Was Vallejo ever a cool place for Bay Areans? (Fairfield: amusement parks, crime)

[DuctTapedToCokeMachine]

Vallejo, the city, the myth, the legend.

Lots of things have happened there.

I have been a couple times, and it is actually underrated despite the crime and angry public people. Great weather, no wildfires, lots of food and I heard they have good Mexican and Hawaiian and of course seeing as it has such a high Filipino population it has its Filipino foods (ate at the Jolibee there once and bought from the Filipino market). Lots of old architecture like 50’s diners and Vic homes and it is near SF enough.

So yeah, wasn’t it popular during the 70s/80s where people liked to go to it and it had more amusement parks, malls, things etc?

[Ruth4Truth]

It's gradually gentrifying. It's been "discovered", as the last affordable bastion on the east side of the Bay, with an easy ferry commute to SF. Give it time. There are some really nice developments off the north side of town, and then those Victorians, downtown. And some cool cafes and eateries, artist hang-outs.

The question is, when gentrification takes over, where are the people who can't afford anyplace else going to go? Where will the artists go, who fled there from SF's skyrocketing rents, and who help make pockets of Vallejo cool?

[sav858]

Not really. My parents moved us out of there in 88 for a reason.

Only thing it was ever cool for was Marine World.

[DuctTapedToCokeMachine]

Originally Posted by sav858

Not really. My parents moved us out of there in 88 for a reason.

Only thing it was ever cool for was Marine World.

Oh yeah forgot to mention that.

But I am 27 and don’t care for that stuff now, even when it opens again. Well maybe save for rides but it’s hella pricy.

[keninaz]

Grew up there, born in 1946.
Vallejo was a different town until the early 1970s to be sure. We were charter members of Marine World too.
By 1987 I moved my family up to Suisun and commuted to MINSY with my wife to get away from the violence that was becoming a real problem in Vallejo.
Been back a few times since to look around, it's just not the same anymore.
With one exception, Bud's was still in business for a great hamburger!

[clongirl]

No. It never really had a great reputation. Lots of families moved onward to Fairfield as a slightly more "upscale" place.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by sav858

Not really. My parents moved us out of there in 88 for a reason.

Only thing it was ever cool for was Marine World.

Marine World was cool when it was in Redwood City, not Vallejo.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...eg?format=500w

[keninaz]

Originally Posted by clongirl

No. It never really had a great reputation. Lots of families moved onward to Fairfield as a slightly more "upscale" place.

Many of upper management at Mare Island in Napa

[Shelacious]

I grew up there. It was very different (small town blue collar provincial) when the Mare Island Naval Base was active. Napa and Benicia were the upscale suburbs, but Vallejo had it's (slightly) gritty charm, but literally no business development. The drug epidemic of the 1980s hit Vallejo pretty hard, and then the base closure put an additional nail in the proverbial coffin. But I really appreciated growing up in Vallejo, it was fun, felt relatively safe because neighbors looked out for each other, and rarely boring.