Most people think of California as a monolith of Bernie Bros West. While the state votes Democrat the city of Fresno, like many cities east of the coastline, skews centrist. It has things like an LGBT film festival and a few thousand more Democratic voters than Republicans, but it’s the second most conservative city in the state and votes more conservative than Houston or Dallas. We aren’t saying a conservative city is better or worse than a liberal one. If you think living in a centrist city overall, and a conservative one for a big city is a good thing, you’ll like it here.

Fresno has a relatively toxic mix of soot and pollutants that in combination make this a city with among the worst air quality in the country. While Fresno produces plenty of this on its own it also is unfortunately in a region surrounded by mountain ranges which means the unhealthy air from around the Central Valley, the Bay Area, and LA pools atop the city.  



It Ain’t San Francisco Or LA (or god forbid Berkeley)

LookyLOO Review of Fresno

What locals will tell you about a Fresno Lifestyle is that you live here because of what is nearby rather than what is within the  city limits. Fresno is smack dab in the middle of an amazing state. You are in close proximity to the most magnificent national parks: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. You’re an hour or two from skiing, and two hours from coastal beaches. Finally, you’re a three hours drive to San Francisco or Los Angeles. Fresno the city may be quiet but if you want a reasonable drive to virtually anything you could want it works. 

If you're interested in checking out what people get up to in Fresno here's the [**calendar of events**](https://www.visitfresnocounty.org/blog/post/january-events-in-fresno-county/).

Lifestyle 

The job market in Fresno is not considered exceptional. Generally, people move here to work in Education: at Fresno State, or the elementary/secondary school system. There is also a large health sector employer base with a large UCSF medical and research facility, a stellar VA hospital, and a large Community Regional Medical Center with the only Level 1 trauma center between LA and Sacramento. A big change coming to cities like Fresno however is the rise of Work-from-homers who may want to be in California, be central to everything the state has to offer but also be able to rent cheaply or buy a home. 


Worklife

[**Fresno School District**](fresnounified.org) comes in at a solid [**"B" rating on niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/fresno-unified-school-district-ca/). It stands out in the ratings on niche with an "A" for the quality of Teachers. 

Fresno has a pretty dispersed group of higher-performing schools, unusual for a large school district that typically would have more clusters in high-income neighborhoods. The pearls in the system are a group of "Niche Magnet Schools" that all get "A's" on niche.com. These include:

-Manchester Gate: a magnet elementary school 
-[**Edison Computech**](computech.fresnounified.org): a magnet middle school that receives an [**"A-" on niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/edison-computech-fresno-ca/?map).
- 

Schools

The cost of living in Fresno is comparable to Detroit and Albuquerque. That means for ~45,000 a year you can live comfortably here. The median price of a home in San Francisco is 5x that of Fresno so needless to say it is possible to spend a lot less and stay in the sun of California.  


Affordability

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**funcyChaos**
Living in Fresno
2y ago
✭✭✭

**Do you enjoy living in Fresno?**

Yes but it really depends on your lifestyle.

If you have ac at home and or work in ac during the summer, box checked. Don't go outside till dark.

The bar scene in tower district is pretty great imo and the new dispensaries are top tier.

The community is hit or miss and the neighborhoods and areas in general go from great to weird or sketch and back again every two blocks.

Traveling From Fresno is easy. Sf, the bay, lake Tahoe, the desert, all within 2 to 5 hours

All the negative things I could say about Fresno, the truth is the only cities I'd replace it with are expensive

For more reviews of what living in Fresno is like from locals check out: [**The Reviews**](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/fresno/reviews).

Reviews of Fresno from Locals

**The Best Thing About Fresno?**  We Ain’t San Francisco Or LA (or god forbid Berkeley)

Most people think of California as a monolith of Bernie Bros west. While the state votes Democrat the city of Fresno, like a number of cities east of the coastline skews more centrist. It has things like an LGBT film festival, and a few thousand more democratic voters than republican, but it’s the second most conservative city in the state and votes more conservative than Houston or Dallas. We aren’t saying a conservative city is better or worse than a liberal one. Only if you think living in a centrist city overall and conservative one for a big city is a good thing you’ll like it here. 

