Thinking Folk - This is not the place for you
-
8/20/2006
Those who love Fresno are the big fish in a small pond. If you are a business owner who lives on a golf course and can afford $300 to $500 electric bills monthly in the summer (six months of the year); several trips a year to San Francisco, Vegas, and LA; and are into knee-jerk Republican politics, you'll fit right in.
The best most people can say for Fresno is that it's "close" to really good places. But it isn't unless you think two-, three- and four-hour drives constitute close.
This city is racist and right wing, with trucks that have bumper stickers reading "We can't have gun control because how will we kill the liberals" and showing the US Capitol with a Confederate flag flying from it with the words "I have a dream" below it. Bosses here are like overseers - they think you should be grateful for the pathetically low salaries and the disrespect and worse you'll experience daily. Intelligent people should run for their lives. You'll be hated and put down and side-lined. In my last job, when I offered a suggestion, I was told I wasn't paid to think.
Are there interesting things to do here? The joke is: What's the difference between Fresno and yogurt? Yogurt has a living culture. Sadly, it's no joke. If you think an occasional taco or beer festival or third-rate museum exhibits make for a lively downtown, well, maybe this is the place for you after all.
Pollution is terrible. An enormous amount of residents here have chronic breathing problems and we have one of the highest rates of child asthma in the country. We often show up in the top three cities for bad air in the whole country.
Crime is rampant and the police are vengeful, causing more and more trouble between the poor ethnic community and the rest of the city. Currently, it's a no-win situation.
New homes, designed by blind, cash-mad developers, have destroyed the lovely orchards that were everywhere when my family first arrived in the 60s. Now you see strip malls, big box stores, and fast food everywhere you look.
Because of the job situation I've never been able to get ahead enough to get out. I'm finally selling the house and moving on and the moment I made the decision, I felt wonderful. When I get to the edge of the city for the last time, I will slap the dust of this awful place off my sandals and know that I should have left long ago.
Meg | Fresno, CA