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Old 06-18-2011, 04:33 PM
 
103 posts, read 167,131 times
Reputation: 28

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Des-Lab View Post
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.
I alson live in tulare and i couldnt have said it any better myself.
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Old 02-05-2013, 01:12 PM
 
4 posts, read 10,896 times
Reputation: 11
Boring. If you love to sleep & read books thats the right place :d
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Old 02-05-2013, 02:40 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,672,432 times
Reputation: 1911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Des-Lab View Post
Well I live in Tulare and have for two years now. I'll try and give you an honest synopsis, both good and bad.
Well, ya left out your outlet center, which we stop at on occasion.

And Mooney Blvd. just ain't that crowded that far south around the Costco. The further north ya go up Mooney (and at Christmas Mooney is one of the worst streets I've been on anywhere) the worse Mooney is.
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Old 02-05-2013, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Oroville, California
3,477 posts, read 6,461,004 times
Reputation: 6787
I ate at the Carls Jr. there once on the way back up north. Got food poisoning. At the time it seemed attractive and pleasant enough for a valley town, but I live in Oroville so take that for what its worth.
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Old 02-05-2013, 06:08 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,672,432 times
Reputation: 1911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
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.
Still seems to be the same. Although they can do some Christmas shopping in Tulare at the outlet center instead of going to the malls in Visalia. Visalia has minor league baseball as well.

It's not much of a drive up Mooney to Visalia anyway. No hardship.

When I lived in Porterville, Visalia was the place to go as Bakersfield was a bit further (sometimes we'd go to Bakersfield anyway).
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Old 02-05-2013, 06:44 PM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,301,329 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Senno View Post
Still seems to be the same. Although they can do some Christmas shopping in Tulare at the outlet center instead of going to the malls in Visalia. Visalia has minor league baseball as well.

It's not much of a drive up Mooney to Visalia anyway. No hardship.

When I lived in Porterville, Visalia was the place to go as Bakersfield was a bit further (sometimes we'd go to Bakersfield anyway).
There were no outlets back in the day. My "acquaintance" with Tulare began in 1969.
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Old 02-05-2013, 06:46 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,672,432 times
Reputation: 1911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
There were no outlets back in the day. My "acquaintance" with Tulare began in 1969.
Mine started in 1976 when I was 7 and we moved to Fresno from Phoenix. We stopped at great-grandpas house for a bit in Tulare.
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Old 02-05-2013, 07:16 PM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,301,329 times
Reputation: 29336
Quote:
Originally Posted by Senno View Post
Mine started in 1976 when I was 7 and we moved to Fresno from Phoenix. We stopped at great-grandpas house for a bit in Tulare.
I was 23 in '69 so I was 30 before you made your move. I'd have likely stayed in Phoeix even though I dislike desert. I dsislike the valley more.
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Old 02-05-2013, 07:19 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,672,432 times
Reputation: 1911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
I was 23 in '69 so I was 30 before you made your move. I'd have likely stayed in Phoeix even though I dislike desert. I dsislike the valley more.
Big job promotion came through. /shrug

Last edited by Senno; 02-05-2013 at 08:10 PM..
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Old 02-05-2013, 08:13 PM
 
6,802 posts, read 6,672,432 times
Reputation: 1911
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
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.
She wasn't portuguese was she?

Anywho, no one preeminent in our family. But my uncle did date Miss Tulare County when he was younger (he's 6 years older than I). She'd go camping with us and I'd get assigned to chaperone them when we went to the swimming holes along the creek or horse riding away from camp.
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