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I generally agree with what this author has written, except for Sunnyside being isolated. With the 180 freeway I can be downtown at Grizzlies stadium within 10-12 minutes. It's not that far a drive and traffic isn't bad usually.
If you live on Huntington Blvd. you are not in great schools, either, but it's a really nice neighborhood.
What would be ideal is if we had an east/west freeway in north Fresno and Clovis. But we kinda use the Herndon "speedway" for that if you don't want to make a loop.
Again, like I posted in my last post, I challenge people to compare Fresno - after seeing the areas I mentioned in my last post - and then comparing it to the numerous other cities with similar layouts all across the state. The NE Fresno+Clovis area I mentioned is better than 70-80 percent of them. I'd venture to say that when you consider this area, Fresno is better by most common criteria than Bakersfield, Merced, Stockton, Fremont, most of the Inland Empire, most of the South Bay (outside of, say, Palo Alto, San Jose and maybe a couple others), the East Bay outside of Walnut Creek and Oakland, the San Diego metro outside of San Diego itself, entire South Los Angeles, and anything north of San Francisco or Sacramento (unless you are an extreme nature lover and prefer Shasta>Yosemite). For people who like to split hairs, I may be wrong about a couple of those, but you get the picture - Fresno is better than a lot of places, not just some. I personally believe Fresno actually is a better city to live in than Sacramento simply because its far, far superior public schools (make sure to factor in Fresno's GATE schools) although Sacramento has a slight edge in most other categories. Personally, I would put Fresno when looked at as a whole and in the proper context of it having good and bad areas, in the top 10-20 of California cities when it comes to amenities, schools, shopping, nature, neighborhoods, and all the other measures of quality of life. I'm not exaggerating as some Fresno homer because I'm not, I actually grew up in Seattle (and lived in several other cool cities) so you can call me a Seattle homer if anything.
But, again, most of the people who like to bag on Fresno wouldn't understand because they haven't visited the areas of Fresno that I mentioned in my previous post. Do they investigate or at least withhold judgement until they get a look? No, they carry on with their campaigns against Fresno, with the picture of Fresno from Highway 99 (one of the worst areas) securely in their mind, and then they like to split hairs when they know have no good response to someone who says anything good about Fresno. We have some geniuses on this forum.
Again, like I posted in my last post, I challenge people to compare Fresno - after seeing the areas I mentioned in my last post - and then comparing it to the numerous other cities with similar layouts all across the state. The NE Fresno+Clovis area I mentioned is better than 70-80 percent of them. I'd venture to say that when you consider this area, Fresno is better by most common criteria than Bakersfield, Merced, Stockton, Fremont, most of the Inland Empire, most of the South Bay (outside of, say, Palo Alto, San Jose and maybe a couple others), the East Bay outside of Walnut Creek and Oakland, the San Diego metro outside of San Diego itself, entire South Los Angeles, and anything north of San Francisco or Sacramento (unless you are an extreme nature lover and prefer Shasta>Yosemite). For people who like to split hairs, I may be wrong about a couple of those, but you get the picture - Fresno is better than a lot of places, not just some. I personally believe Fresno actually is a better city to live in than Sacramento simply because its far, far superior public schools (make sure to factor in Fresno's GATE schools) although Sacramento has a slight edge in most other categories. Personally, I would put Fresno when looked at as a whole and in the proper context of it having good and bad areas, in the top 10-20 of California cities when it comes to amenities, schools, shopping, nature, neighborhoods, and all the other measures of quality of life. I'm not exaggerating as some Fresno homer because I'm not, I actually grew up in Seattle (and lived in several other cool cities) so you can call me a Seattle homer if anything.
But, again, most of the people who like to bag on Fresno wouldn't understand because they haven't visited the areas of Fresno that I mentioned in my previous post. Do they investigate or at least withhold judgement until they get a look? No, they carry on with their campaigns against Fresno, with the picture of Fresno from Highway 99 (one of the worst areas) securely in their mind, and then they like to split hairs when they know have no good response to someone who says anything good about Fresno. We have some geniuses on this forum.
