I talked about downtown revilization in my column last week. That always gets the ol' inbox pounded with responses. I collected some of them here, along with my replies.

Included you'll find what I think is the longest response to a column I've ever gotten, coming in at 1,300+ words. Brace yourself!

From Carla:

As always, this morning's article on Fresno's downtown hit the bullseye right smack dab in the middle. Thanks so much for being the voice of reason in this otherwise la-la-landish town of ours.

In addition to your extremely adept perceptions, your writing style contains the perfect mix of wit and sarcasm. I find that extremely rare in one so young. Actually, I find a fully completed sentence fairly rare anymore.

Anyway, thanks so much for continuing to tell it like it is, and for not being afraid to confront the powers that bee (oh, sorry - I meant "be").

My response: Actually, there were a series of sentence fragments in that column. I think. If I recall. But thanks.

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From Anidelle:

There are precious few people who seem to get it that a river or a lake - where will the water come from in this desert anyway? - will not bring crowds of folks to splash in the puddles! Or that turning Kern Street into a "sports walk", whatever that is, will not lure the determined downtown haters into overnight lovers. Or that one big name department or specialty store will make it big with scores of customers when they're all traveling to River Park or Villagio to spend their money where there are endless shopping choices and restaurants and movies besides.

Please keep reminding the City Hall dreamers that their support of affordable housing, encouraging decent eateries, getting a movie theatre up and running again, finishing Eaton Plaza, scheduling fiestas on the Mall, and making it easier (read less punitive and expensive) to park downtown will go a long way toward "bringing back downtown".

Oh, and tell Kristy Page to check out the neat offerings at the River Center on the San Joaquin River Parkway - lots of free and low-priced activities in beautiful natural surroundings. Even a modestly priced pancake breakfast at River House one Saturday morning a month - check the website at www.riverparkway.org for events and more.

My response: Yes! I also was wondering what a sports walk is. It seems like someone said "Hey, what do people in Fresno like? Sports! They like sports! Awesome, let's make a sports walk." But what's a sports walk? "It's the cousin of the river walk, duh!"

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From Shelby:

So I just finished reading your article (6/22) and I have a few questions. Are there regular meetings discussing the future of downtown Fresno? Is there some kind of committee with representatives of all types of Fresno's population that meets to brainstorm what our city should/could be? We can have outside ideas presented all day long, but until we gather together and get community interest, ties, and buy-in we go no where.

Let me know if this group of committed citizens already exists, I'd like to be a part of it. And if this group doesn't exist, why not create it?

My response: There's not necessarily a future of Downtown Fresno group that I know, but there's many groups that really care about downtown. Check out Mindhub, Creative Fresno and FLYP, to name a few.

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From reader Kathleen:

I have just read your article and have to say you are SPOT ON!
Please run for Mayor.

From Ruth:

Have you considered running for City Council or maybe Mayor? Your insight seems so obvious but apparently Autry et al. aren't that bright.

My response: I think I need to have a TV show first. That's the proper prerequisite, right?

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From Dino:

Great great article!!! I know this city has a bad taste in there mouth about people that have transplanted from the Bay Area, so my opinion doesn't seem to carry as much weight around here, becomes I am not a native to the Fresno area (due note however that I did purchase my home for a reasonable $150k before the prices got completely out of hand). In any event, I'm willing to invest my hard earned dollars into this city's economy, but I've been so disappointed at the lack of development in downtown.

In almost every big city, or every city themselves as a big city, downtown is at least a focal point, a hub of activity if you will. Fresno, does not have that at all. Sure, Grizzly Stadium is there.. but what else is there to support such a great ballpark? Where do I go before the game? Where do I go after the game? Conversations yesterday after the Thirsty Thursday game consisted of plans out in old town or eating somewhere in Northern Fresno.... No one that I was with or sat near, or talked to, discussed or even thought about spending those hard earned dollars in any venue downtown.. and that is completely sad.

And oh yes! A Dave & Busters, and Ikea, a damn Fat Tuesdays (are you as frustrated as I am that they throw commercials for these places on local TV but I cannot even visit them?), a mixture of these venues along with a complement of others would be attractive to 20-30-40 something's alike.

It saddens me that Riverpark, Champlain and Perrin, Fort Washington, are places that city dwellers gravitate to when they are obviously looking to spend money. It's unbelievable to me at the amount of people that stand in line at every restaurant here in Fresno from Thursday night to Sunday. Can't the city government realize that just a portion of that activity to downtown can create a buzz, a boom, an economic impact, that would make downtown a centerpiece instead of just an afterthought.

And please a Bass Pro Shop? Put that crap in Clovis honestly, not downtown.

my two cents.. keep up the great work, always a fan of your work.. and I hope your words help to spark our city leaders to move.. cause they honestly aren't moving quickly enough..