**The Worst Thing About Oklahoma City?**  The Air

Fresno has a relatively toxic mix of soot and pollutants that in combination make this a city with among the worst for air quality in the country. While Fresno produces plenty of this on its own it also is unfortunately in a region surrounded by mountain ranges which means the unhealthy air from around the Central Valley and the Bay Area and LA pools atop the city. 

**How You Living?**  In A Suburban Version Of Urban

A majority of the best neighborhoods to consider in Fresno have a suburban feel. Single family homes with yards, wide streets, and close access to parks and good shopping and restaurants. Woodward Park, Bullard and Hoover are good places to start when you’re a young family looking for a new start, or a retiree looking for a cheaper option than the coast. 


**Why You Should Move Here Now?**  Affordability

The cost of living in Fresno is comparable to Detroit and Albuquerque. That means for ~45,000 a year you can live comfortably here. The median price of a home in San Francisco is 5x that of Fresno so needless to say it is possible to spend a lot less and stay in the sun of California.  


Fresno is smack dab in the middle of the Central Valley of California. For those not in the agricultural know, the Central Valley of California is a massive flat landmass that runs parallel to the coast of the Pacific and is the produce center of California and much of the country and world. It is undeniably hot and the Mediterranean climate is what makes it so ripe for growing produce that in some cases aren’t produced anywhere else in the United States. Fresno and the Central Valley sit west of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, making skiing, hiking and camping easily accessible options. It sits east of the Coast hill and mountain ranges making hiking and beach trips also simple to drive to in a couple hours. 


The Area

There isn’t a huge population of young professionals in Fresno but those that do choose to live here often live in the Bullard neighborhood. Located on the West Side of Fresno and near the airport, it has tons of restaurants and bars making much of the area walkable for nighttime antics. Central Fresno holds all of the downtown neighborhoods and is the most obvious location for those who want to be in the center of the car and restaurant scene of Fresno. There are tons of apartment and condo options amidst the social options and keep an eye out for the Tower Distric neighborhood here if an arts district is your vibe.
- Bullard
- Hoover
- Central (Downtown Neighborhoods) 
- Tower District


Young Professionals

Bullard

The Tower District “towers” over other neighborhoods for being home to the LGBTQ+ community of Fresno. The District is centered around the Art Deco Tower Theater and is the center of a cool mid-century architecture vibe. It is also filled with boutique shopping, theaters, eclectic dining choices and hosts the annual pride parade that takes place every year. The Fresno scene isn’t nearly as dominant as San Francisco or LA but for those looking to settle in a friendly neighborhood the Tower District is a good place to start your search.
- Tower District 


LGBTQ+ 

Tower District


Fresno has a number of family friendly neighborhoods with Woodrow Park and the North Growth Area at the top of the list due to their high public school ratings and extremely low crime rates. Woodrow Park also has great restaurants and a nice boutique shopping scene. This compelling commercial scene combined with great parks, walking trails and a lot to do outdoors makes this a neighborhood with a standalone feel amidst the city chaos. Fig Garden is another area to check out with historic homes and beautiful class fig trees that provide a cooling effect on the neighborhood blocks. The area is extremely walkscore friendly with tons of classic Adobe and Bungalow homes and a great commercial district and the Figarden Loop Park for the kiddos to run around in. 
- Woodrow Park
- North Growth Area
- Fig Garden
- Sunnyside
- McLane


Families 

Woodrow Park

The retirement scene in Fresno is more often in the burbs than the city. Kingsburg and Clovis are two suburbs that top most lists and local referrals to check out. Great weather and much lower costs than other California cities bring in the fixed-income communities and Kingsburg and Clovis are popular due to nice homes, safe streets, an outdoor lifestyle and active commercial scenes for shopping and dining. The North Growth Area is another suburb to check out. You’re a bit farther out than Clovis but you get nicer, bigger homes and the Copper River Country Club and Tennis Centre if that’s more your vibe. 
- Kingsburg
- Clovis
- North Growth Area


Empty Nesters/Retirees

Kingsburg

Fresno

**funcyChaos**
Living in Fresno
2y ago
✭✭✭

Yes but it really depends on your lifestyle.

