Looking for information about Fresno (Orange, Santa Clara: apartments, living in, restaurants)

[nodehunter]

Hi, everyone!

I am considering a job offer which would place me in Fresno. I will be visiting for about a week soon and would like some information. I'm a gay man in my late twenties and I enjoy museums, botanical gardens, hiking, cooking, wineries, and technology. What things would you recommend seeing that would give me the best overview of what Fresno has to offer? I'd also like to check out potential places to live while I'm there, so any recommendations regarding apartments would be most welcome! I'm looking for something quiet and relatively safe in the $800-1,000/month range, preferably in the city. Most importantly, I'd like something in an area where my partner and I would be able to feel welcome.

Thanks in advance!

[DontH8Me]

One of my old former employers told me the best way to see Fresno is in the rear view mirror. But that was about ten years ago, so maybe things have changed since? From how he described it, it didn't seem to have the qualities you listed in your description (although I believe Gallo Winery is located in Fresno, so maybe you can at least get some wine tasting in?).

[BayAreaNurse]

I was born and raised and Fresno and have sinced moved to the SF bay area. I can tell you a few things about Fresno.

-Fresno gets very hot in the summer. Think 105+ during July/August.
-Fresno is a relatively conservative area, but they do have a Pride Parade in Tower District once (maybe twice?) a year. Unfortunately, that area has become overrun by hipsters and the spray-tanned blonde clovis girls.
-If you move there you will want to live on the north side of town (anything north of Shaw Ave) and with that budget, it's definitely doable if you want a 1-2 Bedroom. I lived in Monterey Pines (Bullard and Palm area) and Terrace View (Nees/Blackstone) apartments and never had problems at either of them. I paid 650 for a 2BR/2BA (back in 2010) at Terrace View and 700 for a very large 1 BR at Monterey Pines.
-Fresno is roughly 90 minutes away from Yosemite so there's definitely hiking.
-There are a few wineries around the area (Madera county has a few, and that's about 15 minutes north of Fresno) and they have wine-tasting restaurants scattered about the city.
-LA/SF are 3 and 4 hours away respectively.
-Only light traffic during rush hour
-Ugly, dirty downtown area is not worth visiting unless you have business to attend to
-If you like shopping, Riverpark and Fig Garden Village area have plenty of shops to choose from, both chain and local.
-As far as the technology sector goes, well, it's certainly not like the Bay or LA areas, but I'm sure you can find something.
-Auto theft and meth use are big problems there. Do not keep ANY valuables within view. Had my car stolen twice, broken into 3 times, and had my bike stolen all within 6 months of living there. (I was living in a fairly nice part of town too, barstow/fruit).

FYI: I am also gay and have encountered little to no problems in that area. As long as you are respectful and mindful other people and their privacy, they generally will respect your's.

If you want my honest opinion of the place:

I will never move back to that town. I really hate it. My parents are in the process of moving and once that is over with, I don't think I will ever come back. Just my opinion.

[nodehunter]

I know Fresno isn't the most desirable city and it has a lot of things I will probably dislike, but the job in question would provide some great experience in my field. As long as it's not completely desolate, I should be fine and I can head over to the bay area on some weekends.

Thank you both for your input!

[S.S. Lazio]

Fresno is one of those cities that has a lot of great stuff, and a lot of bad stuff which really just makes it a "wash."

One could go either way with it.


That being said, about 4 years ago, anything north of shaw was ok. Now, in my opinion, the new threshold is Herndon. Anything north of Herndon, east of First. Realistically, I'd be looking at Clovis.

Downtown? Like tower? There's nothing there. All the shopping, hanging out, etc is done at the mall or riverpark. So I'm in agreement with the above poster, there's no need to be in Tower unless you have to be there.

Live close to HWY 168, it's the easiest freeway to get on/around on.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I drove today from Santa Clara (close to the SJ airport area) to outside of Fresno, as I'm looking at relocating there.

I found that it was way nicer than I expected. I could totally live in Fresno. I am looking at moving outside of Fresno into Orange Cove, by Reedly. At any rate, it's nicer than expected over there. I think you'll be fine, as will I :-)

[S.S. Lazio]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

I drove today from Santa Clara (close to the SJ airport area) to outside of Fresno, as I'm looking at relocating there.

I found that it was way nicer than I expected. I could totally live in Fresno. I am looking at moving outside of Fresno into Orange Cove, by Reedly. At any rate, it's nicer than expected over there. I think you'll be fine, as will I :-)

Avoid orange cove. Unless you are picking oranges, there is no reason to be located there. There are cartel families there who have some interesting ways of finding people to work their money laundering, I mean farming operations.

Reedley would be better in spades, preferably anything south of Manning. Dinuba would be better than Orange Cove.

[Majin]

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by S.S. Lazio

Avoid orange cove. Unless you are picking oranges, there is no reason to be located there. There are cartel families there who have some interesting ways of finding people to work their money laundering, I mean farming operations.

Reedley would be better in spades, preferably anything south of Manning. Dinuba would be better than Orange Cove.

My reason for moving there is that there's a really nice senior complex there that I can afford. It's definitely the boonies, and I'll be driving a lot to Visalia and Reedley, and Fresno, etc. But, it looked safe enough. The cartel won't be interested in me :-)

I was impressed with how green it is over there, because of all of the agriculture. Also, you can see the mountains (albeit through the hazy smog).