Tulare, good, bad? (Los Angeles, Fresno, Anaheim: crime rates, cheap house, neighborhoods)

[Twincam666]

Any input?

[.highnlite]

Boorriinngg....!!

[ferretkona]

Sleepy little town surrounded by orchards.

[BVitamin]

Bad.

[NewToCA]

I don't care for it much, Visalia is just to the north of it and a bit nicer in my opinion.

[Snort]

It's no Arvin.

[Count David]

^ And that's a good thing.

Good or bad? Depends on who you ask.

[FresnoFacts]

I second NewToCa's comment, Visalia is only a few miles away and a nicer city in my opinion too.

Tulare has good newer neighborhoods and schools on its northern side and some nice looking older neighborhoods. But overall Tulare is still in its roots as an ag town, especially the dairy industry with many dairies surrounding it and several milk/cheese processing plants in the town. Tulare also hosts the world's largest agriculture trade show every year.

Housing costs are cheaper in Tulare than in Visalia, but the tradeoff might be that more services and activities are found in Visalia so you may be driving to Visalia often.

[Curmudgeon]

My former wife was a part of one of the three predominant ranching/farming families in Tulare and we spent a fair amount of time visiting. Thanksgiving at Grandma's house (she lived to be 100) was a "command performance" during those years we lived in Southern, Central and Northern CA and I always enjoyed the small town vibe there.

That all came t an end in 1994, along with that marriage, so I have no idea what it's like now. I do remember Visalia being a bit of a destination and Fresno trips being a adventure for them.

[Des-Lab]

Well I live in Tulare and have for two years now. I'll try and give you an honest synopsis, both good and bad.

First, yes, it's smack dab in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley. Size wise, not sure if it counts as the biggest of the little towns or the smallest of the big towns. But that's neither here nor there.

Pluses: As noted above, plentiful, decent, and relatively cheap houses. Most of the newer (and nicer) stuff is on the north and east sides of town. Plenty of BASIC modern amenities, mainly along Prosperity Ave at and for about a mile east of the 99. In the stretch, you will find a Wal-Mart, a very nice Super Target, Chilis, most of the fast food joints, a decent gym (which I am a member of) that also contains a beauty salon/massage, Italian restaurant, and rehab clinic. Several gas stations. Lowes, and Home Depot, wallgreens, and CVS, etcetera etcetera. Basically enough for all of your day to day suburban living needs. Also, easy access to and from the 99 freeway. Driving time in minutes, roughly as follows: Visalia :10, Fresno or Bakersfield :45, Porterville :30, Hanford :25, Lake Kaweah :30, Sequoia Park :45, Downtown Los Angeles:180, Anaheim: 200. There are also a few small older neighborhoods closer to the city center. And what you can't find in Tulare, most of it is in Visalia. Mooney Blvd is a wide open and straight shot up. Keep in mind that there is a time advantage here; in LA or Orange County, the nearest Costco might be five miles away but it takes you twenty minutes to get to it because of traffic. The Costco in Visalia can be reached from anywhere in Tulare within 15 minutes. And some of the newer schools are said to be pretty good, although I wouldn't know because I don't have any children. But there are bike lanes on many of the streets, a 5 or so mile biking/hiking trail converted from an abandoned rail line, and a nice new park along Laspina just north of Prosperity.

Minuses: Although Tulare's north/northeast side might be new and clean, much of the rest of the city-particularly west of the 99 and ESPECIALLY west of the rairoad tracks, is pretty run down and crime rates are pretty high considering the size of the population. I would not recommend going there if you don't need to. Thankfully, there isn't a whole lot over there in term of business that can't be found elsewhere in better parts of town. Tulare's Downtown area is pretty sad and in an advanced state of neglect with a lot of empty stores. What little that's there isn't all that exciting; a couple of bars, pawn shops, doughnut shops, and a t-shirt warehouse, to name a few. Culture (as in Mongolian art museums-if you are in to that sort of thing) is virtually nonexistant unless your culture of choice happens to be Mexican/Chicano. Or Old School Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson Redneck (as an aside, if you want younger, hipper, and likely poser redneck a-la Shania Twain or Garth Brooks, then Clovis-about an hour north might be your town.).

Prosperity Ave might be clean and new, but the parallel streets to the south-namely Tulare Ave and to a lesser extent-Bardsley Ave also look pretty run down and scream "a city in a has-been state".

We definitely get the four seasons here. That may or may not be a plus to you; in winter time the fog can sit there literally for weeks at a time without you ever seeing the sun. So it stays cool, damp, and gloomy. So if you are a gloomy person or easily influenced by the weather, it may not be for you. Conversely, the summers can get brutally hot. The first 100+ days usually start right about this time and don't ease up until around Halloween. Spring and Falls are nice, but late summer seems to be really dirty with the soot, smog, and haze in the air. I agree, it can be a bit embarrassing at times.

Also, being in the Central Valley, you are immediately stigmatized. Much of the rest of the state looks down on the entire Valley as being 'dirty', 'uncouth', 'lacking in taste and culture', etc etc. Certainly those elements DO exist in certain places, but to paint with a unilateral wide brush? Not true. Especially considering the irony of how so many LA and Bay Area people will, in the same sentence, profess how "open minded" and "tolerant" they are.

anyway, that's just my general observation. If you want some additional specific info or feedback, let me know and I'll try and answer as best I can.