Is The Time Almost Here When Downtown Fresnans Will Look Down On Tower District People?

The Fresnan 7 Comments

 IMG_7270 Is The Time Almost Here When Downtown Fresnans Will Look Down On Tower District People? 
North of Shaw vs. South of Shaw. The eternal Fresno battle.

People South of Shaw don’t like Northerners coming into their cool spots and people North of Shaw… think nothing. 

So there is your battleground, and Shaw is the dividing line. Gritty, creative, urban life on the South side. Suburbia, chains and “nice things” on the Northern side.

But is there another tension brewing? Are groups of Downtowners becoming identifiable when they venture into other areas of Fresno?

Tower Folk already don’t like it when a group of NE Fresnans comes in. For realz, you can tell when a group of Northerns wander into Goldstiens, looking to slum it for a night. Or a couple of Clovisians strut in with a cowboy hat and a confused look.

So is it inevitable Tower people will be looking sideways at Downtown hipsters? Will the Loft People Of Downtown (not a real title yet but it should be) start mad-dogging Tower Rats until they leave Tioga Beer Garden?

We may not be there yet. But I feel it coming.

Let’s Debate This Via Podcast

If you feel like listening to Fresno stuff, we try to figure out if there actually is a divide between Tower people and Downtown people, in the new episode of Flowing With Famous:

 

Why Did You Not Tell Me About This, Fresno?

The Fresnan 1 Comment

green-crush-2 Why Did You Not Tell Me About This, Fresno?

Did you know that the Orange Julius in Fashion Fair is gone? Yep. The Baskin Robins too. They were replaced by whatever the thing is pictured above.

You see, I don’t go inside the mall much. Only when an iPhone stops working right, or when I’ve run out of shopping options on Christmas Eve. Mayyyybe a visit to the Disney Stone BUT THAT’S IT.

So walking by and seeing that the Orange Julius and Baskin Robbins stores are no longer there? It was a bit jarring. Nobody tells me things.

Okay, well, the Robbins just moved out to a kiosk in front of the old location. But still.

new-bk Why Did You Not Tell Me About This, Fresno?

I had family that owned the mall’s Baskin & Robbins in the late 70s. I pretended to work there. My arms weren’t really strong enough to scoop ice-cream (they may not be still) but I remember wiping some display case windows for the occasional milkshake.

Because I am a nerd, the coolest part wasn’t the ice-cream. It was having access to the private hallway that runs behind some of the stores in that section of the mall. It was like being backstage at Disneyland. A really really REALLY lame Disneyland… but still.

The Orange Julius didn’t move though. Those icy citrus drinks are apparently permanently done in Fashion Fair. Google corroborates this story:

fresno-fashion-fair-orange-julius-Google-Search Why Did You Not Tell Me About This, Fresno?

#Lame.

Something not lame I found out though: Baskin Robbin’s ‘flavor of the month’ Milk n’ Cereal, is damn tasty.

I’ll miss you, old BK location and Orange Julius. Another piece of Fashion Fair regulated to the history books… remember when there was a Carl’s Jr inside the mall? No? I guess I’m the only old dude here.

What Would You ‘Edit’ Out Of Fresno?

The Fresnan 4 Comments

IMG_7085 What Would You 'Edit' Out Of Fresno?If you have followed this blog for some time, I hope it’s obvious to you that I love Fresno. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see issues with the city.

There are things Fresno can do without. Things, if I had a magic wand, I would get rid of. One (or two or so) things I would edit out. What would that be?

I know there are mountains around here somewhere

The bad air. Right now it would be the bad air. Sorta obvious, with the August temps, California fires and the Valley being a natural bowl.

But honestly, I don’t think it would be my choice in the Spring, Fall or even the chimney smoke-filled Winter. I probably would choose something else. I’m one of the lucky ones (knock on wood) that isn’t physically bothered by the air.

Of course there is also strong poverty here. That would be the human thing to remove and would kick up Fresno’s economy. But that’s something an adult might do. A good person. Not sure I’m your guy.

