It’s Time To Let Northeast Fresno and Fresno Proper Go Their Separate Ways

img_1313 It's Time To Let Northeast Fresno and Fresno Proper Go Their Separate Ways
First, they felt it necessary to uselessly and embarrassingly insert God into the Fresno Council Chambers. Now, Northeast Fresno has managed to stop California law and the will of the rest of Fresno (well, most of) by getting spineless Fresno City Councilmen to vote no on legal pot.

It’s time we let NE Fresno go, guys.

They don’t really like Fresno and the rest of Fresno doesn’t really like them. It’s like we’re in a relationship that neither wants to be in but both of us are too nice to dump one another. I’ll be the asshole here. “Sorry, Northeast Fresno, it’s not us, it’s you. Can you please find a place to stay tonight?”

Go away, NE. You have way too much power for a bunch of track houses and strip malls.

We don’t need ya and you don’t like going into the Tower District or Downtown anyway. Plus, you don’t even know where Sunnyside is anymore, nor do you even know what we’re up to over in NW Fresno because I see you taking Avenue 9 to go out to Highway 99 and not taking Herndon like you used to.

It’s cool. Just take your stuff and leave.

You can have River Park and Yosemite Ranch. That one Vons. The boring Sequoia’s. The shitty Wassabi’s. We’re good. Except you can NOT have Woodward Park, that has to stay neutral territory.

But What Should We Name NE Fresno?

If you’re no longer going to carry the Fresno name, we have to think up something new for you.

Wishingitwasthefiftiesville? Mostlywhite? Oldpine? Texas?

No, those are terrible. THINK, Fresnan, think…

Ohhhhhh. I know. It’s been hiding there all along: Clovis West. The prominent high school in the area is already named it. It’s all Clovis School District. You all wish you were in Clovis anyway. Let’s do it, it has been decided. The town of Clovis West.

So, take care of yourself, Clovis West. I’m sure we can still be friends. Just don’t stalk us on Instagram, ok?

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Author: The Fresnan

Hey, Mikey Seay here. Local nerd. Longtime blogger and podcaster. I love talking local, Star Wars, beer and other junk. Find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat: @thefresnan CHEERS!

41 thoughts on “It’s Time To Let Northeast Fresno and Fresno Proper Go Their Separate Ways”

    1. Bravo!! ?? ?? ??

      Finally someone has written what many of us have been thinking all along!!

  1. don’t you remember when councilschmuck jerry duncan proposed renaming this section of fresno as reaganville?

      1. as far as i know, it was a legit proposal, but in the same way as tower district, mayfair, etc. have names.

  2. At least spell “separate” correctly, dear author. Any ideas as to what to do with the city of Pinedale? Did you know that all those children feed directly into Kastner Intermediate School & Clovis West High School? Did you know that the demographics of CWHS is made up of nearly 60% (57%, to be exact) of students that are NOT white? Yes, they may reside in Clovis Unified boundaries, but it ain’t all “white privileged”! Check your facts & your spelling, please!

    1. I consider Pinedale NW Fresno and as a former student at Pinedale (Lincoln at the time) I’d gladly take them. I doubt Clovis Uni’ would not mind. And thanks for the edit.

      1. Pinedale is in district 2 which is part of the majority of the nw area. Based on that yea you can classify as nw. But just seems off based on placement. Pinedale is really more closer to ne. And as mentioned being in Clovis unified. Guess people will argue it either way. Wish pinedale was not in district 2 and part of whatever district ne is to water down the stats a bit so it doesn’t seem so affluent. Nw district 2 has fig and the nw bluffs and Van ness extension then boom pinedale meh.

  3. South Fresno can develop into a thriving metropolis while West Clovis sprawls into the damn hills.

  4. Well that would be a bad idea because if you don’t include NE demographics for the entire city of fresno it will greatly reduce all the good data. You’ll only have nw and figarden area left. Then fresno will be prone to showing up to top worse lists.

    Ne fresno is essential because it is part of what makes fresno the big multi culture and classes that are in this city. Imagine if Clovis was simply part of fresno. Their data in demographics in education and income would boost fresno statistics. So taking away ne nw will definitely hurt the overall picture imo.

    1. …let’s be clear, though: including NE Fresno (or Clovis) with the rest of Fresno does not ACTUALLY make the rest of Fresno better. It just makes it LOOK better.
      If you are actually concerned with whether Fresno ends up on “top worst” lists, maybe consider solutions to the poverty, drugs, crime, poor education, et cetera, rather than slapping the statistics of more affluent areas over them and pretending everything’s okay.

