Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the largest city in the Central Valley region and the most populated city in Central California.

The city was named for the many ash trees along the San Joaquin River. Fresno was founded in 1872 as a railway station for the Central Pacific Railroad and became an official city in 1885. Today, it is an important economic center for Fresno County and the San Joaquin Valley.

Fresno is near the center of California. It is about 220 miles north of Los Angeles, 170 miles south of the state capital, Sacramento, and 185 miles southeast of San Francisco. Famous natural places such as Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and Sequoia National Park are not far from the city.

In 2020, more than half of Fresno’s people identified as Hispanic, making it one of the largest cities in the United States with a majority Hispanic population.

History

The original people of the San Joaquin Valley were the Yokuts people and Miwok people. They traded with other tribes, including the Chumash from the coast.

The first European to visit the valley was Pedro Fages in 1772. Fresno County was created in 1856 after the California Gold Rush. It was named for the ash trees along the San Joaquin River.

In 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad built a station that became the town of Fresno. The city was officially incorporated in 1885. Fresno became a place for learning, with Fresno City College starting in 1910 and California State University, Fresno growing from a teachers college.

Fresno became one of America’s largest cities in the 1960s and keeps growing today.

Geography

Fresno covers an area of 116 square miles (300 km²), mostly land with a little water. The city is close to beautiful places like Yosemite National Park, Sierra National Forest, and lakes such as Bass Lake, Shaver Lake, and Huntington Lake. It is also near the coast, with spots like Monterey and Big Sur a few hours away.

Fresno has many parks, including Woodward Park with its Shinzen Japanese Gardens, Roeding Park home to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and Kearney Park. The city has busy streets and historic buildings, especially in areas like the Fulton Mall and the Tower District, known for theaters, shops, and restaurants.

Neighborhoods

Downtown

Downtown Fresno has many old and beautiful buildings. Fulton Street was the main street for years and now has lots of public art. In 2017, cars were allowed back on Fulton Street, but it still feels friendly and easy to walk around.

Tower District

The Tower Theatre is a famous old theater in the Tower District. This area has many small shops, restaurants, and theaters. It’s also where many community events happen, like car shows and festivals.

Woodward Park

Woodward Park is a big park with many things to do, like a lake, playgrounds, trails, and a special garden from Japan. It’s a favorite place for people to relax and have fun.

Fig Garden

Old Fig Garden is a neighborhood with beautiful homes and many trees. It has special events like a Christmas light show and a nice swim club.

Climate

Fresno has warm, dry summers and cool, mild winters. Summers can get very hot, often above 90°F (32°C). Winters are gentle, with cold nights but not usually very freezing. The city gets about 11 inches (279 mm) of rain each year, and snow is very rare.

Demographics

Fresno is the larger city of the Fresno-Madera CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Fresno (Fresno County) and Madera (Madera County) areas.

Fresno has many different communities, such as Armenians and Hmong people. In 1920, Armenians were 9% of Fresno's population. The Hmong community in Fresno is one of the largest in the United States.

2020

The 2020 United States census said Fresno had a population of 542,107. The racial makeup was 33.2% White, 7.6% African American, 2.4% Native American, 14.7% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 26.8% from other races, and 15.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people were 50.5% of the population.

Most people lived in households.

There were 175,944 households. About 39.7% had children under 18. The average household size was 3.02.

Most housing units were occupied.

In 2023, the median household income was $66,804, and about 16.3% of families were below the poverty line.

2010

The 2010 United States census said Fresno had a population of 494,665. The racial makeup was 49.6% White, 8.3% African American, 1.7% Native American, 12.6% Asian, and 22.6% from other races, with 46.9% being Hispanic or Latino.

Most people lived in households.

There were 158,349 households. About 43.3% had children under 18. The average household size was 3.07.

Most housing units were occupied.

Economy

Fresno is an important center for the area known as Metropolitan Fresno. It helps connect the San Joaquin Valley and the larger Central Valley region. Many areas around Fresno grow crops.

In 1958, Bank of America chose Fresno to introduce the first BankAmericard credit card, which later became known as Visa.

Some big companies that started in Fresno include Pelco, Foster Farms, and Cargill.

Top employers

The biggest places that employ people in Fresno are listed here:

Arts and culture

Fresno has many places where families can enjoy art, music, and fun events. There are theaters like the Azteca Theater, Tower Theatre, and Warnors Theatre, as well as music groups such as the Fresno Philharmonic and Youth Orchestras of Fresno.

