What's to like about Oxnard? (Fresno, Thousand Oaks: home builders, landscaping, neighborhoods)

[enlightenme]

Oh man, it isn't good when you are arguing back and forth over what city has better chain stores. Strip malls, cheesy developments, chain restaurants and subdivsion housing doesn't make a city better. I suppose a Whole Foods can give you the illusion of being in a more upscale city, but once you leave and go around the corner, you can buy your oranges a lot cheaper. Go to the next light and you can also get your wife a nice bouquet of flowers too. There are a hell of a lot places far worse to live, but if I could afford it I would keep going north on the 101...

[user_id]

Originally Posted by the city

Um, have you ever looked at the requirements for where they build a Whole Foods?

Whole foods demographic analysis aren't public record....

Originally Posted by the city

Oxnard having a 600,000 sq. ft. open-air mall will have about 40 high end apparel and other mall stores.

Obviously you're using "high end apparel" very loosely...because the planned stores in that development have a largely middle-class demographic.....

Regardless, to say it again, you're talking about want may exist in Oxnard in the future while talking about what exists in Fresno today. You're also assuming that the development is going to work, yet just because you build something doesn't mean its going to be successful.

Make apples-to-apples comparisons....compare what exists in Oxnard with what exists in the central valley....the two are rather similar.

Originally Posted by the city

Fresno having a more developed downtown means ****. There are cities like Long Beach which have built up downtowns and are much nicer.

Huh? We are talking about Oxnard and the central valley not the central valley and long beach.

Fresh and easy? huh? That is a discount grocery store...those make great sense in Oxnard.

[DaniellaG]

There is a Whole Foods in Thousand Oaks I go to. It is very small compared to the ones I have been out of state.
I just assumed the reason for the Whole Foods and newer rental community etc was to help Oxnard have a new more upscale feel. So that maybe more people would want to live in the city and it may attract more variety of people?
Don't you think some from Camarillo and other near cities would drive to a nice shopping center with WF? 3 years though and it is still not open sounds like there is some issue going on

[FresnoFacts]

Just because the city has driven thru Valley cities once or twice does not mean he knows all about the region.

Originally Posted by the city

The one in Oxnard is going to be about 50,000 sq. ft. and the one one in Fresno is about at 33,000 sq. ft.

Local rumors are that some site research is being done about another store in Fresno along with stores in other cities in the Valley.

Originally Posted by the city

Fresno and Bakersfield have say about 20 high apparel and other mall stores each.

Oxnard having a 600,000 sq. ft. open-air mall will have about 40 high end apparel and other mall stores.

What do you consider high end store brands? Have you actually counted them? Have you considered what new stores are coming to Valley cities that you may not know about? Additionally many high end boutiques are not chains but carry designer brands.

Just throwing out seat of your pants numbers like 20 and 40 (and comparing current to potential future) is not accurate.

Originally Posted by the city

Oxnard is getting a huge REI store and none r in the Valley.

You need to check info before statements like this.

REI has been in Fresno for some time, its located in RiverPark between Ruth's Chris Steak and Sur La Table (research locations, prices, and customer demographics of those 2 if you do not know what they are).

Oprah shopped the Fresno REI when she did her Yosemite show. Actually made the location popular for a while with her fans driving thru wanting to stop there too.
Oprah and Gayle Make Their Way to REI - Oprah.com
There is also currently a REI in Stockton with rumors of stores for Bakersfield and Modesto.

Originally Posted by the city

I have never seen a Lexus dealership in the Valley.

Again do your research before making broad statements like this. Just because you haven't driven by them doesn't mean they are not in the Valley.

Lexus dealers are in Fresno, Modesto, and Bakersfield.

Other similar (what you probably consider upscale) car brands with dealers in the Valley include BMW, Acura, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.

Originally Posted by the city

Not to mention Oxnard has 2 Fresh N Easy stores.

There is a Fresh & Easy store in Downtown Fresno and other locations in the Valley. I guess Downtown Fresno is better than you said if you think Fresh & Easy is upscale.

Lets see there are currently 4 Fresh & Easys in Fresno (and they have 3 more local sites under development per their website), 2 stores in Clovis, 5 stores in Bakersfield (with 1 more future store listed). Then in smaller Valley towns they have 1 store in Reedley, 1 store in Hanford, 1 in Wasco, 1 in Delano, 1 in Lemoore, etc. Those in real estate tell me that there is some store location planning going on for other Valley cities for 2012 and 2013.

[the city]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

Just because the city has driven thru Valley cities once or twice does not mean he knows all about the region.

Local rumors are that some site research is being done about another store in Fresno along with stores in other cities in the Valley.


What do you consider high end store brands? Have you actually counted them? Have you considered what new stores are coming to Valley cities that you may not know about? Additionally many high end boutiques are not chains but carry designer brands.

Just throwing out seat of your pants numbers like 20 and 40 (and comparing current to potential future) is not accurate.


You need to check info before statements like this.