If you have ac at home and or work in ac during the summer, box checked. Don't go outside till dark.

The bar scene in tower district is pretty great imo and the new dispensaries are top tier.

The community is hit or miss and the neighborhoods and areas in general go from great to weird or sketch and back again every two blocks.

Traveling From Fresno is easy. Sf, the bay, lake Tahoe, the desert, all within 2 to 5 hours

All the negative things I could say about Fresno, the truth is the only cities I'd replace it with are expensive

**Important_Outcome_67**
Living in Fresno
2y ago
✭✭✭

I'm from Wisconsin, live in the foothills, but do a lot of my shopping in the 'No.

When I first moved to California, Fresno had a REALLY bad rep. And there are some pretty rough parts of town. Conversely there's plenty of good neighborhoods, as well.

BUT...... it is centrally located, relatively easy access to the mountains or beaches. It's pretty easy to get around town, it's not too big, and it has everything you need.

The baseball stadium is pretty good, Broadway comes to the Saroyan, the climbing gym is good. There is a top notch Children's Hospital just outside of town, a big deal if you have or are going to have kids.
Air quality is horrendous. Every year it gets worse with the pollution from ag and the fires. Everyone here will eventually get some sort of cancer from chemicals and pollution.

As everyone else has said, the best part about Fresno is the proximity to other stuff, mountains, parks, beach, etc. Having been born and raised here, I’d suggest you avoid living in CA at all as the taxes and politics are getting worse, but if you do have to live in CA, then Fresno/Clovis is tolerable. Just make sure you live North of Shaw…. maybe even north of Herndon now.

**dragonslayerchris**
Living in Fresno
10mo ago
✭✭✭

•
Edited 10mo ago
The summer can get extremely hot averaging about 105-109 but there’s places to go, AC, and pools. Once it gets dark it’s not horrible.

Fresno is very much an urban sprawl that is dominated by automobiles, they are trying to update our bus system but other than that we don’t have much public transport.

We are pretty close to LA and San Francisco, but have most of the amenities and entertainment that they do. It’s fun to vacation/visit there but it’s not necessary to go there for items. We also have a huge food truck collection here that hosts events all the time with a thriving brewery scene in downtown

The LGBTQ community is thriving and growing with a huge pride event every year in the Tower District. It’s also a great area to bar hop, eat, shop and live. There’s some crime but pockets of that are all over the city even in the nicer areas like any big city.

The only thing to worry about really is air quality during fire season since the mountains are about 20 minutes away. It can get kind of bad but nothing threatening the city, if there’s a earthquake we only experience minor tremors that you don’t notice at all

Despite what most people think Fresno is starting to vote blue if you look at any Citi of Fresno voting demographics, we do have some very loud republican representatives, but they have more bark than they do bite. Our mayor, despite being our former police chief is leaving very center lately.

Overall Fresno has the same problems any big city has but also has a lot to offer with the location and amenities it offers. I’ve grown up here and had opportunities to leave, but those that say they’re stuck here don’t know how to search for the fun and entertaining things to do

**propita106**
Living in Fresno
10mo ago
✭✭

Welcome! Welcome? Take your pick! Lol

Weather/air:

It gets smoggy. Sometimes bad in the summer.

If there's bad fires 50 miles away and the wind blows it our way...well, not as bad as NYC was this past summer. But twice in the last 5 years I went to the doctor about breathing issues--he prescribed an inhaler. I don't have asthma. He said there were lots of prescriptions going out.

Summers are routinely over 100 F for weeks, even over 110 F for quite a while. Winter nights can get to just below freezing.

I wish Fresno had more stuff, like LA (I'm from SoCal originally), but there's enough pluses about Fresno, so.... I prefer LA to Frisco. We (Husband and I) go to LA maybe 4x/year.

Tower District has Pride Days and various things. Some neighborhoods may be AHs about things, but most are fine. Gays in our Fresno High neighborhood? No problem. Trans at Planet Fitness? No problem.

Natural disasters:

Fresno, California

We're Not Too Conservative

Looklyloo Score: 76