Don't Bash My City!

I am deeply offended.  Today, I read an article on CNN Money Magazine online bashing the town that I live in.  The article listed Fresno as #4 on a list of 10 places that you shouldn't be investing your money in real estate.  (Great...perfect timing now that Hubby and I have bought a house here!!) 

OK...I can understand that they're saying that the housing market here isn't going to be doing so hot in the near future, and that's not where my gripe is. (Although I do believe that the market here won't be so bad - but that's just my humble opinion.)

I have a problem with the way they portrayed this city.  I'll put the very short two paragraphs that they wrote about Fresno below:

Fresno, CA

Yet another valley city with an economic base of low paid agricultural industry workers, Fresno real estate rang up impressive price hikes during the boom.

Today, the potential for more growth seems very limited. The landscape is mostly uninspiring, the weather unfavorable and the cultural amenities negligible.

 

WHAT?!?

 

In case thay haven't noticed, Fresno is undergoing an economic boom right now.  Unemployment is incredibly low - the job market is growing, and companies from across the country are looking to grow here.  The Central Valley is an agricultural paradise - responsible for growing a major part of the nation's fruits and veggies. 

 

And while it's not cheap to live here - by any means - it's still one of the most affordable cities in this state.  Toss in the fact that we're centrally located, and Fresno starts to look a little better.

 

Also, if they had bothered to come out here and take a look around, they might just notice that we have three (count 'em three) national parks at our back door.  In less than an hour, we can be in Yosemite, Kings Canyon or Sequoia National Parks, taking in the sights and wonders, and smelling those gorgeous trees.  Oh - by the way...we've got the nation's largest tree right here in Sequoia.  Oh...and the Nation's Christmas Tree, too.  Uh huh - and a canyon that runs deeper than the Grand Canyon right here in our very own Kings Canyon National Park.  AND we've got the highest point in the lower 48 - a mere few hours drive from the lowest point in the lower 48.  Uninspired landscape, my ass!

 

We're only two hours away from the ocean.  Three or so hours from San Fran and LA.  Major culture meccas for sure, and right down the road from us.  Snow skiing is a short jaunt away...and I don't have to drive in the snow or on icy roads to boot!

 

We're lacking culture, you say?  We might not have the major cultural attractions that San Fran and LA boast - but we're not the tourist attraction that they are, either.  Fresno is up-and-coming.  We get Cirque de Soleil, automotive shows, and major performers.  We're becoming a major stop on coucert tours...heck, when Madonna passed through this summer, she put on two shows!

 

Fresno now has many of the major shopping and dining opportunities that the bigger cities have.  And there are more coming!  Right off the top of my head, I can think of two major shopping complexes in the works - to add to the (at least) four major shoping areas already in place.  That isn't too bad, I think!

 

Now I can see how the natives here can think that Fresno doesn't have much to offer.  When you compare this big little city to the major metropolises nearby, we're not going to be able to hold a candle to them.  But you know what?  I've lived in a crummy place or two, and Fresno ranks up there as one of the better places to be.  It's got everything that you need - and you don't have to sit in traffic while trying to get to it! 

 

We've got a AAA Minor League baseball team, with a pretty nice stadium.  I don't evenlike sports, but I enjoy going to a Grizzlies game.    We've got a college football team.  We're constantly amazed at the amount of support that the locals have for their teams.  There are museums, upscale shopping and dining, two water parks, gardens, trails, parks and there are awesome lakes just a short drive up into the foothills. 

 

And for the weather - really it's not all that bad.  We moved here in December of 2005, and I have yet to find myself wading in knee-deep snow.  Oh, sure....it rained a lot last winter, but really...I'd rather have rain than snow.  Oh, and I forgot...the valley hasunbearable heat.  Get real...two or three weeks of temps above 110 degrees wasn't so bad.  So I lost a few plants and the electric bill went up a bit from running the a/c.  Big whoop.  Spend a few years in the Florida heat and humidity, then come crying to me about walking to your car from your front door in this dry heat.  Or better yet, be like my husband and spend a year in the Middle East - with intermittant a/c. 

 

OK - I'll admit that this pea-soup fog unnerves me.  I have a hard enough time trying to see at night - I don't need that kind of obstacle in my way.  But I'll make it through OK.  I even understand that earthquakes here aren't so bad.

 

The bottom line is that Fresno isn't a pit.  And it certainly isn't the pit that CNN Money Magazine online claims that it is.  I genuinely like it here.  There are plenty of things to keep us occupied for whatever time we'll be spending here, and it's right in the middle of the state - the perfect base to have for seeing the rest of the amazing (and very inspiring) landscape that this area has to offer.