REI has been in Fresno for some time, its located in RiverPark between Ruth's Chris Steak and Sur La Table (research locations, prices, and customer demographics of those 2 if you do not know what they are).

Oprah shopped the Fresno REI when she did her Yosemite show. Actually made the location popular for a while with her fans driving thru wanting to stop there too.
Oprah and Gayle Make Their Way to REI - Oprah.com
There is also currently a REI in Stockton with rumors of stores for Bakersfield and Modesto.


Again do your research before making broad statements like this. Just because you haven't driven by them doesn't mean they are not in the Valley.

Lexus dealers are in Fresno, Modesto, and Bakersfield.

Other similar (what you probably consider upscale) car brands with dealers in the Valley include BMW, Acura, Jaguar, Mercedes, etc.


There is a Fresh & Easy store in Downtown Fresno and other locations in the Valley. I guess Downtown Fresno is better than you said if you think Fresh & Easy is upscale.

Lets see there are currently 4 Fresh & Easys in Fresno (and they have 3 more local sites under development per their website), 2 stores in Clovis, 5 stores in Bakersfield (with 1 more future store listed). Then in smaller Valley towns they have 1 store in Reedley, 1 store in Hanford, 1 in Wasco, 1 in Delano, 1 in Lemoore, etc. Those in real estate tell me that there is some store location planning going on for other Valley cities for 2012 and 2013.

Oxnard's crime index is at 224 (way lower than the valley cities) and weather is way cooler and its smaller than the main 4 valley cities and still has the same amount of high end retailers.

The schools might be good in the Central Valley and it might have good shopping too, but that's about it.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by the city

The schools might be good in the Central Valley and it might have good shopping too, but that's about it.

I don't know what you consider the 4 main Valley cities but Oxnard is smaller than Fresno or Bakersfield, roughly the same population as Modesto and much larger than Visalia.

You forgot to mention that cost of living in the Valley is much lower too, even though household incomes are only slightly lower than Oxnard or the Central Coast. That provides a better lifestyle for many of us who decided to move inland.

Everyone weighs many choices, if one place worked for everyone we'd all have to live in a 300 story skyscraper.

[user_id]

So like I was saying...take away the beach and the weather and Oxnard isn't much different than living in one of the larger cities in the central valley. Though one is likely to find more to do in Fresno, but that is primarily due to its larger size.

I still don't get what counts as a "high end retailer" or even why this would even be an important figure. For example, any area that has more tourists is going to have more retailers...not because of what locals are spending but instead what tourists are spending.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

As far as I know this thread is about what is to like about Oxnard. This isn't a comparative thread of other areas. Even I got on that band wagon due to one posters constant tearing down of Oxnard. The state has plenty of great cities that people can love for what ever reason. Oxnard has many things that people love. It is why we call this city home. As some have said any place can have a store or retailer. I agree that isn't what makes a specific city better over another. It does say something though when a given retailer decides to open a location in a given city. Do you think that someone would open a Mercedes Benz dealership in Oxnard if they didn't think that the car would sell? Do you also think that the people of the Conejo Valley are the people buying those cars? It is people within the city and close by that will shop at the Oxnard Mercedes Benz dealership. If the city has a high end store it is because those within the city will support that store.

Oxnard has a lot to love about it. A lot can be said about location and if you were to move Oxnard somewhere else it wouldn't have what it has. That is true but the fact is that Oxnard is on the coast and has a lot going for it. The fact is that you can't take those things away. They are part of the fabric of what makes Oxnard what it is.

[the city]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

As far as I know this thread is about what is to like about Oxnard. This isn't a comparative thread of other areas. Even I got on that band wagon due to one posters constant tearing down of Oxnard. The state has plenty of great cities that people can love for what ever reason. Oxnard has many things that people love. It is why we call this city home. As some have said any place can have a store or retailer. I agree that isn't what makes a specific city better over another. It does say something though when a given retailer decides to open a location in a given city. Do you think that someone would open a Mercedes Benz dealership in Oxnard if they didn't think that the car would sell? Do you also think that the people of the Conejo Valley are the people buying those cars? It is people within the city and close by that will shop at the Oxnard Mercedes Benz dealership. If the city has a high end store it is because those within the city will support that store.

Oxnard has a lot to love about it. A lot can be said about location and if you were to move Oxnard somewhere else it wouldn't have what it has. That is true but the fact is that Oxnard is on the coast and has a lot going for it. The fact is that you can't take those things away. They are part of the fabric of what makes Oxnard what it is.

Well put.

[olypentax]

I am an older person who was raised in the Midwest and have lived in many areas of the US, most recently the past 20 years in the SF Bay Area.

I have now been in Oxnard for a year and I love the area for the diversity of culture, great food, shopping, outdoor activities, the beach and of course in my opinion the best weather in the USA and possibly the World. You don't need AC and could almost get along without heat.

My daughter lives in The SFV, Sherman Oaks and I would not live there because it is too hot in the summer and just too many people and too much traffic.