My response: From one transplant to another: Amen! On pretty much everything. I think it's Ruby Tuesday you're talking about -- and yeah, those commercial bug me, too. But I went there not long ago when I came across one on the East Coast. It ain't all that.

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From reader Gail, who is far more up on the river walk issue than I am:

Regarding the 'River Walk', it seems what is not said is more important. It would take Public Domain to obtain other people's property to change it to pubic property. Unless they are building a dirt canal, it will take expensive engineering, and would take years to complete. If it's just a shallow attractive waterway around a quaint or very nice shopping area.

San Antonio, Texas, is known for it's River Walk. The difference between San Antonio & Fresno is rainfall. They are in the gulf and have many, many rain storms annually; we are in a desert type climate. Most of our rain storms are 'nothing' compared to the midwest or Gulf area. Most places with tremendous rainfall have an extensive sewer system and do not have water backing up on streets when it rains. Fresno does not have such a sewer system.

How could we justify squandering (ok, using) the water for such a thing ? If the waterway were somewhat shallow, as in 'only for looks" it may well require routine maintenance for mosquitoes, pests, possible urine decontamination and drainage - more expense to maintain it.

To me of the biggest issue would be how to keep the vagrants from using it as a "swimming hole". Most likely the former patrons that hang-out daily at the downtown mall would be the people that use it the most. Most people would not prefer to intentionally travel to an area to spend money in such an area.

I work downtown and most of the 'vagrants' seem to be alcoholics, possibly have an encampment in the area, or just got out of Poverello House (or wherever the alcoholics go to temporarily straigten up) and are back on the street with clothes that are clean. In the recent past I have seen the same faces over and over again asking for money. I might give a person some change once, but after that it gets tiresome to have the same person asking all the time. Actually, I haven't seen the 'regulars' in a while, but perhaps they're in jail and we may cross paths again the next time they're released.

Several other issues with downtown, the Bus Station, the Jail - a lot of people use Courthouse Park to hangout while waiting to visit their relative or friend in jail or on trial. Or, people released from Jail come down (south) on M street wearing all varieties of unusual attire or with no shoes at all. I don't witness this frequently, but it happens. When you see an odd duck, you figure he was just released.

S.F. is a much bigger city, they have all this too. But since it's a much bigger city. It's not all located within a 6-8 block radius. I think Autry wants a 'monument' to retire on and River Walk would be fantastic, but we do not have the climate of San Antonio. If he wants a monument to hang his retirement hat on, how about FREE PARKING which would be CUSTOMER FRIENDLY. It may cut 'income' but the RETURNS may well pay off now and in the future.

Paying for parking in S.F. while visiting is accepted - It's another world, it's to be explored. Your comments on the Trolley caused me to laugh. I rode on it once and that was the first and last time. We went to the Tower District for lunch on a work day and caught the return ride.

All of the interior surfaces are hard surfaces. There is nothing to hang on to like straps hanging down (seen in the old movies) and no seat belts. The seats are a smooth vinyl and as the vehicle makes a turn your body slides across the seat because of inertia it always seems the driver is trying to stay on schedule - going just a bit too fast for comfort in a large stiff vehicle. If there was an accident I'm sure the passengers would have teeth missing and concussions, been thrown out into the aisle or floor, or slammed into a steel wall.

I would prefer pay a higher price for a safer commute.

That's my two cents worth.

My response: Gail, you have some great reasons why the river walk is a bad idea. Better than mine. I just think it's dumb. RiverPark > a river walk. And I think most Fresnans -- the ones who aren't coming Downtown -- would agree

Yeah, parking would be a much better beast for Autry to tackle.

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And now the longest column response I think I've ever gotten. From reader Daniel. I applaud his effort.

I'm sure I have read most of what you have written regarding downtown, and I figured I might as well stop putting off giving some kind of feedback. By the way, this might qualify as a rant so I hope you have some time on your hands.

I should tell you that I'm usually pretty split by your commentary, not definitively agreeing or disagreeing. But at least you're making a point to discuss it, and I appreciate that.

First of all, I think there are two general groups of people who would actually be worth trying to draw to downtown: 1.) older people who grew up in Fresno and have nostalgia for the downtown of years past, and 2.) young people (basically the 15-30 age group) who are looking for stuff to do and haven't been entirely brainwashed that Clovis and River Park are the only places they're safe. Not only would these groups be more willing to venture downtown, but I think they would be easier to target/market to.

Ok now I will probably start to get somewhat more disorganized in my ideas, but whatever, I'm 20, I don't think I'm supposed to be organized yet...

