Bad Part of Clovis? (Fresno, Vista: apartments, renting, crime)

[missboomboom]

Hi Im looking to relocate from the bay area (san Jose specifically) I have 2 daughters ages 7 and 9. I heard good things about clovis and their schools. We are looking at an apartment that is behind the Olive Garden off Shaw.

The kids would go to Sierra Vista Elementary...

Can anyone offer any info on this area? I saw apts across the street of Sierra Vista Elem and they look pretty ghetto. Its hard to judge by looks alone... The apts that Im looking at are nice but Im not sure of the area and how is the school? Is this a safe area? Esp. with young kids? (3rd/4th grade)

Thanks

[RabbitMage]

There's not really a "bad part" of Clovis as far as I'm aware. I'd imagine the further south you go and thus the closer to the airport, the uglier things get. Though at some point that stops being Clovis and turns back into Fresno.

While apartment hunting myself I've been making use of this crime map: Crimes: index (http://data.fresnobeehive.com/crime - broken link)

Some parts of Clovis do look a little run down. But there's a biiiiig difference between run down and ghetto. Still, if it bothers you, there are nicer places to be found in both Fresno and Clovis, and the prices will probably be comparable to what you'd be paying at that complex.

[KC6ZLV]

That area isn't the best, but isn't really that bad.

The worst parts of Clovis historically have been immediately to the south and the east of the Rodeo grounds/Clark. Especially the area east of Sunnyside and north of Bullard. A block north and south of 10th & Pollasky, the area near the apartments along W Alamos and Villa.

Clovis doesn't have any large areas that are bad. One of the positive things about Clovis is the police are a lot better than many other cities. They will actually come out to take reports whereas many places direct you to make a report online and that is the end of it.

[missboomboom]

thanks! That helps knowing some specific areas.

How about Sierra Vista Elem? What are your takes on that school? I already researched it on greatschools.net, however if possible, i would like an insiders opinion!

Thanks!

[KC6ZLV]

I don't have kids so I can't really comment about the current status of the school. Although, I do look at scores in more of a social science type of thing. In the past it was just average for a school in the Clovis Unified School District. It was still well above most Fresno schools. Given that as a consideration, I think good schools are in a great part the result of good parenting. I think all those children's stories parents read to their children do a lot for a childs language potential and imagination. A few trips to a museum or science discovery center helps. Neighbourhoods with various demographic groups that don't do this are often the ones with the worst schools. A lot of it is cultural.

[FresnoFacts]

Probably the worse areas of Clovis today are mainly south of Shaw between Clovis and Willow and apartments on the north side of Ashlan near Peach and Willow. That Shaw to Ashlan area has been a focus in the last few years by city of Clovis and Clovis PD to try to reduce crime.

Sierra Vista Elementary is OK. If you use API scores it comes in about 844. But that is low for Clovis Unified, it ranks about 26th out of 31 elementary schools in Clovis. But Sierra Vista ranks near the top for comparison schools in California with similiar socio-economic demographics.

[sms1967]

All the 'Clovis' schools are really good... it's more of a district thing. However, if I was appartment shopping and had the means, I'd go north of Bullard rather than Barstow or Shaw. The housing boom resulted in Clovis growing a ton and it all went north and north east. You did see some go south, more towards the airport as others have noted, but it's surrounded by some crap. Having said that, Clovis Police don't screw around. You're probably fine... depending on what you're accustomed to.

Again, depending on what you can spend, I think you're better off looking further north... say Herndon or Temperance.

[Gemdiver]

Originally Posted by RabbitMage

clovis advice

Here's a new tool that was recently released. It gives you a choice of viewing crime data from the sheriff's dept or Clovis PD.
https://www.crimereports.com/