Downtown Fresno

As you know, I recently moved into the Iron Bird Lofts in downtown Fresno. Exactly one month ago today we moved in and so far it has been great.

These are a few of my favorite things:

• Raindrops on roses
• Whiskers on kittens
• Bright copper kettles
• Warm woolen mittens
• Brown paper packages tied up with strings

Some of my favorite things about living downtown:

• Short walking distance to a couple of cool restaurants/hang out places (Tokyo Garden/Luau)
• I'm only 1.1 miles from work, and I've even walked once so far and plan on walking much more often in the future
• Proximity to Tower District (less than a mile)
• The Iron Bird Lofts, the units are still filling up, and the Cafe is expected to open up March 1
• My balcony off my third-story bedroom
• Proximity to Fresh & Easy, Austin's, Library, Train Station, Yoshi NOW, and the baseball stadium
• My cool neighbors and all the great people I've met since moving down here

I'm very hopeful for the revitalization of downtown Fresno, I'm putting my money where my mouth is by living here and supporting the business down here. It is very exciting for me to see the progress that is currently being made, and while I haven't lived in Fresno (let alone been alive) the entire time that Fresno has been trying to revitalize it's downtown core, I truly believe that some pretty exciting things are in the works. To name a few:

• The Mayor's State of Downtown breakfast held this past week, almost 500 people were in attendance at this sold out event. $25 a head for breakfast shows how many people are in support of downtown revitalization
• More housing being built. While Iron Bird isn't full yet, I'm convinced it will fill up. A number of new complexes are being planned and built, and downtown (especially the cultural arts district) is starting to build some momentum that can only increase as more and more people move down here
• The Downtown Specific Plan/Fulton Corridor Specific Plan was unanimously approved by the Fresno City Council on Thursday, allowing for strategic planning of our downtown area
• City of Fresno is working on updating a lot of the bylaws that govern starting and operating business in downtown, current rules make it so difficult for businesses to start up and stay open downtown.

This is starting to create the perfect storm to push serious change forward, and a number of other things are only going to add to the momentum. The California High Speed Rail station planned for downtown Fresno will be great for the area and will be a great attraction for those looking at working and living downtown.