      1. on the contrary, research does show on the demographics of ne fresno, clovis, and nw fresno north of shaw–that would include fig garden, and van ness extension.

        education, income, poverty levels, crime, etc etc etc all better in everyway compared to the rest of fresno.

        Why do you think all the nice strip malls and new stores are open in these areas: marketplace at el paseo, fig garden village, riverpark, those shopping plazas on herndon in ne and clovis etc.
        These businesses do research in the area and have the demographics and statistics on all of these factors. its all there.

        a lot of those “worst of” list where fresno is listed we cant deny is not based on the population of fresno north of shaw or clovis. I’m just saying that the worse of lists and even locals when talking bad about fresno just completely disregards a 1/3 or half of the entire city that do have good statistics. I agree things should be improved in other areas, I mean who wouldn’t want that, but its also not ok to base the entire reputation and generalization of fresno because of the bad parts, and totally disregard the good and petending that too is ok.

        1. YES! Totally agree Redd. These companies do demographic studies. And they draw a 5 mile radius around a certain point and they look at poverty, annual income, ethnic makeup, crime, etc. This is why Riverpark has all the nice stuff, NE Fresno has all the nice stuff, Herndon and ( is getting nice stuff due to all the Granville homes out there. People keep wanting a IKEA to go into DTF…IKEA will NEVER go to DTF because the demographics there will not support it. Sounds like the typical struggle between the haves and have nots. There will always be socioeconomic levels..it’s the capitalistic system, and people that CAN wove to a nicer area most likely will because they can. I would seriously consider renting my NE fresno home and move into one of the DTF lofts if DTF was a bustling thriving retail-entertainment hub, unfortunately its going to take another 5 to 10 yrs for DTF to take off.

  5. In general we can’t hate. We need these affluent areas. Honestly investors and out of towns people look for these type of areas as well as hipster areas like tower and a thriving downtown. We just need to keep growing and improve bad areas. We even need the other metro areas to improve. Look at Sacramento and it’s metro area. They have Davis, Rocklin, etc. We only have clovis. Madera is on a rise despite the hate for sprawl they are building those new communities off the 41. Communities big enough to even be it’s own small city. I think it just helps fresno and the valley to fill in these spots. If the high speed rail vision plays out, you may have bay area money spending here and they will want to be in areas like the ne and nw simply because those type of areas in the bay are unaffordable.

  6. Responding to several points:

    1. Jerry Duncan also said he wished he had a dirty bomb so he could get rid of every liberal in Fresno.

    2. as a product of Pinedale, I agree that if it’s between NW or NE Fresno, it’s NW Fresno because it’s west of Blackstone.

    2. Redd F know this is satirical, right?

    1. Of course I do, but people started to throw their comments so I did as well.

      And you have to admit people in Fresno and Clovis like to stick to their part of town especially those in the nicer areas. I have heard so much crap talking about Fresno in general from Clovis residents like they forgot they are IN Fresno county. And how some folks in both clovis and north of shaw fresnans avoid going anywhere near downtown. So satirical or not, it made me think of that and how the people here are prejudice to different areas of town. And why possibly downtown Fresno will still fail if you dont attract the people from the affluent areas to go there.

      1. Sad but true. Craig Scharton DTF revite guru)says it all the time “how are we going to get the North Fresno people to come down here” smh. Because he knows that North Fresno people are more affluent generally and has more discretionary income to spend on stuff.

  7. If the Fresno City Council cared about NW Fresno, the intersections at Shaw and 99 as well as Herndon and 99 would have been dealt with years ago. Traffic in these areas has been a nightmare for years and nothing has been done to correct it. And before anyone says it; I’ve been hearing about their plans to remedy the problem for years. Nothing has been done yet!

    1. It is certainly a lot worse now with all the new homes and neighborhoods that have been built there. Also that phase 2 and 3 of the marketplace is beginning, it will continue to get worse.

      There was just a rent meeting about the plans to address this so I guess thats progress. They are going to build a new exit on 99 inbetween herndon and shaw and connect veteran’s blvd. This will free up a lot of congestion for all those new homes west of the 99 instead of stampeding to herndon or going to shaw.

      Of course issue was money. The herndon exit area I believe should also be improving and also looking nicer thanks to the HSR construction.

