement. There are no hard-and-fast rules because every cityscape is different, but if your downtown is a wreck, I think it's much tougher to woo any company to your city -- especially ones with higher paying jobs.
Let me attempt a semi-tortured medical metaphor here. One of the surprising things that scientists have learned over the years is that the health of your gums is a a major indicator of your present and future health in general. There is an association between periodontal diseases and other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. Treat your gum disease and your general health can improve.
In the same way, a city -- and in a larger sense, a metropolitan area -- is an interconnected entity. You might live, with your walled compounds and fresh stucco and Clovis North newness, in a pocket of town that seems far away from the problems and challenges of downtown. But if that downtown is failing, you're being pulled down, too.
So why do we fuss and obsess over the Fulton Mall? Because we have to. Downtown is our gums. And we need to keep flossing like crazy.
To the point and accurate. Well said!
whew. I'm all for flossing. What can we do about those who deny it's importance?..cuz some of those non-flossers....they foam at the mouth and shout so loud.
Amen!
Well, when you have an illiterate workforce that can't pass a drug/alcohol screen, you end up with....Fresno!
Do you even live in California? This is just another city in "Northern Mexico" where there is no real "Civic Pride" in Fresno. The agricultural belt is not real "civilization", and there is more pride here in how many tons of raisons are sold on the market than how great our downtown is, or how many tickets for DUI are given out on a holiday.
the mayor said it best, those in the north are paying or supplementing for the public services provided for down town. Whether you like it or not the down town effects you.
ease up on fresno / i like it here just fine / and i've lived in the bay area, sac, utah, idaho, montana, and Chile / it's alright here, trust me / i know it's no garden of paradise, but it's not bad / downtown does need fixing / and CRIME IS A BIG PROBLEM / but stay up FRESNO