High-speed rail offers the chance to restore vitality to Fresno’s Chinatown | Opinion
West Fresno was a major contributor to the growth of Fresno. It evolved into one of the more diverse areas in the state, including a large concentration of Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans and African Americans.
At its peak, west Fresno also included major ethnic enclaves from Russia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Armenia.
Chinatown was the center of most of west Fresno’s activity. It had more than 15 hotels and rooming houses, numerous businesses, banks, restaurants, educational and cultural centers, and entertainment venues such as theaters, nightclubs, and opera houses. Community events included Chinese New Year’s, the Obon festival, and 16th of September. Its churches were among the most diverse in the state, including the largest Buddhist campus in the nation, the First Mexican Baptist Church, and one of the first Chinese Catholic churches. The last dairy cooperative in the nation is still located there.
West Fresno’s diversity significantly contributed to Fresno being named the most diverse small city in the nation and subsequently recognized as an All-American City. Chinatown stimulated the growth of the west side and eventually became a dynamic and rapidly expanding demographic, pivotal to Central California’s economy and labor force. For most of its history, it contributed significantly to Fresno’s tax coffers.
Opinion
Throughout most of west Fresno’s history, the city maintained a strict segregation policy, while financial institutions practiced redlining. Thus, many ethnic groups either started banks or developed other vehicles for financing, making Chinatown a self-determining district.
The city’s development policy has traditionally been sporadic and piecemeal, allowing only limited opportunity for growth and integration in the area. Most housing promoted by the city has been low-income and extremely low-income.
Chinatown has now succumbed to blight and rapid deterioration as evidenced by many abandoned buildings and over 46 vacant lots. Historical buildings are ignored and allowed to deteriorate, and most neighborhoods in west Fresno are plagued with crime and widespread homelessness.
The High-Speed Rail has been promoted as pivotal to Chinatown’s development. The city now supports a mixed-use development plan for the area, and meets its legal obligation to the state in expanding low-income and extremely low-income housing. Local and outside investors also benefit by investing in inexpensive commercial land, converting buildings into low-quality housing and rooming facilities. It is common knowledge that poor housing quality, increased density, and limited opportunity perpetuate poverty and trigger crime.
It must be recognized that Chinatown can no longer tolerate high-density, low-quality housing. Historical encroachment and neglect have caused it to become unsafe for most housing expansions. Further, the surrounding streets and barriers are hazardous. The city’s planting of trees, fixing of sidewalks, and repairing of infrastructure represents the same piecemeal approach to Chinatown’s development. Even more significant, it falls short of recognizing its potential contribution to the long-term economic growth of west Fresno and our city.
The High-Speed Rail has been presented as a major economic stimulus for Fresno. Due to its location, Chinatown provides the city an opportunity to develop a major business, entertainment, cultural, and educational center, similar to Old Sacramento and Old San Diego. Both have become major economic stimuli to their cities and are adjacent to the city’s rail systems.
The HSR represents an investment of tens of billions of dollars by taxpayers. It also embodies a major policy commitment made by Fresno. Every effort should be made to maximize the benefit of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All of us have a stake in this venture, and we should demand that our elected officials retain a meaningful vision for Chinatown as a major economic stimulus for west Fresno and the city. It’s truly low-hanging fruit!
Raul Pickett is a Fresno resident and a retired chief executive officer of a credit union.