Again, I live in Sunnyside and generally agree.
I would like to point out a couple more things I guess.
It's hard to plan on moving here to Fresno and have your kid accepted into Manchester GATE, Bullard T.A.L.E.N.T., or other gate schools. There's alot of competition for that. So I generally recommend NE Fresno or Clovis within the CUSD district.
Central Unified is better across the river toward the Ranchos. Not so hot in NW Fresno and west Fresno.
Number 3, (and this is hilarious cause I talk about Idaho on occasion) our Me-n-Ed's pizza ain't that unique. There's one in Twin Falls, ID. So it's not a valley exclusive or anything. I was shocked to see it there myself when I was last in Idaho, but it's there. Don't know who franchised it...
If you want Me-n-Ed's pizza without the price, hit up Sunnyside Pizza in the old Me-n-Ed's shop at Kings Canyon and Clovis. Although with this economy Me-n-Ed's has gotten cheaper also.
Its been about 15 years since a predictable Tule Fog season in the Central Valley. Bay Area and SoCal people still like to trot it out as one of the big minuses about live there, but its a rare occurrence now.
I agree with you to a point, 15 years, that's quite a long time.
But, yes, Sacramento has not had any lengthy days of winter overcast in about 5 years. The low tule fog has not been around much at all either, when it does comes it burns off by noon.
It's been "years" since the whole Great Central Valley has been filled with the winter inversion layer for more than a few days at a time.
I would assume Fresno has had much less fog as well.
Rather, the Cali coast is getting cooler and foggier. The summer before last was called "no summer" up and down the Cali coast. The morning and evening fog wouldn't burn off and "June gloom" lasted until Sept.
I personally believe Fresno actually is a better city to live in than Sacramento simply because its far, far superior public schools (make sure to factor in Fresno's GATE schools) although Sacramento has a slight edge in most other categories..
LOL. You're delusional. Fresno better than Sacramento?!?! In what exactly???? Sacramento is in a totally different class/tier than Fresno. You measure success and greatness on which city has a better school system? Fresno may have a better education system than Sac, maybe Portland, perhaps even Atlanta or Charlotte but these cities are far, far superior than Fresno in so many different levels.
Fresno's economy is primarily agriculture, and for that reason alone, will have a tough time attracting businesses, companies, entrepreneurs and people who want to invest in Fresno.
Sacramento's economy is build on government, technology, and food processing, and is one of the nation's diverse cities. The educational attainment in Sacramento is much richer than Fresno. Most students soon after graduating from college return to Sacramento because it is a underrated city with loads of potential. Also, Sacramento has the advantage of attracting former Bay Area residents, many of whom carry degrees from prestigious schools like Berkeley and Stanford.
Finally, in another study ranking cities based on access to public parks, The Trust for Public Land put Sacramento second behind only San Francisco and ahead of New York City and Boston. Fresno came in dead last #40 ! ParkScore
I'm sorry but I find it hard to believe anyone choosing Fresno over Sacramento. Sacramento just offers more citywide in my opinion.
Last edited by pistola916; 03-06-2013 at 01:12 AM..
I would like to point out a couple more things I guess.
It's hard to plan on moving here to Fresno and have your kid accepted into Manchester GATE, Bullard T.A.L.E.N.T., or other gate schools. There's alot of competition for that. So I generally recommend NE Fresno or Clovis within the CUSD district.
Central Unified is better across the river toward the Ranchos. Not so hot in NW Fresno and west Fresno.
Number 3, (and this is hilarious cause I talk about Idaho on occasion) our Me-n-Ed's pizza ain't that unique. There's one in Twin Falls, ID. So it's not a valley exclusive or anything. I was shocked to see it there myself when I was last in Idaho, but it's there. Don't know who franchised it...
If you want Me-n-Ed's pizza without the price, hit up Sunnyside Pizza in the old Me-n-Ed's shop at Kings Canyon and Clovis. Although with this economy Me-n-Ed's has gotten cheaper also.
PS: I'm eating a pepperoni mushroom Me-n-Ed's pizza right now, lol.