The city also has interesting museums to visit, including the Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno Art Museum, and the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. Every year, Fresno hosts exciting events like The Big Fresno Fair, an anime convention called Ani-Me Con, and a Christmas Tree Lane lighting in December.

Performing arts and music

• Artists' Repertory Theatre
• Children's Musical Theatreworks
• Center State Productions
• Fresno Philharmonic
• Philip Lorenz International Keyboard Concerts
• Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater & 2nd Space Theatre (Good Company Players)
• Rogue Festival
• Shine! Theatre
• Stageworks of Fresno
• Woodward Shakespeare Festival
• Youth Orchestras of Fresno

Theaters

• Azteca Theater
• Crest Theatre
• Liberty Theatre
• Tower Theatre – Tower Theatre for the Performing Arts
• Warnors Theatre – Warnor's Center for the Performing Arts
• Wilson Theatre – currently Cornerstone Church
• Veteran's Memorial Auditorium
• Paul Shaghoian Memorial Concert Hall - Clovis North High School

Museums

• African-American Museum of the San Joaquin Valley
• Arte Américas
• Armenian Museum of Fresno
• Discovery Center
• William Saroyan House Museum
• Forestiere Underground Gardens
• Fresno Art Museum
• Kearney Mansion Museum
• Legion of Valor Museum
• Meux Home Museum
• Old Fresno Water Tower Tourist Center
• Fresno Chaffee Zoo
• Sierra Endangered Cat Haven (Fresno County)

Events

• Ani-Me Con (every spring) Fresno's only anime convention.
• Armenian Grape Blessing (August)
• ArtHop (first Thursday of every month)
• The Big Fresno Fair, held for 12 days in October
• Taco Truck Throwdown
• Christmas Tree Lane Every December
• Fresno LGBT Pride Parade, every June
• Grizzly Fest April/May
• Valley DevFest (Fall)
• Vintage Days March or April
• Greek Fest three days every September

Sports

The Save Mart Center is a big arena at California State University, Fresno. It is where the Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball and women's basketball teams play. It also hosted the Fresno Falcons ice hockey team for some time. The arena is used for concerts and other events too.

Margie Wright Diamond is where the Fresno State softball team plays. This team has done very well and even won a national championship. The field is named for Margie Wright, who helped the team win many games.

Peter Beiden Field is where the Fresno State baseball team plays, and this team has also won a national title. Valley Children's Stadium is a large football stadium where many fans watch Fresno State Bulldogs football games.

Woodward Park in Fresno is where high schoolers race in Cross Country and where BMX races happen. Ratcliffe Stadium at Fresno City College is used for track and field and football games.

The Fresno Yacht Club, started in 1959, holds a sailing event every July on Huntington Lake and sails on Millerton Lake.

Government

See also: Government of Fresno County, California

Fresno has a strong-mayor form of government. The mayor, who leads the city, is chosen by the voters. There are seven city council members who represent different areas of the city. The mayor and council members can serve up to two terms, each lasting four years. They do not belong to any political party while in office. The current mayor is Jerry Dyer, who is a Republican. If something happens to the mayor, the Council President steps in until a new election.

City Council

• District 1 - Annalisa Perea
• District 2 - Mike Karbassi (Council President)
• District 3 - Miguel Arias (Council Vice President)
• District 4 - Tyler Maxwell
• District 5 - Brandon Vang
• District 6 - Nick Richardson
• District 7 - Nelson Esparza

Before 1901, Fresno had a different system of local leaders called a ward system.

Courts

Fresno is the main city for Fresno County and has an important courthouse. One of the federal courts for the Eastern part of California is located in Fresno, in a building named after Robert E. Coyle. There is also a state appeals court building in Fresno, named after George N. Zenovich.

Politics

As of 2016^[update], more voters in Fresno choose the Democratic Party.

State and federal representation

Fresno’s citizens are represented in the California State Senate by Anna Caballero and Shannon Grove. In the California State Assembly, they are represented by David Tangipa, Esmeralda Soria, and Joaquin Arambula. In the United States House of Representatives, Fresno is represented by Jim Costa and Vince Fong.

Education

Fresno has many places where people can learn. The main public university is California State University, Fresno. There are also private schools, such as Alliant International University, California Christian College, and Fresno Pacific University.

Students who want to study for shorter periods can go to community colleges like Fresno City College and Clovis Community College. There are also career colleges such as University of Phoenix and DeVry University.

Most public schools in Fresno are part of the Fresno Unified School District. There are also private schools, including Fresno Christian High School, San Joaquin Memorial High School, and Fresno Adventist Academy.

