I am a native Fresnan who called Fresno my home for my first 21 years of life. I have spent the past nine years in four different cities in the Chicago area and now the Bay Area. I can say that I have never encountered a city quite like Fresno. This statement can be taken in both a positive or negative light. As you mentioned in your earlier post, Fresno takes pride in its many traditions such as Christmas Tree Lane and Bulldog Athletics. It also has a great cultural diversity and, by virtue of its location, is a great home base for those who enjoy weekend trips to the mountains, coast and the amusement parks of Southern California. However, I’ve noticed that Fresnans in general can be very apathetic. I can’t speak to the reasons behind the Met’s closure, as I do not live in Fresno (though I am a frequent visitor) but I do believe it’s true that Fresnans rarely venture out of their bubbles.

Two of the cities I lived in in IL were major suburbs that many people have heard of but the one we lived in most recently (and for the longest period of time) was smaller and not as built up commercially. It was not uncommon for me to drive 20 – 40 minutes to go to a children’s museum, Costco, the mall or a specialty grocery store like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Not that I did this every day or even every week, but often enough that it was normal. When I am in Fresno and I mention going to a store or a friend’s house that is more than a 10 minute drive from my parents’ house I hear, “Oh, that’s far.” Similarly, I now live in an East Bay city with a thriving downtown area. Most of the parking here is in garages or metered. If this were the case in Fresno I doubt it would be a thriving shopping center for very long.

I recently ran the Two Cities Half Marathon in Fresno/Clovis and was so very impressed with the organization and crowd support from local groups, high schools and the running community (Fresno has a great running community!). As a race experience it was on par with marathons I’ve run in Chicago and Big Sur and was far better than my recent half marathon experience in San Francisco. It was disenheartening to read letters to the editor in the Bee after the event from residents who complained about the inconvenience of road closures for the event. Residents of cities like Chicago and New York take pride in their local marathons and expect road closures and other inconveniences for events that shed such a positive light on their cities. To me this and the lack of public support for the Met are two more examples of Fresnans’ apathy. If Fresnans truly want to have a great city everyone will have to do their part to make it so.

(Sorry for the rambling here. Perhaps I am not qualified to comment, given that I no longer live in Fresno, this is simply the perspective of somebody who loves her hometown but is now able to view it from a distance.)

But as far as The Met goes, I have many other reasons why it has not gained momentum. First, the fresnan is a creature of habit. The location of the Met was part of a plan to bring people downtown that still has no backbone. Reminder Fresno: there is still no one downtown that isn’t working all day and still no a reason to make it a regular county wide destination.

The Met is also a whim entertainment option… like the Zoo. Problem is the Zoo has been in Fresno for eons, with countless families and children that have grown up there. The Met has struggled a whole year just trying to find some consistancy in message. It takes much more time than that for people to discover it…

Next is the Brand. The Met is now more know for problems than as a cultural center for the city. When people see it’s logo or name the first thing that comes to their mind isn’t “darn, I haven’t been there in a while with the kids in a while.”. It’s a little more “wow, that place is still open.” Fresnans know more about what is wrong with it than what is right with it.

Finally it is service, I have been twice, with well, less than spectacular feelings. Parking is difficult, personality is less than passionate, exhibits not very adult or child friendly. It just feels “blah”.

I guess what I am trying to say is the reasoning for it’s decline is more that it was never in a possition to really make it.

James: I think both hold responsible. I am not in any way defending the fiscal irresponsibility of The Met. However, it has seemed like they are really trying to make changes. Maybe it has just been too little too late.

It seems people here love to live in their bubbles, venture out to go to the movies or eat at a familiar chain restaurant, and that’s about it. I’ve constantly amazed at the number of reasons people have to not do things. Either it’s about geography or parking or cost.

You make a good point about this being a commentary on the Fresno community. It is. With every new story of a business closing, people are quick to comment about how “If it would have been in a different part of town, or advertised more, or [fill in the blank]” then things would have gone better.

What about if YOU would have been supportive instead of dismissive? We’re a community of armchair quarterbacks, it seems.

This is not a downtown problem, or a North Fresno problem, or a Tower District problem. It’s a Fresno problem. It’s the same problem at Friant and Fort Washington as it is at Van Ness and Stanislaus.

People in Fresno need to be more engaged in and supportive of their community. It’s as simple as that.