I would agree that Clovis Unified schools are generally better than the Fresno Unified ones, but my point was that the city offers more for students to reach their full potential than almost every other city in California and certainly every city that could be considered a rival or competitor of ours and the reason for that is the GATE program offered by Fresno Unified. Just look at how University High is ranked #46 on US News & World Report. Now if your kids can't make it into those schools, CUSD is a great fallback. On a side note, we are an hour away from UC Merced, which is undergoing heavy construction right now and will in a short matter of time be in the ranks of its highly esteemed brethren, so if you have kids now, its nice to know that is there (remember UC's generally prefer students in their local region, at least in my day).
I was looking into future plans of moving into other cities which offer more amenities than ours but for every one that I find, not a single one offers a school like Manchester GATE and the affordability of our city (at least not in the neighborhoods for those schools). A lot of the good schools are in the South Bay in very expensive areas. I also found North Star Academy in Redwood City and Jack Weaver in Long Beach, CA - but no even the neighborhoods for those schools are much more expensive than Fresno. Fresno is one of the only options in California for a middle income family wanting to live in an area both that they can most likely afford and which has access to elite public schools.
I am frankly shocked about that Twin Falls Me-N-Eds. I always figured they were from here, but I'm not sure now and I can't find out. I used to really like Dominion's too, which falls within that same style too but they are relocating temporarily. They would always give way more cheese and I loved getting the X-large 18 inch pizza special. I will give that Sunnyside Pizza a chance, for real though and thanks for the tip. You should have tried this place called Chicago Pizza Connection for pizza pies, but that is closed now. Now, every time I want a good Chicago-style pie, I have to get one at Hollywood Pies when I visit my brother in Los Angeles.
LOL. You're delusional. Fresno better than Sacramento?!?! In what exactly???? Sacramento is in a totally different class/tier than Fresno. You measure success and greatness on which city has a better school system? Fresno may have a better education system than Sac, maybe Portland, perhaps even Atlanta or Charlotte but these cities are far, far superior than Fresno in so many different levels.
Fresno's economy is primarily agriculture, and for that reason alone, will have a tough time attracting businesses, companies, entrepreneurs and people who want to invest in Fresno.
Sacramento's economy is build on government, technology, and food processing, and is one of the nation's diverse cities. The educational attainment in Sacramento is much richer than Fresno. Most students soon after graduating from college return to Sacramento because it is a underrated city with loads of potential. Also, Sacramento has the advantage of attracting former Bay Area residents, many of whom carry degrees from prestigious schools like Berkeley and Stanford.
Finally, in another study ranking cities based on access to public parks, The Trust for Public Land put Sacramento second behind only San Francisco and ahead of New York City and Boston. Fresno came in dead last #40 ! ParkScore
I'm sorry but I find it hard to believe anyone choosing Fresno over Sacramento. Sacramento just offers more citywide in my opinion.
Notice I started my sentence by saying that Fresno has Sacramento beat overall in my personal opinion - which means I was just giving my personal impression. I wasn't giving judgement on Sacramento. A judgement would be saying: "I can recommend Fresno over Sacramento" or plain "Sacramento is better than Fresno and that is that" - and that is not what I did. I still need to see Sacramento more thoroughly before I can deliver definitive judgement on it.
But here is what my impressions SO FAR have shown me: Fresno does SEEM to have Sacramento beat in a few things. For one, the housing prices for what you get is cheaper here from I've seen. Outside of a viable downtown/midtown, what really good shopping locations does Sacramento have - I never saw a shopping plaza there as good as Riverpark outside of downtown, but then I didn't search long enough (so again, I am withholding judgement until I get all the facts). You guys had the Westfield which I heard was cool for a while, but that is going out the door. I didn't see any neighborhoods that matched ours on Van Ness drive, but then I wasn't looking hard enough. I can say this one for sure though: Sacramento's public education system doesn't offer anything close to GATE, now everyone can agree on that and I have heard some internal discussions about struggling public education in Sacramento like which I haven't heard here in Clovis Unified. As for location, yes you guys are close to Lake Tahoe, but I think we are situated better being equidistant between So-Cal and Nor-Cal and, again, we are also an hour away from Yosemite. Again, I'm withholding judgement on Sacramento, only going so far so to say "this is what I think", but not going so far as to recommend that others take my opinion at face value. So I have no problem with the majority of people favoring Sacramento over Fresno. Besides, my point wasn't to put Sacramento down, but put Fresno up because you and I can both agree that Sacramento is a cool city. Some of what I like about Fresno can't be objectified or even explained to outsiders, anyways - like how we have some really great farmer market festivals (which are really just festivals) that I've just had a blast at like no where else.
