In a new feature called impact we demonstrate how intelligent fresnans are influencing change in this city, region, national, and world.

I met Danielle Thiesen Bergstrom while working on the Vernacular Architecture Forum hosted in Fresno in 2008. At that time Dani was working as a staff planner with the City of Fresno. She had just been accepted to Cornell University for graduate studies in regional planning.

While Dani is now deep in academic pursuits, Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley remain a basis for her studies. In a recent return trip to the valley, she scheduled a series of interviews with key Fresnans. The goal was to gather input, data and interpretations to feed her thesis.

Working title: The Influences of Land Use and Housing Policy
on Concentrated Poverty Patterns in Fresno, California

Completion date: April 2010

Primary research question: What has been the influence of local, state, and federal land use and housing policy on concentrated poverty patterns (where it’s going, who it’s affecting, how it is growing, etc.) over time, primarily from 1970-2000 (easiest data to acquire) but even up to the present? What makes Fresno so unique in this predicament? What is preventing the stemming of these trends that we’re seeing in Fresno (i.e. the suburbanization of concentrated poverty, filling the inner-ring suburbs)?

Dani says that the goal of this project is to present findings, not necessarily recommendations. She is continually asked for solutions. She humbly admitted “the solutions can not come from me, singlehandedly–it needs to be a collaborative effort.”

List of individuals interviewed thus far:

Amy Chubb, Redevelopment Agency of Fresno
Keith Bergthold, City of Fresno Planning & Development Department Assistant Director
Keith Kelley, Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development President & CEO
Craig Scharton, City of Fresno Downtown & Neighborhood Revitalization Department Director
Nick Yovino, former City of Fresno Planning & Development Department Director
Preston Prince, Housing Authority, Executive Director
Rollie Smith, HUD, Central Valley Field Office Director
Kiel Famellos-Schmidt, archop founder & curator
Greg Barfield, City of Fresno – Homeless Prevention and Policy Manager
as well as other scheduled interviews

When we met for an interview it actually when both ways. I was asking her questions about the Cornell experience and her research. She collected my input on: 1) role as a community activist–what we do, what our vision is 2) The 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness for Fresno as well as the process 3) Thoughts on the non-profit sector engaging citizens to combat concentrated poverty.

The goal on this round of interviews was to gather the insights of local policy-makers/implementers in the City of Fresno. In future visits she may include interviews with residents and other community leader. Below are some initial maps she drafted to demonstrate the pattern of concentration of poverty in Fresno.

Fresno to Welcome The Fultonia Live/Work Village

Fresno, CA – Nestled in an area between downtown Fresno and the Tower District will be The Fultonia Live/Work Village, a mixed-use development that offers 39 units of quality, moderately-priced housing and 10 commercial spaces.

Project design and information

Those who don’t wish to pay substantial sums of money for premium housing may find a home at The Fultonia Live/Work Village. The redevelopment, in an area that is being proposed as the SOTOW District, or South of Tower, also gives professionals and entrepreneurs the chance to invest in live/work units to reduce travel to and from work.

Developer TFS Investments, LLC, is about to begin construction on the project, at the site of what originally was a 39-unit low-income apartment complex along with 10 retail/office spaces located along Fulton Street that has fallen into disrepair. The goal is to take that same property and redevelop it entirely, and breathe new life into it as well as encourage the rest of the blighted neighborhood to make improvements as well.

“For the Fultonia project, providing quality, affordable housing is our number one focus,” said Terance Frazier, owner of TFS Investments. “At TFS Investments, we are doing the right thing and developing a bustling community where there wasn’t one before.”

Project manager is Tyco General, Inc., which has experience in managing numerous types of commercial construction projects.

The finished results will be a bright, colorful complex of buildings, complete with palm trees, banners and apartment balconies. The storefronts will house such businesses as retail shops, offices and small restaurants, and a large central courtyard plaza will be a place to gather and enjoy sunny days.

“Terance and TFS Investments has a bold vision for affordable housing that will not only help families who need assistance, but will provide investment and energy in

communities that need it most,” said Preston Prince, executive director of the Housing Authorities of the City and County of Fresno.

TFS Investments owner Terance Frazier, Fresno City Council President Cynthia Sterling, and Executive Director of the Housing Authorities of the City and County of Fresno Preston Prince, will take part in a press conference this Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the site, located at 532-614 Fulton St. in Fresno, 93721, to kick off construction on the project.

###

TFS Investments, LLC is one of central California’s leading real estate investment firms. TFS Investments is also known as an experienced commercial and residential real estate developer. Some of the company’s current projects include a twenty acre development in Pflugerville, Texas, the development of 120 acres in southeast Fresno and a nine acre development in central Fresno.

Tyco General, Inc. is a full service Design/Build general contracting firm and has been serving California since 1998. It has been involved in many types of commercial construction projects.

I’m going to assume that we all agree that affordable housing is necessary. We can also agree that there is a sever lack of affordable housing in Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley. I could continue studies that demonstrate that we have the highest concentrated poverty in the nation or the lowest on the development index. But I’ll assume that you are already familiar with our region’s issues.

With that clear, I’d like to focus on what architecture’s role is in affordable housing. I’ve long believed that quality designed housing has a huge impact on the health and success of it’s inhabitants. We can see from the poorly designed “projects” of the past the concentrating people in substandard housing solves the shelter issue but creates even more issues of segregation, crime, and poor health.

I believe that the architectural profession should be taking a stronger stance locally and saying “We need to solve these problems and we need to solve them right”

Check back shortly for some examples.

My question to you is: other than pure affordability, what are about the design of housing do you feel would help you have a more healthy, efficient, and sustainable lifestyle?