Fresno & Clovis Area (Los Angeles, San Francisco: home, neighborhoods, college)

[ajcfalcon]

The area surrounding Fresno is very agricultural. Fresno is nestled against the southern edge of Yosemite and is approximately halfway between Sacramento and the northern edge of the LA area. This area of California is home to approximately 2.5 million residents

[ProLogic]

You left out the ghettoness part.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by ProLogic

You left out the ghettoness part.

And the heat, smog and fog.

[Kibbiekat]

I also wouldn't say it is "nestled" against Yosemite. Try a 90 minute drive.

[ajcfalcon]

Either you haven't been to Fresno, or you have had a poor tour guide when visiting. Fresno is a mere forty minute from Shaver Lake which is very much a wooded area. Additionally, Fresno has many quaint neighborhoods (such as Tower/City College area, Fig Garden, Van Ness Ave, Hungtington Blvd. Clovis), as well as a thriving new suburbia (Riverpark, Granite Park, Woodward Park Area, Sierra Vista). The smog is better than Southern California, and the "ghettoness" as you put it is only in the less than desirable areas (which any major city has). Yes, I call Fresno a major city (466,000 pop. Metro: 2.0 million); sixth biggest in California and 36th in the nation. In case you disagree, here are some "major" cities that are actually smaller than Fresno: Miami, St. Louis, Oakland, Minneapolis, Sacramento, Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Jersey City, New Orleans, and Orlando (just to name a few).

So if you are going to have a worthwhile conversation about Fresno, then awesome. But it is a bit odd to put down a place in such a simple way. Someone who has never been to Fresno ought to at least visit, before rendering any judgments. Also, if you have been and don't care for it: fine. But don't put down someone else's home.

[LouisvilleJake]

Hmmmm. Fresno isn't quite as big as you're saying.

The Fresno Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a population of about 891,000. Every city you mentioned above has a much larger MSA than Fresno.

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by ajcfalcon

Either you haven't been to Fresno, or you have had a poor tour guide when visiting. Fresno is a mere forty minute from Shaver Lake which is very much a wooded area.

I LIVED there my entire life until 4 months ago! You said it is nestled against the southern edge of Yosemite. To me, that means it touches the edge of the National Park. It does not. Sure, Shaver Lake is in a wooded area, but it isn't even on the same highway as Yosemite is. One has nothing to do with the other. I'm not trying to knock Fresno. I'm just correcting the incorrect information you posted. Also, all of Fresno County has just over 1 million people. The metro area has no where near 2.5 million people.

[ajcfalcon]

I believe I said "this area of California is home to over 2.5 million people". Perhaps I was not clear, but what I am referring to is the Central Valley. This includes areas such as Kings county, Tulare County, and Kern County. These areas are all within 2 hours of Fresno and I was using these as part of the area. By the way, check out Google maps or Mapquest, because Shaver Lake is very much on the way to Yosemite, as is Coarsegold (25 min) and Oakhurst (45 min). Granted these two places are not on the same highway, but there are a couple of different routes two the park area.

My point is not that Fresno is practically in the park (anymore than Sacramento is nestled against the El Dorado foothills-approx 40 min away). It was just a figure of speech which you have chosen to make a huge deal of.

[ajcfalcon]

Originally Posted by LouisvilleJake

Hmmmm. Fresno isn't quite as big as you're saying.

The Fresno Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a population of about 891,000. Every city you mentioned above has a much larger MSA than Fresno.

You should check your sources again. MSA for Fresno 1,002,284. This is the immediate area around Fresno. I in my statement was actually referring to the Central Valley which also includes areas in Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties.

Granted that many of the other cities may have larger metro populations, but many of them benefit from close proximity to other large cities (Jersey City-New York, Oakland-San Francisco, Anaheim-Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St Paul, etc.)

[ajcfalcon]

Look all I was trying to do was offer some information (general as it may be) about Fresno, since I didn't see much on this blog about it. Every other major California area had some representation, except for the valley. I'm hardly making the case that the Fresno are is somehow nicer than the Bay Area or Los Angeles. I was simply trying to offer some input on the "other place" in California.

Thanks to all of you for turning the entire thing into an arguing match over details.

I'm sure that this is what the blog was created for. Either way, my attempt to offer some positive outlooks on the Valley has been completed interrupted.

Once again, I thank you for all of your irrelevant input.