  8. I know this is slightly combative on purpose, but as someone who just moved here and has lived in other areas where there was a pointless “geographic rivalry”…it kinda bums me out to see this. I landed in NE Fresno, and I’m not for government-offical Godtrust or banning pot. Both seem dumb to me. I’m guessing at least some of my neighbors feel the same.

    Generalizing for an entire group isn’t always useful. And stuff like this isn’t likely to spread your message to people who do feel differently than you.

    Anyways, we’re not all part of the problem up there, I swear!

  9. This sounds like more petulant whining from a left wing nut job. Your arguments are weak. They are unintelligible and lame. I just saw a billboard today at McKinley and 41.
    50% of fresno residents are on Medi-cal, so they had better rise up and fight against possible limitations that may be imposed with healthcare reform. Classic response of people who never have to make responsible buying decisions: riot when you realize that you may have to get a (gasp) JOB. And then devolve into violent rages like a bunch of miscreants. As for you, I’m sure your typical audience agrees with your reaction to people who don’t agree with you. It’s “them, not us” who are the bad guys. Those people you wish would “go away” pay taxes. They work. They live in NE fresno because it’s safer and (shudder) filled with other people who have chosen a path of working hard to achieve a certain level of comfort. It is made up of all ethnicities. You should who butters your bread…all of those mean tax payers who make it possible for others to stay afloat. I’m sure NW and NE fresno would be relieved to not have to pay for the rest of you who have the luxury of throwing tantrums when some takes your baby toys away.

    1. You’re being just as, if not more, petulant than anything in this post. You attack the “them, not us” narrative and then generalize and group people yourself. If you want less “petulant” conversations, remember you can start them yourself.

  10. I loved this, and I loved how people start to pick apart this article. It’s satire people (although rooted in truth, haha).

    Moved to Fresno from Bay Area two years ago and could’ve chosen NE Fresno or Clovis, but decided to live in a neighborhood (Fresno-High) with some personality and diversity. Very happy with our choice and my neighbors. Now if we can just get a Vons or Trader Joe’s closer to our neighborhood that would be appreciated. Oh, and a nicer 99 exit.

    1. Thank you, Jerry! It’s just a fun blog post. The only “serious” point in this post is that one part of the city controls too much of the city’s mindset.

      And damn straight you need a better 99 exit!

  11. You need to come up and try our tri tip at Stonehouse Tavern. Totally off subject but worth the trip to the foothills. ABC 30 asked the question of who has the best tri tip sandwich and you need to answer.

  12. I really have enjoyed following this site and reading the posts. They have always been encouraging and showing the positive of Fresno. Until now. I thought this article was very offensive. It is just another way of creating separation amongst our community. I thought the goal was to build community not create more feelings of separation. Very sad.

    1. This is just a fun blog post. The only real thing in it is that NE Fresno’s mindset controls what Fresno’s government does and that is bad for the city as a whole. We look like a bunch of hillbillies to the rest of California because of NE.

      The rest is just fun. Relax, bro.

      1. Oh so now it’s a bad thing that a small Percentage of a larger area make decisions for the rest of the country? *Ahem* I mean “County”… I know EXACTLY how you feel.

    2. I wasn’t offended by Mikes comment, but the underlying meaning I figured what he meant. That NE has the money and power to control things. And these NE people are too conservative in regards to progressive ideas like the MJ controversy. That this old school mentality is what constantly keeps Fresno behind So cal and No cal, that Fresnos bible belt mentality would fit more in a region like Kansas…I get it. But I do agree that it promotes division within our community, we need EVERYONE to move and progress to the future.

  13. Mike Mike Mike Mike see what you’ve started bro? Lol, even though its your title was meant to be satirical, there was an undertone that a small fluent group of people control the rest of fresno as far as legislation. There may be some truth to that theory. Just as how So cal and No cal control what goes on in the state…because they have the money and the power and the population. Now I’m a NE resident, and I could easily say that ” I worked hard to live in this area blah blah blah”, but I’m not. I love my area, nice and clean and quite, but I also like going to all areas of Fresno, mostly DTF..love the urban feel of it. ut sometimes I feel that people move to NE because we can. And many cannot due to costs, call it flight…maybe it is..but why do they flee? Because of blight, crime, and the general people that cannot flee due to socioeconomic status of themselves. When you get these ‘equity refugees’ from LA and SF many will end up living in NE because they can get a brand new house with all amenities and i nice area UNLIke what they can get for the same price in LA or Bay. Even Though meant to be satirical, it just reminds me of all the many news topic on FB that I read that causes division.

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