# Fresno, California- is there anything good about it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493 "2006-07-14T17:25:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/41 "2006-07-18T22:42:45Z")
Well…it certainly beats [Lompoc](http://www.cityoflompoc.com/government/mayor.htm). [sub]DID YOU KNOW…? Lompoc, California, was the Mustard Capitol of the World during the 1920s![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/42 "2006-07-18T23:36:26Z")
Something good about Fresno . . . It makes Bakersfield look like a wonderful place to visit? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/43 "2006-07-19T01:07:16Z")
[QUOTE=BobT] Well that’s nitpicking that’s impressive even for the SMDB! 🙂 I will then state this: Fresno is the largest city in the U.S. that does not have an Interstate Highway that has part of it inside the city limits. [/QUOTE] OK, it \*was \*nitpicky, 😛 but it’s a VERY sore point for dudes who live south of 'Frisco and need to drive to the North Bay once in a while. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/44 "2006-07-19T01:18:38Z")
But how close is it to Buttonwillow and Arvin? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/45 "2006-07-19T01:30:23Z")
Don’t they have [Armenians](http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Fresno)? Anyplace with Armenians has to be kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/46 "2006-07-19T01:33:17Z")
I grew up in Bakersfield. Fresno was our real sister city, not LA as many fantasize. No, there’s not really much good about it. If you live in Oakland, you might have a difficult time adjusting. There’s no “there” there. 😛 Chevron’s hiring. If they hire you, I get $750! Or $1500, if you’re exempt. Seriously, both ny adult daughters live in Bakerspatch, and neither really like it. Nothing to do. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/47 "2006-07-19T01:36:23Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] But how close is it to Buttonwillow and Arvin? [/QUOTE] 'Bout same distance as Weedpatch. (Of _Grapes of Wrath_ fame.) mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/48 "2006-07-19T12:17:45Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Don’t they have [Armenians](http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Fresno)? Anyplace with Armenians has to be kinda cool. [/QUOTE] It has armenians _and_ turks … there had been a few gunfights back in the 70s, but it is pretty much settled. And the Hmong havent shot up any bars in over 10 years - though they are the ones who started growing a lot of the more exotic veggies since they cant raise teh traditional crop of poppies. My ex brother in law is a Simonean, his father is the one who owns the huge pomegranite plantation. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/49 "2006-07-19T14:05:32Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] But no Interstate goes \*through \* SF, they all dump you out onto surface streets. This is due to the fact that the residents of SF value their skyline more than they value the lives of their pedestrian populace :mad: (quite a few peoeple die every year on 14th ave, which is the street that connects 280 with the Golden Gate bridge. Then there’s Van Ness, well, anyway, you get the point.) [/QUOTE] and there’s the minor point that the elevated freeways all fell down or got damaged badly during the Loma Prieta quake and they haven’t replaced them yet… let’s be honest, if your city is built on tourism, you want it to be pretty. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/50 "2006-07-19T14:09:29Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] and there’s the minor point that the elevated freeways all fell down or got damaged badly during the Loma Prieta quake and they haven’t replaced them yet… let’s be honest, if your city is built on tourism, you want it to be pretty. [/QUOTE] They are engaged in tearing down the remnants of them. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/51 "2006-07-19T14:33:13Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] They are engaged in tearing down the remnants of them. [/QUOTE] … to make the city prettier… ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/52 "2006-08-07T15:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=SallyBowls] Not in a “Let’s bash Fresno” way, but seriously. I’ve interviewed for a job there. It’s a good job in my field and it’s closer to friends and family than the other jobs that are being advertised. I’d never been there before the interview and everyone I’ve talked to goes, “Ew. Fresno.” Having spent one day there, I know about the heat and the haze and I’m told its the meth capital of California. Is there anything good about it? Or are there horrible city secrets I should know before I consider moving? [/QUOTE] Damn how did I miss this thread! Greetings from Fresno!! Hmm lets see, as someone mentioned, there has been a huge influx of bay area and LA types over the last 10 years or so, sell off the million dollar house in San Jose, come here, by a palace for $300-$400K, then open a business with the rest. The town has literally exploded and all of the new construction is huge 3K-4K sq foot houses. Famous residents, how could we forget our mayor Alan Autry, Super Dave Osborne, countless ex FSU football stars, a few ex pro sports types, Icky Woods is from here, Eric Dickerson is either from here or has family here and is a regular sight in town. Other good things, traffic. Compared to the bay area, there is none. During rush hour, 41 slows down to 35 or so for a bit and a couple of the other main arteries get a little thick but it passes quickly. Along with our influx of bay area folks came the Save Mart Center, who went for high dollar event planning and has been scoring all the big name acts to make tour stops in Fresno, sometimes with multi night runs of sold out concerts. a couple small amusement parks, a Boomers and Blackbeards, a pretty cool laser tag place, AAA baseball (Fresno Grizzlies) City hall looks like a ferengi cruiser landed downtown. You have CSU Fresno if you need a little