A report of the best and worst downtowns (website) (San Diego: apartments, crime)

[Tantalust]

I just bumped into this California Planning & Development Report, I think there are some interesting comments.
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Best mid-sized cities: Pasadena, Santa Barbara, Chico

Most Overrated: Santa Monica.

Most Disappointing:San Bernardino, Redding, Antioch

More:

California's Best And Worst Mid-Sized City Downtowns | California Planning & Development Report

[mono#9]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting. Note that Visalia gets honorable mention--which I would second. It's a nice town and has some of the most affordable new housing in California.

[LASam]

Yeah, that is a terrific article. Pasadena's leadership has really done a great job making their city the model for urban redevelopment. I agree about SaMo as well... DT is great but doesn't integrate well into the city as a whole.

[Tantalust]

Thanks, I found it very useful.

Here's another one from last July, about bigger cities.

[Fresno rated rather badly ]

California's Best And Worst Big City Downtowns | California Planning & Development Report

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

Used to work in downtown San Bernardino and hung out there a lot as a teen. It was bad then and still is. Althout the area is getting its first Starbucks.

[Desertho]

Originally Posted by LivingLikeAGradStudent

Used to work in downtown San Bernardino and hung out there a lot as a teen. It was bad then and still is. Althout the area is getting its first Starbucks.

Magic Johnson pretty much sucked any lingering thought that Starbucks is harbinger of impending gentrification. You can find them in middle of gang territory in South LA and East Valley.

[Salcan]

Good thing San Bernardino is under going a major redevelopment phase to transform it self in to socals
3rd urban core (after LA and San Diego) see here: SAN BERNARDINO l Re-establishment as One of Southern California's Three Urban Cores - SkyscraperPage Forum

[BayAreaHillbilly]

RWC: Fox Theater is in receivership. The mutiplex appears to be doing OK. We'll see if the third time's a charm.
Sunnyvale: (See related thread on the SF Forum) A complete disaster. The developer who was planning to raze the Town and Country and build a Santana Row clone bit off more than he could chew by also taking on the second redo of the Sunnyvale Town Center enclosed mall (trying to turn it into a manufactured extension to what was left of the real downtown after the Town Center destroyed the other half of it). When the economy softened, the entire shebang, Town and Country (still not razed, now a bunch of abandoned buildings) and the half reconstructed Town Center went into receivership. The Town Center is now mothballed awaiting auction, with the lone exception of the Target which had been completed prior to the suspension. This will be interesting. And probably not in a good way.

[mrsltd]

I'm glad for what they said about Fullerton. But I don't think of Fullerton as offering suburban blandness, by and large, because most of the area is not new and the local topography (at least in the northern and central parts of the city) make it interesting.

I know there has been talk in the past of dealing with the southwestern part of town because it seemed, in the eyes of some, to be "depressed". I think that can be translated to mean "too many auto repair businesses, auto body shops, niche-off-beat businesses (such as Bob Mariott's Fly-Fishing school) and apartments as well as houses that aren't brand spanking new."

I think they should just leave the place alone, unless there are crime issues.

Sorry, I know this isn't about the downtown, but who is to say what constitutes "suburban blandness"?

Do all "cool downtowns" (or indeed, areas) have to have their layouts approved by a bunch of neo-uber-cool urban hipsters posing as urban planners but who really are social engineers?

I have no problem with urban areas being nice and inviting but I wonder how many of these people who rate downtowns would even consider a place like Fontana (remembering your pictures, Fontucky; will have to visit one day...have a cousin in Upland so might be a good excuse) or Chino (I was surprised that they HAD a downtown but it appeared to be charming and working)?

Actually, I guess urban planning IS social engineering in one sense.