2013 - Stop and Move

Categories : UncategorizedTags : broadway broadway redesign christmas downtown fresno downtown fresno partnership fulton mall ice skating rink peeve's peeve's public houseLeave a comment

Downtown Update: Peeve’s, Broadway, Fulton Mall

On December 24, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

I did some rounds downtown this week, and took some (but not enough) pictures. I decided to combine them into one update.

Peeve’s Public House, the successor to the Fresno Brewing Company on the Fulton Mall had their grand opening for a small market which sells only local goods. There’s a good selection of items, and prices range from attractive to ludicrous.

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The bar area hasn’t changed much from the FBC days, although they have a larger menu of drinks. Hooray for cider on tap. On the other hand, their non-alcoholic drink menu (coffees, teas) has shrunk.

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Outside, they’ve decorated their tree. In the past, I’ve said that the “Downtown Fresno Partnership” should do more to make the mall a holiday destination, especially by investing in lighting. It’s a shame that they’ve done no such thing – there’s nothing festive about the mall. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : 541 n fulton downtown fresno fulton fultonia south tower tfs investments tower districtLeave a comment

Groundbreaking for new downtown apartment building this weekend

On December 19, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

This project has flown under my radar. It’s called “South Tower” and will be on Fulton, just north of the 180 freeway.

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TFS Investments will be putting up this new building directly across from another property they own. It’s going to be in the art deco style which is really interesting, because it respects the architecture of the area, and is something you rarely see going up these days.

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The building will replace what used to be some badly run-down home, and pop up the density of the area.

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I wish it was a floor or two higher, but it’s still great for the neighborhood – and great to show that GV Urban isn’t the only game in town when it comes to downtown residential. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bike trail Clovis enterprise trail fresno old town trail pedestrian amenities rail trail sugar pine trail sugarpine trailLeave a comment

Three minor trail updates coming to area

On December 8, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Some small trail news from Fresno and Clovis.

Fresno will be adding five new drinking fountains on the sugar-pine trail that runs along Shepherd. I’d prefer lights, but it’s something. While Clovis has many amenities along the trail, Fresno does not.

Fresno will also be adding in another new section of trail along Herndon. A couple of months ago, they approved an addition between Fruit and Palm. Now it will be between Marks and Valentine. Green is existing, orange is new.

Google Map

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Clovis will be adding a new half-mile trail on the far east side of town, along the Enterprise Canal. The trail will connect from nothing to nothing. Makes no sense really. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : city of fresno downtown fresno eir fulton mall tiger2 Comments

Fulton Mall Alternate Analysis Reports Available for Public Comment

On December 1, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

The city has used the Thanksgiving weekend to put up the massive “Alternate Analysis Report” for the Fulton Mall on their website. The choices of course, are to keep the mall, or to destroy it.

The public comment period runs until January 13.

It’s 382 pages of fun, so I haven’t made my way through it yet, but the folks at “Save the Fulton Mall” have pointed out something quite bothersome:

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That doesn’t make sense. The plan is to bulldoze a park and turn it into a standard road. That doesn’t have any aesthetic impacts? Turning a pedestrian mall into a street doesn’t have land use/planning impacts? It doesn’t affect recreation, transportation or traffic? Huh? The plan involves bulldozing playgrounds to add parking spaces, that by definition is an impact on recreation and transportation… Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : crosswalk fresno Fresno Bee fresno pd fresno state officer cooley pedestrian pedestrian killed shaw unmarked crosswalk23 Comments

3rd pedestrian killed in two weeks, Bee jumps to blame victim

On November 21, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

In all of 2009, four pedestrians were killed in Fresno.

Over the past 3 weeks, three were killed by motorists, and one by a train. This is actually the second time this very year in which three pedestrians were killed in such a short span of time. I don’t know the total, but I would wager it’s trending higher than the 14 last year.