education, yeah not harvard, but they get the job done. Several new shopping areas have sprung up that a really nice on the far north end of town (champlain and perrin) filled with high dollar specialty shops and $30-$50 a plate high class restaraunts. Having come from a small town (watsonville, CA) fresno is definitely no small town Thay have a kick ass computer repair shop 🆒 Somethign to remember is that fresno has some distinct areas that tend to draw certain types. Find the one you like, and you will probably have a happy area to hang out, do your shopping etc and you will be very happy. Like any large city there are also some pretty seedy areas, some where the cops don’t go alone, some that I don’t like to get out of my truck let alone leave it to go work on a customers computer inside for fear that it will be sitting on blocks and missing an engine 15 min later. For whatever reason, this town never seems to get boring for long, something is always going on, some new disaster has befallen someone lately. One just a few days ago that could prolly inspire a GD in itself involving a police officer being shot and the unarmed suspect in that shooting later being shot and killed by a police officer. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/53 "2006-08-07T15:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=SmartAleq] if your imagination is good you can almost hear the screams of the incinerated residents. [/quote] Sorry to interrupt your peaceful moment, I will try to stifle the screams a bit next time. > [@](#): > > I’m sure they have an Applebee’s by now. actually there is like 6 of them along with pretty much every other major restaraunt chain in existence except cracker barrel and white castle. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/54 "2006-08-07T15:19:40Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] Hey, all you Fresnans! Anybody ever heard of my hometown of Auberry? Anyone? Hello? didn’t think so… [/QUOTE] Of course we know about Auberry, all those sluttly little country girls live up there, coming down to fresno for sex, drugs, and shopping. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/55 "2006-08-07T15:30:49Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Last I heard it did have the highest crime rate in the country.. [/QUOTE] Many prefer the crime rate to living in Zero Tolerance, CA aka Clovis. Crime there is negligible, any given 3 Clovis police officers in one place IS the SWAT team (high powered scoped rifles and MP5’s carried by all vehicles. They are also far more likely to shoot than their bretheren in Fresno. The line between Fresno and Clovis is pretty obvious and they work very hard at keeping that way. If you are looking for the place to be a good little soccer mom and take Dakota and Destiny to Piano and tap lessons and not worry much about someone snatching your kid off the front lawn, live in Clovis. In that town the big worries for your teenager is getting alcohol, getting drugs, getting pregnant, or wandering into Fresno. The little shit will be stopped by a cop who seems to appear from thin air saying “I’m sure you were not going to do what you look like you were about to do, why don’t you run home now.” Yes I went to Clovis high school, can you tell :D. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/56 "2006-08-07T16:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] … to make the city prettier… [/QUOTE] Yes, the little displays of flowers, crosses and stuffed animals at the site of each pedestrian death does add a festive touch. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/57 "2006-08-07T17:48:18Z")
[QUOTE=SallyBowls] Not in a “Let’s bash Fresno” way, but seriously. I’ve interviewed for a job there. It’s a good job in my field and it’s closer to friends and family than the other jobs that are being advertised. I’d never been there before the interview and everyone I’ve talked to goes, “Ew. Fresno.” Having spent one day there, I know about the heat and the haze and I’m told its the meth capital of California. Is there anything good about it? Or are there horrible city secrets I should know before I consider moving? [/QUOTE] So, **Sally** , did you take the job? mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/58 "2006-08-07T19:11:40Z")
Must’ve missed the meth thing in the OP. It’s possible that meth use/manufacture is higher per capita in Fresno than anywhere else in CA, but San Diego has the highest amount of meth use in the United States, and, of course, in California. ---
**Author:** ![SallyBowls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@SallyBowls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyBowls)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/59 "2006-08-07T23:47:55Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] So, **Sally** , did you take the job? mangeorge [/QUOTE] I wasn’t even offered the job. I was in their top three, which is where I always seem to end up. I’ve vowed to find a new store to start buying interview clothes from. On a disappointment scale of 1-10, it was about a 1. I’m not sure I would have taken the job, but being in Fresno didn’t really have much to do with it (though the offer would have been nice). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493/60 "2006-08-08T00:46:03Z")
[QUOTE=SallyBowls] I wasn’t even offered the job. I was in their top three, which is where I always seem to end up. I’ve vowed to find a new store to start buying interview clothes from. On a disappointment scale of 1-10, it was about a 1. I’m not sure I would have taken the job, but being in Fresno didn’t really have much to do with it (though the offer would have been nice). [/QUOTE] Interview clothes, huh? 😃 I like your attitude. You know what they say about silver linings, though. If you often wind up in the top three, that means you’re good, but haven’t been lucky. That’s all. Been there many times, on both sides of the table. Keep plugging away, and good luck. mangeorge [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresno-california-is-there-anything-good-about-it/364493.md?page=2)