A tale of two cities (Fresno vs. Visalia)
If you haven't read Mike Oz column in today's Bee, you should. In it, he draws some comparisons between downtown Fresno and downtown Visalia and offers some things we might learn from our neighbors (sort of) to the south.
I'm gonna go Alan Autry on y'all and throw some truth on the table: Visalia's downtown (possibly the city as a whole) is cooler than ours. It just is. We could get all huffy and puffy about it, but it doesn't change the fact.
That said: Visalia has some stuff going for it that Fresno doesn't. It's smaller for one thing, and doesn't have the history of chronic sprawl that's almost impossible to come back from. Visalia kept its downtown close and clean and safe (that's a bonus for both visitors and businesses who want to profit off them), while we're left struggling to pull people back to a place many of them don't even remember being viable.
But Mike makes a more critical point. Visalia works for its downtown. Everyone. The city and the police and the business owners and the citizens. They all understand its importance, and what it can offer. They understand what it needs to succeed and they don't fight against it (with excessive policing, early noise ordinances, etc.). It's the mutual respect Mike talks about, and the city is better for it.
Fresno vs. Visalia
One big difference between the two cities - Fresno's downtown is surrounded by neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of urban poverty in the nation. Visalia's isn't. The problems that plague Downtown Fresno are in large part symptomatic of larger community-wide problems. And whether you liked the former mayor or not, Alan Autry was correct when he said Fresno is a tale of two cities. The economic, cultural and racial divides here are vast and need to be addressed.
good post, let's talk
visalia does have a nice downtown, and i'm sure we can learn some things from visalia about creating a nice downtown atmosphere, but it's also a bit of apples and oranges. although the two cities were founded around the same time, we've grown to 500k people whereas they're only @ 120k (both rough numbers). it's a lot easier to maintain a charming little downtown when you're smaller. but, the city still has to work to maintain that feel, which visalia clearly has. fresno has sprawled out and abandoned it's downtown heart. so, it will take a lot of work to come back.
while i want downtown to be revitalized, i also sometimes if we should compare places like visalia's downtown to the tower district?
Visalia.
This is so true. Volunteerism(correct word?) is big down there, at least from my experience.
plus, its really great having all those restaurants interwined with clubs/pubs/music venues/coffee places and the fact that you can park right on the stip.
I've played down there with my rock band as well as played in the symphony.
Everytime I played with the symphony down there at the Fox Theater, its been a pack house of old and young. Visalia supports its orchestra.
The Cellar Door is really a gem down there. It can hold up to 400. The Staff is great, courteous. The artwork in there is awesome.
I Wish/hope/pray that we can someday get a promoter from Fresno to take a 6-month apprenticeship from Aaron Gomes on how to book shows/treat bands/fullfill promies.
But not often mentioned is the managers of Cellar Door, they book bands too and are as equally courteous/gracious/promise fullfilling as aaron.
I love the fact that downtown Visalia is always having live music being played outdoors. I mean, they've payed my band just to sit out on the curve and play, just because they want to create a nice vibe for the walkers/shoppers/eaters/strollers.
One last thing, they are almost always busy even on weeknights. I just played down there at The Cellar Door on a Thursday and it was full. and so were the restaunts.....
this all begs the question, "whats in the water down there?"
---patrick contreras
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