Revitalization efforts in Downtown Fresno Essay

In this paper, I will focus on revitalization efforts in Downtown Fresno (CA). Specifically, I will provide an analysis of the transformation of Fresno's historic main street ("Fulton Street" c. 1910) into a pedestrian mall ("Fulton Mall" est. 1964) and the return of Fulton Street (2017) with pedestrian amenities, made possible by a $20 million U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant. Through this analysis I will then evaluate the rise and decline of Fulton Mall in light of suburbanization and urban sprawl. Next, I will identify current-day Downtown Fresno demographics arguing that the creation of a thriving downtown through the return of Fulton Street will not address the needs of those residents commercially and is incompatible with maintaining accessibility and providing public space ultimately resulting in displacement and neighborhood change. I derived my understanding of public space from environmental planner and mall designer Victor Gruen's theories and applications of shopping center design, specifically the case study of Fresno.
Humble Beginnings Downtown Fresno
Located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, Fresno is home to a current population of 501,000 making it the fifth largest city in California. Fresno was established in 1890 by the Central Pacific Railroad Company the station was constructed in what would become known as Downtown Fresno. Fresno became a dominant center for agriculture as immigrant families settled there to work as farmers. As economy improved from the 1890s to 1920s, the city expanded outward beyond the central train station. Like many urban cores experienced, the stock market crash of 1929 and resulting Great Depression left Downtown Fresno to begin its decline as the vibrant heart of the city. Fresno continued to grow horizontally in the next few decades with an emergence of suburban fringe developments, new school districts located in the outskirts, new suburban malls located close to the fringe subdivisions, and freeway additions and improvements that connected the sprawling city, incentivizing businesses to move out even further from the once thriving downtown. With these supporting infrastructures, the suburbs grew at a sharper rate in comparison to the declining Downtown Fresno which lost population, profit, and resources falling into a trough by the early 1990's.
Suburbanization and Competition from the North
After World War II, cities across America experienced a decline in their urban core. Improvements in transportation from the Federal Highway Act of 1956 combined with the rise of the automobile encouraged sprawl as it became easier to commute longer distances. Likewise, Federal Housing Loans supported the movement of white affluent Americans to suburbia, "a district lying immediately outside a city or town," as they could purchase homes with loans from the government. Shifts in space and demography and an emerging consumer culture created a need for modern amenities such as televisions, stoves, and cars to support the suburban lifestyle. (Wall, 61) As a result, a new form of retailing developed known as the "shopping center" which was a collection of amenities with the intent of supporting the suburban lifestyle. Located