"Give them places to shop, eat, and hang out. Bars and clubs. Places to hear bands and drink beer, open late." I wholeheartedly agree with about 3/4 of this quote. If a downtown revitalization wants to be successful, I think the foundation HAS to be bars, clubs, and restaurants. Retail... not so much... and I'll give you my logic. In this high-tech, fast-paced, world we live in (is that cheesy enough?), people are able to do things from home that used to involve getting out of the house. For instance, shopping. You can get better stuff for cheaper prices online than you could from retailers in town, regardless of their location. And that's one less trip to make. I think the key to a successful downtown is giving people something that they can't get anywhere else.

Now I'm going to get on IKEA a little bit. For one, IKEA is freakin' huge! I don't know how much space the store and parking garage in Emeryville take up, but if you've been there then you know what I'm talking about. Land now in downtown Fresno is at more of a comparative premium than land in Emeryville was when they built the IKEA there. Second, getting back to my online argument, why not just buy stuff from IKEA online? It seems like most people who shop at IKEA are either aimlessly browsing just for the hell of it, or they have seen the IKEA catalog and know EXACTLY what they want. Shopping online makes both browsing aimlessly and finding exactly what you want more convenient. And third, we have Target, and plenty of them. Outside of the custom euro-style kitchens, Target (and even dreaded Wal-Mart) carry similar quirky products (i.e. all the random dorm stuff Target has for back to school) and budget furniture that IKEA has to offer. So do you think the IKEA cachet is alluring enough to get people to drive past the Target that's 7 minutes from their house all the way downtown on a regular basis?

Ok back to bars, clubs, restaurants, and the whole thing about unique experiences. Even with a 70-inch HDTV and a crazy sound system, you can't live a concert in your living room. Even with a full bar in your garage, you can't have the full bar experience. These are the things that cannot and (most likely) never will be things people can get in every strip mall in town. Of course, the downside is that these are the riskiest types of businesses to start up, so it's not like building all these cool places in one shot will magically solve everything.

A quick little intro vignette to helping improve downtown: make sure people can park for free. I think parking is already free after 5 or 6 (I park for free where I work so I forget), but if it's not, it needs to be. Ok moving on...

A downtown revitalization is going to have to be built around preexisting features to work. I started out writing about the Fulton Mall, but it was a sprawling mess of prose, so I'm just going to bust out with the likely list: Fulton Mall/Chuckchansi Park, Kern Street, Van Ness from Inyo to Fresno, and Broadway and H Streets from Divisadero to Tuolumne.

I don't think I need to explain Fulton or Kern Street too much because people have plenty of ideas there. Van Ness I think would be a pretty legit spot to develop for a few reasons. It has driving visibility that Fulton Mall and Kern Street don't have. There's already plenty of close parking. There's a casino, but I have yet to hit up Club One so I have no comment on how meaningful that is. And there is that building on the northeast corner of Van Ness and Inyo that I think just happens to look really cool to me. I don't know if it's being condemned, but I think it would be an awesome spot for a bar/club.

Two of the best shows I have been to in my entire life were about 200 yards apart from each other in the Broadway and H Street area. One was Yellowcard and Something Corporate at the Rainbow Ballroom. This is a perfect sized venue for both up-and-coming bands and crowds. It creates this balance between feeling like you're at a big show, not just some stuffy club; yet it keeps this degree of intimacy, both between the band and the crowd and within the crowd itself, that allows everyone to still feel close to the show. The other show was at Jon Jon's, which might not even be open anymore, on H Street. I saw a handful of local bands including Most Inspirational (some of the Atari Champ guys if you don't know) open for Copeland (a national band on The Militia Group). From stories I've heard, the place was once both a train station and a gentlemen's club, which made for an interesting yet awesome vibe. Getting beyond my personal anecdotes, both of these venues are awesome for shows and with some good marketing/promo work could anchor the area for development. There are a bunch of random auto shops around the area right now, but I personally know some of the owners are looking for buyouts.

As far as people living downtown goes, it would be good because it would provide small businesses with regulars, which is why small businesses work in the Tower District. However, for downtown to really thrive, it needs to draw people from the suburban areas. Most people do not dream of living in condos, especially in Fresno. Plus, the Fresno area doesn't have nearly the population density of LA or the Bay Area, where more people HAVE to live in apartments and condos. Selling the idea of downtown living to a substantial amount of people will be hard, and downtown revitalization can't depend on the notion of people living in the immediate area supporting it.

God... I don't have the endurance for rants, so I'll try to wrap this up.

So I don't know if this was even worth reading, but some kind of feedback would be nice, especially if you see some big holes in what I'm saying or if I'm totally missing something. Also, I hope you keep writing about downtown, no matter what you write, because it helps keep the subject on people's minds.

My response: Well, I'm gonna need to spend a little more time answering this, but the thing that jumps out at me this. Yes, people will go to Ikea rather than Target. In a heartbeat.