Fresno High- An attractive 1920s-1950s Urban Neighborhood on Fresno’s Northside

The official geography of Fresno High is quite large. I reduced my evaluation area for Fresno High to include the best urban parts of the neighborhood closest to the Tower District. My evaluation bounds Fresno High by Shields Ave to the North, McKinley Ave to the south, Fruit Ave to the west and the railroad tracks to the east.

Fresno High is most know for its attractive 1920s-1950s single family homes that range from small bungalows and small cottages to larger Tudors, Spanish Revival and grand formal mansions. The best urbanism is its south eastern edge where it touches the Tower District and Fresno High School is located. Here there is a 2-block commercial district along Van Ness/ Echo Ave. The eastern edge of Fresno High contains a good mix of attractive single family homes (especially along Van Ness), duplexes, and small apartment buildings. Shields Ave is the other commercial district in Fresno High and hosts some neighborhood amenities but is rather auto centric. The western half of the neighborhood contains attractive 30s-50s modest bungalows, cottages, and ranch homes with limited access to walkable amenities.

Fresno High also has good transit access, bike infrastructure, safety, tree canopy and moderately priced homes. For it to become a great urban district it needs to densify and promote mixed-use development along Shields Ave, create dedicated affordable housing, and increase its walkable neighborhood amenities.

Click here to view my Fresno High Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good sidewalk infrastructure. About 40% of curb cuts are up to ADA standards.
* Solid public transit access and an easy 20 minute bus ride to Dwtn.
* Great street connectivity. Also several dedicated bike lanes running all directions.
* Great economic diversity and solid racial diversity.
* Overall a pretty safe district.
* Attractive 1920s-1940 architecture especially along Van Ness and several blocks around it. Some good mid century commercial along a couple blocks of Van Ness but also some unattractive auto centric commercial along Shields.
* Good tree canopy.
* Pretty good access to schools including 2 high schools and 3 elementary schools. Mixed ratings though.
* Some cultural and retail amenities especially concentrated along the N Van Ness Blvd/ N Echo Ave including a coffee shops, a couple restaurants, a record shop, Ice Cream shop, a couple salons, and a couple art galleries.
* Other neighborhood amenities outside of the Van Ness/Echo Node include a couple museums and the performing arts of Fresno City College, a hardware store, a couple dessert joints & gyms, and some churches.
* Better variety with for-sale homes. Some 1-bed sf homes that sell btwn 150K-300K, 2-beds sell btwn 175K-430K, 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 300K-800K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Urban density is below average.
* No biking sharing system in the neighborhood.
* Some pedestrian activity around the commercial node on Van Ness, otherwise streets are pretty quiet.
* Missing several important neighborhood amenities… supermarket, drug store, banks, bars, public library & post office, and medical offices.. Decent access to neighborhoods amenities to those living on the southern edge of Fresno High to Olive Street in Tower District.
* Some rentals are the eastern edge of Fresno High. They generally lease in the low 1Ks. 2 & 3 beds are bit more spreadsheet. 2-beds lease in the mid 1Ks and 3 beds around 2K.
* Limited dedicated affordable housing.