Ask me anything about Fresno

[Max Rockatansky]

You know all have wanted to and now your long wait is over.  Post your queries about the most under the radar city in the United States with a population over 500,000.

[SkyPesos]

Does the city enjoy its status as the largest without an interstate?

[NWI_Irish96]

Do you know Trent Dilfer?

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

No

Does the city enjoy its status as the largest without an interstate?

It does but yet shuns it's US Route heritage.

[webny99]

Somewhat road-related... is bad traffic common there?

[Max Rockatansky]

Somewhat road-related... is bad traffic common there?

It can be on CA 99 at any time of the day.  CA 41 has a lot of traffic backups during rush hour north of CA 180.  The McKinley Avenue Exit on CA 41 is placed too close to the CA 180 interchange and is the root cause of much of the backups.

[nexus73]

Back in 2013 my friend and I stopped at an El Pollo Loco in Fresno.  That city is apparently so dangerous that the El Pollo Loco had an armed security guard present.  What is your take on the level of criminality in Fresno Max?

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Back in 2013 my friend and I stopped at an El Pollo Loco in Fresno.  That city is apparently so dangerous that the El Pollo Loco had an armed security guard present.  What is your take on the level of criminality in Fresno Max?

Rick

It's tame for a city of this size.  Example; the murder rate is far lower than other large cities Ive lived in like Detroit and Chicago.  There is a lot of homelessness centered around; downtown, the Warehouse District, Kings Canyon, Highway City and the Tower District.   I think the homelessness situation being prominent coupled with a couple areas of being in decline gives a false impression about the violent crime rate in Fresno.

[kurumi]

Were there other freeway proposals besides the Big Four?

[thspfc]

What are the most popular sports teams in Fresno?

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

Overwhelmingly the Los Angeles professional sports franchises.

Were there other freeway proposals besides the Big Four?

The closest would have been the unbuilt segment of CA 65.

[DTComposer]

Back in 2013 my friend and I stopped at an El Pollo Loco in Fresno.  That city is apparently so dangerous that the El Pollo Loco had an armed security guard present.  What is your take on the level of criminality in Fresno Max?

Rick

It's tame for a city of this size.  Example; the murder rate is far lower than other large cities Ive lived in like Detroit and Chicago.  There is a lot of homelessness centered around; downtown, the Warehouse District, Kings Canyon, Highway City and the Tower District.   I think the homelessness situation being prominent coupled with a couple areas of being in decline gives a false impression about the violent crime rate in Fresno.

FBI statistics on the 100 largest cities put Fresno in the middle of the pack (56th in violent crime, 38th in property crime).

^^^

Overwhelmingly the Los Angeles professional sports franchises.

My sister-in-law lives in Fresno, and the impression I got from her is that the Raiders were the most popular NFL team. Has that shifted with the return of the Rams and Chargers to L.A. and the Raiders' move to Las Vegas?

[kevinb1994]

Why does Fresno sound like something from a Chili Peppers song?

[JayhawkCO]

Why does Fresno sound like something from a Chili Peppers song?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno_chile

Chris

[kevinb1994]

Why does Fresno sound like something from a Chili Peppers song?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno_chile

Chris

Never heard of that. But it makes sense now. I guess. Haven't been to SoCal.

[Max Rockatansky]

Back in 2013 my friend and I stopped at an El Pollo Loco in Fresno.  That city is apparently so dangerous that the El Pollo Loco had an armed security guard present.  What is your take on the level of criminality in Fresno Max?

Rick

It's tame for a city of this size.  Example; the murder rate is far lower than other large cities Ive lived in like Detroit and Chicago.  There is a lot of homelessness centered around; downtown, the Warehouse District, Kings Canyon, Highway City and the Tower District.   I think the homelessness situation being prominent coupled with a couple areas of being in decline gives a false impression about the violent crime rate in Fresno.

FBI statistics on the 100 largest cities put Fresno in the middle of the pack (56th in violent crime, 38th in property crime).

^^^

Overwhelmingly the Los Angeles professional sports franchises.

My sister-in-law lives in Fresno, and the impression I got from her is that the Raiders were the most popular NFL team. Has that shifted with the return of the Rams and Chargers to L.A. and the Raiders' move to Las Vegas?

I would say "middle of the pack" is probably an accurate assessment.  Definitely not the safest large city in the U.S. but definitely not anywhere close to being the worst. 

Pertaining to professional sports most people I know are Rams and Dodgers fans.  The Bay Area teams (plus the Raiders) have a following but it is decidedly smaller compared to the Los Angeles teams.  I think the Los Angeles market tends to just play better with the more blue collar demographic of the Fresno area.  My wife's family are all Rams fans (even when they were in St. Louis) and for some reason follow the Red Sox.  For what it's worth I didn't live here prior to the Rams moving back to California but I get the impression that a lot of people around here were hugely excited to have them nearby again.  I haven't found that the NBA is followed much locally which I think is odd considering how big Fresno State Basketball used to be.  I found say the Raiders or the Bills (courtesy Josh Allen of Firebaugh) are close to a tie for second most popular NFL franchise followed by a large drop to the 49ers.  I haven't found the Raiders move to Las Vegas has had much of an effect on their fan base regardless of the locale.