Ur right that Sacramento has higher educational attainment, but that wasn't my point - my point had to do with the public education system for K-12. You guys do have a better UC in the area, but ours (UC Merced) will most definitely be catching up in the next 20 or so years.
I didn't know about Sacramento public parks being so good - frankly, I've never walked in one. We do have a nice Woodward Park area which has a 2,500 people amphitheater, Japanese Garden, and even Dirt Bike and BMXing parks. You should check it out if you ever visit - its in the good area of Fresno that I've been yapping on about.
But here is what my impressions SO FAR have shown me: Fresno does SEEM to have Sacramento beat in a few things. For one, the housing prices for what you get is cheaper here from I've seen. Outside of a viable downtown/midtown, what really good shopping locations does Sacramento have - I never saw a shopping plaza there as good as Riverpark outside of downtown, but then I didn't search long enough (so again, I am withholding judgement until I get all the facts). You guys had the Westfield which I heard was cool for a while, but that is going out the door. I didn't see any neighborhoods that matched ours on Van Ness drive, but then I wasn't looking hard enough. I can say this one for sure though: Sacramento's public education system doesn't offer anything close to GATE, now everyone can agree on that and I have heard some internal discussions about struggling public education in Sacramento like which I haven't heard here in Clovis Unified. As for location, yes you guys are close to Lake Tahoe, but I think we are situated better being equidistant between So-Cal and Nor-Cal and, again, we are also an hour away from Yosemite. Again, I'm withholding judgement on Sacramento, only going so far so to say "this is what I think", but not going so far as to recommend that others take my opinion at face value. So I have no problem with the majority of people favoring Sacramento over Fresno. Besides, my point wasn't to put Sacramento down, but put Fresno up because you and I can both agree that Sacramento is a cool city. Some of what I like about Fresno can't be objectified or even explained to outsiders, anyways - like how we have some really great farmer market festivals (which are really just festivals) that I've just had a blast at like no where else.
Ur right that Sacramento has higher educational attainment, but that wasn't my point - my point had to do with the public education system for K-12. You guys do have a better UC in the area, but ours (UC Merced) will most definitely be catching up in the next 20 or so years.
If you are going to include Clovis in the discussion you have to include Sacramento's San Juan Unified School District, Elk Grove School District, public schools in Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, and El Dorado Hills-Shingle Springs.
If you are going to count Merced as Fresno's UC. - 65 miles from Fresno. Then you can say Sacto's has 2 UC's: Davis - 12 miles from Downtown Sac, and Berkeley 77 miles from SAC.
If you are going to include Clovis in the discussion you have to include Sacramento's San Juan Unified School District, Elk Grove School District, public schools in Folsom, Roseville, Rocklin, and El Dorado Hills-Shingle Springs.
If you are going to count Merced as Fresno's UC. - 65 miles from Fresno. Then you can say Sacto's has 2 UC's: Davis - 12 miles from Downtown Sac, and Berkeley 77 miles from SAC.
A fair point about the UC's. But Merced is the central valley's only UC. So I look upon it kindly, when not upset that they didn't put it in Fresno, haha. And my neighbors kid attends, although she lives on campus and doesn't commute.
It is possible that it's possible to live in NE Fresno (actually even a bit of NW Fresno) and be within CUSD though. I didn't even realize how far west CUSD is until I went to one of my nieces cross country races at Nelson Elementary. I had thought that Pinedale Elem just west of Blackstone up above Herndon was the furthest west.
(Don't ask me why Valley Oak seems to be located in downtown Fresno. Ain't that curious about that, hehe)
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