That is a good question.
Fresno is not a well-known port of call here in California, nor has it historically had much to offer as a tourist destination. It started in 1885 as a train stop on the Southern Pacific train line and gradually grew as a hub for retired forty-niners; people found that living next to a railroad was handy, and they didn’t like being flooded by their gold-rush rivers.
At 14.4%, Fresno has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US. And let it not go un-noted that while other cities’ National Historic Monuments are old buildings or beautiful parks, Fresno’s is a landfill — okay, okay, so the Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill was the first modern landfill in the US and has been used as a model for others since, which I guess counts for something. But still. National Historic Landfill? Just doesn’t ring right. Fresno reaches soaring temperatures in summer, frequently hovering around 95-100°F (35-38°C), and dips to below freezing in winter; no gentle mediterranean climate there.
And yet - Fresno has its strong points, too. Its location in the Central Valley makes it an ideal jumping-off point to the Sierras - King’s Canyon and Yosemite are both within easy driving distance. And because it is still reasonably cheap to live there, it is slowly attracting a rich artist community. Being a starving artist in LA or San Francisco? Basically undoable. But in Fresno? Game ON.
But are artists and mountains enough to redeem its soaring temperatures and its patchy economy? After all, I can’t go camping every weekend, and I doubt I’ll be going to art galleries every day. What I look for in a city is that hipster edge: cafes, live gigs, snobby young people in skinny jeans drinking coffee and debating music; restaurants of every kind, hole-in-the-wall sandwich joints. Places that are cheap and grungy and full of character, and that let me feel self-congratulatory when the chocolate is stamped Fairtrade.
So. With the list of pros and cons for Fresno rapidly growing, I am still faced with the inevitability of my mom’s move there in a month’s time. The move, scheduled for the end of February, ticks inexorably nearer. And so the investigation of Fresno, of what it has to offer me, begins.
Fresno is not a well-known port of call here in California, nor has it historically had much to offer as a tourist destination. It started in 1885 as a train stop on the Southern Pacific train line and gradually grew as a hub for retired forty-niners; people found that living next to a railroad was handy, and they didn’t like being flooded by their gold-rush rivers.
At 14.4%, Fresno has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US. And let it not go un-noted that while other cities’ National Historic Monuments are old buildings or beautiful parks, Fresno’s is a landfill — okay, okay, so the Fresno Municipal Sanitary Landfill was the first modern landfill in the US and has been used as a model for others since, which I guess counts for something. But still. National Historic Landfill? Just doesn’t ring right. Fresno reaches soaring temperatures in summer, frequently hovering around 95-100°F (35-38°C), and dips to below freezing in winter; no gentle mediterranean climate there.
And yet - Fresno has its strong points, too. Its location in the Central Valley makes it an ideal jumping-off point to the Sierras - King’s Canyon and Yosemite are both within easy driving distance. And because it is still reasonably cheap to live there, it is slowly attracting a rich artist community. Being a starving artist in LA or San Francisco? Basically undoable. But in Fresno? Game ON.
But are artists and mountains enough to redeem its soaring temperatures and its patchy economy? After all, I can’t go camping every weekend, and I doubt I’ll be going to art galleries every day. What I look for in a city is that hipster edge: cafes, live gigs, snobby young people in skinny jeans drinking coffee and debating music; restaurants of every kind, hole-in-the-wall sandwich joints. Places that are cheap and grungy and full of character, and that let me feel self-congratulatory when the chocolate is stamped Fairtrade.
So. With the list of pros and cons for Fresno rapidly growing, I am still faced with the inevitability of my mom’s move there in a month’s time. The move, scheduled for the end of February, ticks inexorably nearer. And so the investigation of Fresno, of what it has to offer me, begins.
To help me explore, I conscripted a friend to come up with me for the weekend (no small request!). I will lay out our quest, the places we found (and approved of) We headed out to Fresno’s Tower District in the early afternoon after getting some fresh fruit at the Vineyard Farmer’s Market. The Tower district is apparently where everything goes down around town; misleadingly, it is not actually the part of town that has the three (sort-of) tall buildings, but rather is centered around the old Tower Theater in a distinctly one-storey neighborhood.
After first exploring a few shops and art galleries in the Tower (The Brass Unicorn, a purveyor of incenses, astrological charts, and purported healing crystals; and Studio 74 across the street, an art gallery that takes part in the monthly Art Hop event), we found a poster for Café Corazón and directed ourselves to it for some tasty espressos. On the way we passed a cupcake shop (is that still the big new thing?) and the beautiful cafe-styled Succulents Shack.
By this point it had begun to get cold, and we were getting hungry. We cracked out Yelp (SmartThings, I love you) and found Million Elephant Cafe & Bar on Olive, open till 3am (the all-night eatery of the Tower?). DELICIOUS. Yellow curry with tofu and Million Elephant fried rice… (un)fortunately the serving sizes were normal human, not blue whale super hero; otherwise I could have kept on eating for the rest of forever. Especially at 3 in the morning after a night of rocking out at Sequoia to live blues bands.
Walking back along Olive we discovered Teazer, a tea room complete with jazzy background music, blooming tea, an informative book rich with hilariously awkward quotes from the 1700s (Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire by Roy Moxham), and most importantly, THAT HIPSTER VIBE. Apparently they have live music and comedy nights, which I can look forward to. Fresno, in the end, yes! You have won my love! Food, tea, music. That was all I ever wanted, and you have provided.
So all in all, it was a success. It was an exploration into the legendary urban center of Fresno, embedded at the center of many miles of stripmalls and freeway overpasses and endless unappealing landscape that is overshadowed by the Sierras only when air quality is sufficiently good; I mean really, you can understand why I believed the Tower was a myth. But I have been proven wrong, and for once I can put my relief before my pride. Cool Fresno EXISTS. And you shall find me there in….. 29 days. Bam.
After first exploring a few shops and art galleries in the Tower (The Brass Unicorn, a purveyor of incenses, astrological charts, and purported healing crystals; and Studio 74 across the street, an art gallery that takes part in the monthly Art Hop event), we found a poster for Café Corazón and directed ourselves to it for some tasty espressos. On the way we passed a cupcake shop (is that still the big new thing?) and the beautiful cafe-styled Succulents Shack.
By this point it had begun to get cold, and we were getting hungry. We cracked out Yelp (SmartThings, I love you) and found Million Elephant Cafe & Bar on Olive, open till 3am (the all-night eatery of the Tower?). DELICIOUS. Yellow curry with tofu and Million Elephant fried rice… (un)fortunately the serving sizes were normal human, not blue whale super hero; otherwise I could have kept on eating for the rest of forever. Especially at 3 in the morning after a night of rocking out at Sequoia to live blues bands.
Walking back along Olive we discovered Teazer, a tea room complete with jazzy background music, blooming tea, an informative book rich with hilariously awkward quotes from the 1700s (Tea: Addiction, Exploitation and Empire by Roy Moxham), and most importantly, THAT HIPSTER VIBE. Apparently they have live music and comedy nights, which I can look forward to. Fresno, in the end, yes! You have won my love! Food, tea, music. That was all I ever wanted, and you have provided.
So all in all, it was a success. It was an exploration into the legendary urban center of Fresno, embedded at the center of many miles of stripmalls and freeway overpasses and endless unappealing landscape that is overshadowed by the Sierras only when air quality is sufficiently good; I mean really, you can understand why I believed the Tower was a myth. But I have been proven wrong, and for once I can put my relief before my pride. Cool Fresno EXISTS. And you shall find me there in….. 29 days. Bam.
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