DOWNTOWN FRESNO: Revitalizing the Urban Core
Posted in Community Involvement, In The News - TYCO General, Land Development Subdivisions, Medical Projects, Mixed-Use Projects, Multi-Family Projects, Professional Office Projects, Restaurant Projects, Retail Projects, Tenant Improvement on August 25th, 2009 by Richard Deaver – Be the first to commentBy Richard Deaver
Rowell Building - Fresno
Cities both large and small are reevaluating how they manage growth to not only preserve natural resources, but also keep their downtowns alive. Many have already been successful in bringing about change in the way they plan for inevitable growth and bringing residents and retail stores back to their downtowns and others are still in the planning or implementation stages.
Fresno has been looking at this problem for a number of years and has tried more than once to alter the way we continue to grow away from the urban core. As Fresno’s population increases, so does the need for affordable housing as developers continue to expand the city’s boundaries to keep up with demand – some say at the cost of valuable agricultural land. A recent Wall Street Journal article (August 15, 2009) provides information on a troubling trend that underscores this problem, which states; “Of new housing today, 80% is built in suburbs – the direct legacy of federal policy that favored outlying areas rather than the rehabilitation of city centers”.
