Until later, California! Good riddance, Fresno! Final evaluation...

San Francisco from Marin Headlands

Big Sur

California has been amazing! We did and saw so much, but it feels as if we only got a small taste of a much bigger meal. We saw California's deserts, sequoia forests, redwoods, vineyards, mountains, beaches, and rocky coasts. We did everything on our list from a lengthy road trip down Route 1 to a quick stop in Napa Valley for a wine tasting. We spent multiple weekends in San Francisco and got to see San Diego, L.A., Oakland, Alameda, Sausalito, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Monterey, Visalia, Exeter, Yosemite, and the Sequoia National Park. We bought bikes to participate in California's bike-friendly culture. We ate California produce like it was a limited time offer and downed quite a variety of craft beers. We saw harbor seals, sea lions, dolphins, coyotes, vultures, and elephant seals.

We did a lot, but I'd definitely like to go back for some longer backpacking trips or even long-term living in San Diego.

A big part of why we're traveling is to experience different cities/regions and eventually decide where we want to live permanently, so after living in each city, we've been giving it a personal rating.  Here is how our evaluations work. Here are previous city ratings: Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas.

Fresno Skyline -- Brian Zera

Fresno is the first city to fail our evaluation. With its poor economy, gangs, valley girls, sprawl, and smog, Fresno is great because of all the nearby things that got us out of Fresno; but we never want to live here.

Fresno has its interesting subcultures and attractions. I wrote about some of my favorites in previous

An observation on California's dogs and their owners

I want to be off-leash, too!

Something we notices while living in California that I didn't get a chance to write about until now, was how common and accepted it is to let dogs off-leash. No matter what California city, whether it was Golden Gate Park in San Francisco or a neighborhood park in Fresno, the majority of dogs are walking beside their owner and doing their own thing with no leash whatsoever. Most of these dogs are in parks where leashes are required by law, the owners just ignore the signs much like the speed limit is ignored elsewhere.

The first time I saw this, it bothered me. The signs clearly say all dogs must be on leashes. There is no fence on this park. Is that dog going to harass me and my dog? After living in California for three months and getting used to it without incident, I wondered why other cities and states aren't similar. I started to feel like a bad pet owner for keeping our dog leashed even though I had to because she's likely to dart after a squirrel or say hello to others who may not be in a social mood.

What are owner in California doing to train their dogs so well? Do they watch a lot of Dog Whisperer? Is this the evolution of human-to-dog relationships?

Fresno: Travel home number four

I don't want to disappoint family or anyone else by not sharing pictures of our apartment in Fresno since I did everywhere else so, here we go!

This apartment is hardly as interesting as the apartments in Philadelphia, Chicago, or Dallas, but it has its own personality.

My favorite thing about this complex is the landscaping. Despite the ugliness that is the average apartment complex; here, each set of four apartments has its own walkway that winds to the entry with trees, bushes, and flowers galore. The plants create shade, seclusion, and homes for animals. The forest-feel isn't something we had in any of the other downtown apartments.

Despite its low walk-score, there is a small park and walking trail a few steps from our doorway. There is also a coffee shop, brewery, grocery store, and some restaurants a little further. There is a large park and other restaurants within a couple miles, so no complaints here! 

Fresno: Rogue Festival, Shinzen Garden, local beer, and we're outta here!

Since we've spent a lot of our time in California weekend tripping to nearby other cities, I've only done one other post on Fresno. My opinion of the city has improved after seeing specific attractions and experiencing some of Fresno's subcultures, but [Spoiler alert] we still never want to live here. I'll share why, along with our final evaluation of the city next week. Meanwhile, here are some of the better things about Fresno.

Rogue Festival: Having never been to anything similar, we didn't know what to expect from this "fringe festival".=, but it was a riot! Each performer charges $5-$10 and there are a wide variety of acts to choose from: a mock self-help seminar; one-man plays; spoken word; two women fighting like hens; interpretive dance; and a woman standing on a cooler with a dustbuster, eating skittles before rubbing herself with raw steak.

Doesn't quite sound like your style? Lighten up and have some fun seeing something you haven't seen before! Every person living in Fresno should at least check out the teaser showcase that opens the festival. Artists already come from all over to perform, but the more support this festival gets from locals, the more interesting it will be. With a festival like Burning Man selling all of its 38,000 tickets in 45 minutes this year, similar fringe events, like the Rogue Festival, have a lot of potential.

Favorite Rogue Fest moment: Jason (The Voice) Bessard's poetry at the competitive slam. His poetic comparison between Fresno as it could be, and what it is, earned an immediate standing ovation. Not the kind of ovation where a few people stand and everyone else is guilted along; the genuine kind where an entire audience leaps to their feet unprompted.

Shinzen Japanese Garden: One of Lindsay's co-workers saw one of our pictures from this garden on Facebook and (because all our Cali pictures are in the same album) assumed it was a garden in San Diego. Nope! Fresnoians, you have a Japanese Garden worth bragging about! Not that comparisons matter, but I felt Shinzen is better than Chicago's Osaka Garden. Shinzen has four areas themed around each season with water pulled from adjacent Woodward Lake peacefully babbling in streams and down falls. $3 is more than worth the price.