The latest incident happened at an intersection adjacent to Fresno State. The person killed was a high-school special ed teacher, who apparently was also studying at Fresno State. It happened on Shaw, between the college campus and the student neighborhood, filled with apartments, frats, and some restaurants. You know, the kind of place one finds heavy pedestrian traffic. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : comments meta spamLeave a comment

Meta: Comment spam-filter issues

On November 20, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Hey folks,

Just wanted to apologize at the delays in your comments being posted. For whatever reason, almost every single comment is now being sent into the “possibly spam” folder, rather than automatically be published. I haven’t changed any settings, so I don’t know if something is going on at Google’s end.

It’s especially strange because that includes those of you signed into an account with a history of commenting. You’d think that after the 20th time hitting “not spam” the filter would have figured it out… Anyway, it may take a day or two for me to be able to manually approve them, so sorry about that. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : broadway crosswalk downtown fresno fed-ex fresno Fresno Bee fresno pd pedestrian pedestrian killed selma venturaLeave a comment

Add “short driver” to the list of excusable reasons when a pedestrian is killed

On November 6, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Once upon a time, “I didn’t see him” was not an excuse. The rule was, if you hit something or someone, you were “driving too fast for the conditions,” or “not exercising due caution.” Most cops, it seems, have forgotten the rule, and take “I didn’t see him!” as a perfectly valid excuse. Fresno PD seems to have recently expanded that leniency in the death of a pedestrian this week in Fresno:

Officers also determined it would have been impossible for the driver
to see the pedestrian because of the driver’s short stature and seating
position. The driver faces no charges.
Fresno Bee
Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : ashlan drought granville leapfrog shaw sprawl water west fresno westlake9 Comments

Westlake: Another Granville Disaster

On October 31, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

Update: Kiel Shmidt has put together an excellent map of the project, how it compared to another Granville development (Running Horse) and the city boundaries.

That map can be seen here.

The Fresno Bee has published their article on the subject, including some good pictures of the site. That article can be read here.

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In 2005, Granville proposed a giant exurban residential development west of Fresno.

Now they’re making moves to actually build it.

They’re calling it Westlake, and they want to use 430 acres to build 2,600 new homes….and a giant lake. In typical Granville fashion, they want to do this in the middle of nowhere, far from jobs, businesses, and entertainment. Well, not nowhere – the area has plenty of productive farms. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bus Clovis FAX homeland security pedestrian lighting round up sidewalks streetlights transit7 Comments

Clovis gets grant for solar bus stop lighting

On October 24, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

One of our frequent commentators is going to like this news.

Clovis has received a grant from Homeland Security to install solar lighting systems at various bus stops around town.

I find homeland security to be an absurd waste of money, so I think it’s fantastic that Clovis is milking the cow to actually produce real benefits for local residents. I don’t understand how a light at a bus stop is meant to deter terrorism … but it’s money the transit system can use for a good cause – customer service.

I’ve argued previously that Clovis and Fresno should apply for every possible grant they can process, and this is a good example of the benefits. It’s especially nice to see that Clovis remembers they have a transit system, even though it doesn’t operate at night, and has very few shelters. Click to read more!

Categories : UncategorizedTags : bike path fresno fruit herndon palm trail trail expansion7 Comments

Small Gap in Herndon Bike Path to be Filled

On October 20, 2013February 19, 2018 By jamesinclair

There’s a small improvement coming to the Fresno bike network.

As everyone from Fresno is well aware, if you’re in the north part of town, Herndon is the only way to go east or west…if you have a car. 6 lanes of 50mph traffic might get you across quickly in a motor vehicle, but it’s an obstacle by bike. Sure, it’s legal to bike on Herndon, but no one would ever actually do it.

The streets to the north of Herndon are calm and quiet…but they don’t really connect. You can always go south, but that’s a .5 mile detour just to get to the next road.

The city is attempting to solve this issue by creating a multi-use path on the north side of the avenue. Why wasn’t it built when the six lanes of asphalt were? I don’t know. But for now, every year some money trickles in which is used to fill in gaps. Click to read more!