Hopefuls give downtown visions

Ten of 11 with an eye on the mayor's seat sketch plans for revitalization.

Published online on Monday, Apr. 14, 2008

Revitalizing downtown Fresno is high on the priority list for Fresno's next mayor. Where the candidates differ is on how to do it.

Some of the 11 mayoral candidates on the June 3 ballot say they want city investment in new downtown parks and parking, others say they want the city to act as a catalyst with businesses and nonprofits to bring festivals and foot traffic to downtown. One candidate wants to leave revitalization to the private sector.

But most candidates concur that what downtown needs most is people willing to live downtown, not just work there.

Projects such as the federal courthouse, the Vagabond Lofts and the Virginia Hotel have helped bring a new look and new people to pockets of downtown. But other pockets are notable for their decaying buildings, lack of restaurants and nightlife, and -- after 5 p.m. -- a lack of people willing to make downtown home, or at least an after-hours destination.

Mayor Alan Autry has promoted big projects -- a riverwalk, a sports-themed entertainment district and a trolley connecting downtown with the Tower District -- to kick-start downtown's revitalization, but most of those ideas still languish.

Jeff Eben, Fresno's deputy mayor, credits Autry for beginning a downtown "surge." Eben wants to expand that effort by developing entertainment venues and restaurants, and additional housing.

The Forest City Enterprises project to redevelop 85 downtown acres with housing and shops "will bring needed housing and is exciting, but it is not the sole savior of downtown Fresno," Eben said. "We have the local talent and will to revitalize downtown with loft projects and other high-density housing opportunities that will provide an urban living experience that is desirable and affordable."

City Council Member Jerry Duncan said downtown Fresno already is becoming a great success story. Now, he said, the city needs to quit chasing "novelty ideas like lakes, rivers and expensive streetcars" and let private businesses chart their own course.

"We are far beyond the discussion of whether or not downtown Fresno should be renewed. We are doing it and the future is bright," Duncan said. "Now we are seeing historic levels of private investment in downtown, including investment from some of the largest and most successful urban development firms on earth."

Ashley Swearengin said she supports revitalizing downtown, but believes it will take more than just one big project to do it.

"I do not believe in 'silver bullet' fixes for the area," said Swearengin, on leave from her job as director of the Regional Jobs Initiative. "Unfortunately, our downtown has deteriorated beyond the repair of any one project, no matter how big or small."

Swearengin said she would support businesses that add entertainment or nightlife to downtown. Her administration would try to attract foot traffic to downtown with festivals, art shows and ethnic celebrations. And she wants to work with neighborhood associations, nonprofit groups and others to help their efforts to improve the downtown area.

Henry Monreal, a police detective who specializes in financial crimes, thinks the city spends too much time and money creating plans without taking action.

"You don't rebuild a city with a sketch," Monreal said. "You rebuild it one neighborhood at a time. Downtown can be viewed as the microcosm for the rest of our city. There is no such thing as a neighborhood that just has a crime problem. It has a neglect problem. It has a school problem. It has a poverty problem. And it has a jobless problem."