Fresno Hang-Outs: Since returned to the Tower Dsitrict location and visited their other location in downtown Fresno. Teazer Tea Market is definitely worth a visit! With Starbucks quickly deteriorating into an overcrowded fast-food restaurant, most tea cafes still offer the environment Starbucks once provided:  a place to easily find a seat and work or relax. Teazer competes in environment and quality with big name cafes like Argo and Starbuck's Teavana. Not sure if it's as good as Billy Corgan's teahouse north of Chicago, since we never made it, but this is one of the best hang-outs in Fresno.

Every decent city needs a micro-brewery. It's debatable if Fresno is a decent city, but Tioga Sequoa is a great brewery. We recently went on a quest throughout Fresno to find Tioga's temporary release of Rush Hour-- a breakfast stout.  Oddly, their parent brewery, Sequoia Brewing didn't have it and

Fresno: Underground gardens and Time Cop III. Things to do if you find yourself in Fresno, CA

The top reason for living in Fresno seems to be the many things there are nearby to get someone out of Fresno. Talk to the locals about things to do here and they'll talk about Yosemite, wine country, and the coast. Ask about things to do in this city of half a million people and the answers are most often laced with negative. If something is suggested, it's most often the large generic shopping areas that cover mile after mile along the newly developed northern part of the city.

In Fresno's defense, it lacks a metro area. It took me some time to realize why a city this size could have so few options of interest. Other cities have suburbs that double and triple the size of the city. These larger populations add to the culture, economy, and chance for interesting sub-cultures. Fresno is surrounded by agriculture. The sparsely populated Sierras block visitors from the east, and to the west are coastal cities: San Fransisco, Oakland, LA. If you're looking for a fun time and live between Fresno and San Francisco-- which way are you going to drive?

Of course, Fresno's problems aren't this simple. Other cities across the country fight decentralized sprawl, loss of personality to incoming chains, and competition with other neighboring cities. I don't know enough to explain why so many Fresnoians seem happier packing into shopping malls and Starbucks while abandoning the more interesting districts; but it's definitely the norm.

But enough Fresno trashing! There is enough of that from the locals and elsewhere on-line. Here are some of the fun things we've found to do that we haven't seen elsewhere in our travels. These are things Fresno can be proud of.

Valley Animal Center: We've been to public and private dog parks across the country and, though I'm sure they exist, haven't seen anything this developed. This no-kill shelter with discounted care and immunizations offers this huge play park with multiple areas including a pool and agility course. Bailey loves playing here and the brief temperment test all dogs must pass adds to our comfort as owners.

Lindsay riding a Harley

OH WOW! Nickel Arcade: Unlike the penny arcade at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, the games at OH WOW! aren't quite antiques. For someone my age this means nostalgia galore. All versions of Time Cop, driving games, pinball machines, and 8-player X-men. At 5 cents a game, anyone can fulfill their childhood dream of playing Time Cop or X-men all the way through. It does get crowded with kids and there can be a wait for certain games, but it's open late-- go on a school night. Do note: If there are small kids around, save jokes about upside-down "OH WOW!" entry bracelets for later.

Mia Cuppa Cafe': Heralded as the city's main cultural area of interest, the Tower district has been a disappointment. Picture Philadelphia's South Street or Chicago's Logan Square at one thirtieth scale. The district still has some of the best in Fresno, though, and Mia Cuppa's is one of them. The wood booths in one of the four seating areas in this large cafe are a great place to cozy away for writing or conversation. Other Tower District shops worth checking out

Fresno: The journey there and first impressions of the city

After an eventful month of traveling the east coast to spend time with friends and family, it's nice to be settled again (for a little while anyway!). Because San Francisco, a city near the top of our travel wishlist, wasn't available for assignment, we settled on Fresno. Fresno isn't San Fran, but it's three hours from not only San Francisco, but also Los Angeles. It's even closer than that to the beaches of Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Big Sur. It's also right on the doorstep of the Sierras with all of its parks and recreation areas like Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and The Sequoia National Forest.

Having never been in California, we're excited just to be in the state.

We based our decision to move to Fresno on its location in California without doing a lot of research. When we first got here, we were very disappointed. Partially because living in major cities like Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia had spoiled us, but also because we had unrealistic expectations. Fresno, despite being one of the largest cities in the state (5th) with around 506,000 people, isn't the sunny, healthy, progressive type environment many east coasters imagine while thinking of California. The air was so smoggy when we arrived it impacted our breathing. Much of the city is depressed and unsafe. The "nicer" part of town where we live is suburban sprawl with miles of every conceivable chain store, chain restaurant, and strip malls that all look the same whether containing a restaurant or a doctor's office. There are fewer vegetarian restaurants than anywhere we've lived during our travels and many of the restaurants don't even have vegetarian options.

Once I got over my initial disappointment, I started to see a few things that are great about the city. It's not pedestrian friendly, but there are bike lanes everywhere. The city has a Whole Foods, a Trader Joe's, and a Sprouts. The fruits and vegetables here are cheap and delicious. They have a number of farmer's markets. We found an amazing salad bar already (Sweet Tomatoes). This may actually be the first city we "fail" in our final evaluation, deciding that we won't ever live here permanently, but it's still in California and the city still has time to grow on us as every place we've been so far has. There is enough here to keep us busy for three months and we're more excited about seeing what's nearby.

Here are a few pictures and notes from our road-trip to Fresno. We started in northeast TN driving in long 12-14 hour segments, but took our time between legs, stopping in St Louis, Denver and Las Vegas for up to two nights each. We spread 40 hours driving time over 4 legs and 6 days.