[webny99]

I found say the Raiders or the Bills (courtesy Josh Allen of Firebaugh) are close to a tie for second most popular NFL franchise followed by a large drop to the 49ers.

Nice! I like to hear it! That brings up another question, is there any sense of "community" among all the parts of California outside the Bay Area/LA area? We have something like this here in NY because NYC gets all the attention and is the part of the state everyone knows/talks about, so there's some sense of togetherness among the rest of the state since we're "not NYC", and that's something we can all relate to... so I'm wondering if a similar dynamic exists in CA. I imagine that if it does, it's probably a bit different since there are two prominent metro areas/regions instead of just one.

[Max Rockatansky]

I found say the Raiders or the Bills (courtesy Josh Allen of Firebaugh) are close to a tie for second most popular NFL franchise followed by a large drop to the 49ers.

Nice! I like to hear it! That brings up another question, is there any sense of "community" among all the parts of California outside the Bay Area/LA area? We have something like this here in NY because NYC gets all the attention and is the part of the state everyone knows/talks about, so there's some sense of togetherness among the rest of the state since we're "not NYC", and that's something we can all relate to... so I'm wondering if a similar dynamic exists in CA. I imagine that if it does, it's probably a bit different since there are two prominent metro areas/regions instead of just one.

There is a dynamic like that which I would largely attribute to the largely agricultural driven economy.  It runs so against the grain of the big cities that it kind lends towards life in the Central Valley being in line with one would expect out of the Midwest or Great Plains.  Most aspects day to day life tend to run opposite that of the larger cities.  The NYC versus Upstate New York would be a good analog comparison.

[tolbs17]

When will Fresno get an interstate?

[Max Rockatansky]

When will Fresno get an interstate?

Likely never.  The fact that CA 99 has to be fully brought up to Interstate standards between Wheeler Ridge and Sacramento coupled with having to bother petitioning the AASHTO will make it a likely no-deal. 

[tolbs17]

When will Fresno get an interstate?

Likely never.  The fact that CA 99 has to be fully brought up to Interstate standards between Wheeler Ridge and Sacramento coupled with having to bother petitioning the AASHTO will make it a likely no-deal.

And I guess it's no problem with it not getting an interstate.

[Max Rockatansky]

When will Fresno get an interstate?

Likely never.  The fact that CA 99 has to be fully brought up to Interstate standards between Wheeler Ridge and Sacramento coupled with having to bother petitioning the AASHTO will make it a likely no-deal.

And I guess it's no problem with it not getting an interstate.

That's a deep rabbit hole with that subject but it definitely isn't easy for a lot reasons.  Personally I would settle for just getting Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento to fully to six lanes or more. 

[webny99]

I found say the Raiders or the Bills (courtesy Josh Allen of Firebaugh) are close to a tie for second most popular NFL franchise followed by a large drop to the 49ers.

Nice! I like to hear it! That brings up another question, is there any sense of "community" among all the parts of California outside the Bay Area/LA area? We have something like this here in NY because NYC gets all the attention and is the part of the state everyone knows/talks about, so there's some sense of togetherness among the rest of the state since we're "not NYC", and that's something we can all relate to... so I'm wondering if a similar dynamic exists in CA. I imagine that if it does, it's probably a bit different since there are two prominent metro areas/regions instead of just one.

There is a dynamic like that which I would largely attribute to the largely agricultural driven economy.  It runs so against the grain of the big cities that it kind lends towards life in the Central Valley being in line with one would expect out of the Midwest or Great Plains.  Most aspects day to day life tend to run opposite that of the larger cities.  The NYC versus Upstate New York would be a good analog comparison.

Interesting. I wonder if that factors in to why Josh Allen is so popular in his home region, more so than he would be in a huge metro area like LA or the Bay Area.

[Max Rockatansky]

I found say the Raiders or the Bills (courtesy Josh Allen of Firebaugh) are close to a tie for second most popular NFL franchise followed by a large drop to the 49ers.

Nice! I like to hear it! That brings up another question, is there any sense of "community" among all the parts of California outside the Bay Area/LA area? We have something like this here in NY because NYC gets all the attention and is the part of the state everyone knows/talks about, so there's some sense of togetherness among the rest of the state since we're "not NYC", and that's something we can all relate to... so I'm wondering if a similar dynamic exists in CA. I imagine that if it does, it's probably a bit different since there are two prominent metro areas/regions instead of just one.

There is a dynamic like that which I would largely attribute to the largely agricultural driven economy.  It runs so against the grain of the big cities that it kind lends towards life in the Central Valley being in line with one would expect out of the Midwest or Great Plains.  Most aspects day to day life tend to run opposite that of the larger cities.  The NYC versus Upstate New York would be a good analog comparison.

Interesting. I wonder if that factors in to why Josh Allen is so popular in his home region, more so than he would be in a huge metro area like LA or the Bay Area.

It probably doesn't hurt that he's in a blue collar industrial city like Buffalo.

[Concrete Bob]

Will SR 180 ever be extended west to Interstate 5 from Mendota?  If so, will it be extended as a four lane expressway or freeway.

Will SR 41 south of Fresno ever be completely upgraded to to four lanes to I-5?  How much of that stretch will be upgraded to freeway?

Also, what do you think of the Armenian restaurants throughout the city?