What about little annoying things?
  • People that block the lane and don’t leave you space to merge onto the street from a parking lot.
  • Train crossings. Trains are cool for my kid to watch, but are annoying when you’re late for soccer.
  • Trying to beat the ‘churchies’ to your favorite breakfast spot on Sunday morning. …  now I’m not saying to edit out churchies, just don’t let them into my breakfast haunts until my hungover-ass is done eating.
  • Sprawl/Being too spread out. Have you ever tried to get from the Fig Garden Loop to the Airport, Tower, or (for some dumb reason) Clovis? It blows. Herndon should have been a freeway.

Theses are some things I would not mind editing out of Fresno. What about you? Leave a comment on your choice. But let’s not get to crazy negative. Remember I am STILL a Fresno lover; smoke-filled skies and all.

 

Bagby’s Beer Is The Place Fresno Needs

The Fresnan

Bagby-Beer-Company Bagby's Beer Is The Place Fresno Needs

There’s a lot going in Fresno right now. What with pavement being laid on Fulton, the Spanspek lineup being announced, the Mayor soon taking on a new soul-fulfilling job, Jenna Prandini being Olympic, Kelly Slater making his previously secret Fresno area surfing spot public.

Things.

Dude I missed some of those. I was in San Diego on a ‘beercation’ (it’s a thing) to attend the Festival Of Dankness. Saw some pretty rad beer related stuff. None more rad (and I will pull it back to Fresno) than going to Bagby’s Beer Company.

bagby-beer-oceanside Bagby's Beer Is The Place Fresno Needs

I was amazed by the coolness of this place. Three very different bars, all in one place, all with different micro climates. But it manages to keep it tied together. You know you’re in the same place but are still having different experiences.

bagby-upstairs Bagby's Beer Is The Place Fresno Needs

The design was well done, downstairs, upstairs, inside, outside, desert, beach, California, ALL represented. A San Diego classic.

HOW IS THIS FRESNO, BRO?

The reason I bring it up on a Fresno blog is I CAN TOTALLY SEE THIS IN FRESNO! A Fresno version anyway. We deserve it. We can support it. We can have nice things.

Fresno is ready. Just look at all the beer stuff happening or about to happen around town. We are building a scene and the Tioga’s, Goldstein’s, House Of Pendragons, Spokeasy’s and Pine & Palms, won’t mind the good company.

SOMEONE WITH MONEY GET ON THIS

If you are a beer and business dude in Fresno, looking for inspiration, check out the article by the SD Reader on the beginning of Bagby’s and how it was built. You just might get inspired. I’ll be waiting with something hoppy in hand.

Cheers!

(One pic stolen from here and one from here)

Fresno On Fire

The Fresnan 1 Comment

41-brush-fire Fresno On Fire

Highway 41 has become a mess (99 was already a mess and nobody cared). We talked about it some in the past episode of Flowing With Famous; Fresno’s ports of entry make Fresno look pretty damn shabby.

Dangerous too because then there were the fires. Fires along Highway 41 because there is too much trash unmanaged dry grass.

Things are getting serious and Caltrans is not helping or can’t help, for the moment.

The Bee’s editorial staff put together a nice piece about how this should not be and how Caltrans says it is because copper thieves have stolen so much of the landscaping’s infrastructure that they no longer have to budget to maintain the local highways – it’s going to replacing copper.

Caltrans says they will get around to cleaning things up in the next couple months.

You KNOW that bullshit would not fly in Los Angeles, SD or the Bay Area. Probably not in Sacramento either. Pretty sure they wouldn’t be allowing the highways to get so wild, that brush fires are normal.

But that’s how we do here in Fresno. We drive around trash, blow through brush fires, and we roll on.

(Pic stolen from the Fresno Bee)

*In case you noticed this is an odd posting style for The Fresnan, I’m taking part in a seven-day “blogging challenge”. One style of post a day, for seven days straight. 

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