Media

Newspapers

• The Business Journal
• The Fresno Bee
• The Community Alliance

Radio

• KMJ, AM 580, is Fresno's first radio station. It began broadcasting in 1922.
• KYNO AM 940, is an oldies station.
• KFIG AM 1430, is an ESPN affiliate.
• 88.1 KFCF is one of Fresno's non-commercial radio stations.
• 89.3 KVPR, provides National Public Radio Programming & classical music.
• 90.7 KFSR is a non-commercial station that plays many types of music.
• 94.9 KBOS-FM is known as B95 – Fresno's Hip-Hop Station

Television

To avoid interference with existing VHF television stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno became a UHF island (only have UHF television stations).

The first Fresno television station to begin broadcasting was KMJ-TV, which debuted in 1953. KMJ-TV is now known as NBC affiliate KSEE. Other Fresno stations include ABC O&O KFSN-TV, CBS affiliate KGPE, The CW affiliate KFRE-TV, FOX affiliate KMPH-TV, MNTV affiliate KMSG-LD, PBS member station KVPT, Telemundo O&O KNSO, Univision O&O KFTV-DT, and Estrella TV affiliate KGMC.

In partnership with the City of Clovis, the City of Fresno opened the Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC) in 2012, a public, education and government access television station.

Infrastructure

Since 2010, dry times in California have made it harder for Fresno and the whole Central Valley to get enough water. The city gets its water from Millerton Lake and Pine Flat Reservoir. This water goes to two special places where it is cleaned before people can use it.

Transportation

Fresno is linked by many important roads. State Route 99 runs north to south and connects the main cities in California's Central Valley. State Route 168, called the Sierra Freeway, goes east to Clovis and Huntington Lake. State Route 41, known as the Yosemite Freeway, comes from Atascadero and leads north to Yosemite National Park. State Route 180, the Kings Canyon Freeway, travels from the west through Mendota, then east through Reedley to Kings Canyon National Park.

Fresno is the largest city in the U.S. without a direct link to an Interstate highway. When the Interstate Highway System was built, Interstate 5 was placed on the west side of the Central Valley, skipping many cities including Fresno. There are plans to improve State Route 99 and possibly add it to the Interstate system as Interstate 7 or 9.

Fresno Area Express (FAX) is the main public transit system in Fresno. It runs eighteen bus routes and a special service called FAX15, which started in 2017. The FAX Q line, a faster bus service, began in 2018 and runs every 10 minutes on main roads. Fresno also has bus services from nearby areas. Long-distance buses are available from Greyhound and Megabus. The Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System added summer trips to Yosemite National Park in 2015.

Fresno had horse-drawn and later electric streetcars from the late 1800s until 1939. A plan for modern light rail was not approved in 1987.

Fresno Yosemite International Airport (code: FAT) offers regular flights for many passengers each year. Fresno Chandler Executive Airport (code: FCH) is used for private planes. Sierra Sky Park Airport (code: E79) is a special neighborhood where people can land their planes on wide streets.

Amtrak Gold Runner provides train service to Fresno, stopping at the historic Santa Fe Railroad Depot in downtown. Fresno is planned to be a stop on the future California High-Speed Rail. Freight trains are operated by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad, and the San Joaquin Valley Railroad also runs trains through the area.

In popular culture

In the 1970s, a song called "Walking Into Fresno" was written about the city. It was recorded by Bob Gallion for a show in Wheeling, West Virginia.

In 1986, a funny TV mini-series named Fresno starred many famous actors.

Fresno was also mentioned in the 2009 movie Monsters vs. Aliens. Two films, Unfriended from 2014 and Fresno Smooth from 2000, are set in the city.

A creature called the Fresno nightcrawler was first talked about in Fresno in 2007.

Notable people

Main article: List of people from Fresno, California

Fresno, California, has been home to many famous people. These people have become well-known in sports, entertainment, and other areas. The city has a rich history of notable residents who have helped shape its culture and identity.

Twin towns – sister cities

Fresno has many sister cities around the world. These include:

• Guadalajara in Mexico
• Kōchi in Japan (since 1965)
• Münster in Germany (since 1984)
• Morogoro in Tanzania (since 1992)
• Verona in Italy (since 2000, a friendship)
• Vagharshapat, also called Etchmiadzin, in Armenia (since 2009)
• Châteauroux in France (since 2016)
• Taishan in China
• Afula-Gilboa in Israel
• Taraz in Kazakhstan (relationship inactive)
• Torreon in Mexico