Guest Column – Don’t forget it, Jake: Fresno’s Chinatown at a crossroads

Fresno’s Chinatown needs help. City Hall, though, is focusing its development efforts elsewhere.

The cold shoulder isn’t just my imagination.

“Sadly, Chinatown does not get the same attention that Downtown does, not only from our city but from our investment community, as well,” Council Member Oliver Baines told me last week. Baines’ District 3 includes Chinatown.

(Editor’s Note: This piece first appeared on CVObserver.com. View the original version here.)

“Chinatown has in many cases been left behind in terms of the economic growth that we see occurring, particularly in the Downtown area. We do everything we can in our office to raise attention to that (state of affairs). Chinatown has crime issues, particularly a very bad homeless problem that we are trying to combat head on. But we’ve got to do more for our Chinatown business owners.”

Of course, this has been Chinatown’s reality for decades. Why does City Hall indifference matter now?

To put it simply, high-speed rail.

The bullet train’s depot, the first of its kind in America, will be built in the Downtown area of Mariposa and H streets, just to the east of Chinatown. Travelers from throughout the nation and the world will be coming to Fresno.

City leaders for years have been trying to revitalize Downtown. The inspiration for this immense effort is manifold. It’s sufficient here to note that much good work has been done. Bullet train passengers, even if just passing through, will see an increasingly robust Downtown Fresno.

As things stand now, they’ll also see a devastated Chinatown.

A Lot of Issues are at Play

Two other issues currently simmering at City Hall add context to our story.

City officials are in the early stages of crafting a Southwest Fresno Specific Plan. Think of it more as a long overdue growth blueprint for traditional West Fresno. The specific plan’s footprint covers five square miles. Many of the long-established residential neighborhoods of West Fresno aren’t part of those 3,200 acres. But plan’s charge is to spur the transformation of this part of historic Fresno, too.

West Fresno is on the west side of Highway 99. Chinatown is next to West Fresno, on the east side of 99.

You get the picture – a desolate and ignored Chinatown is located in a high-profile spot between a rejuvenating Downtown and a West Fresno on the path to a renaissance.

Then there is the $70 million in state Cap & Trade money headed Fresno’s way.

The spending guidelines are still being debated. All of the money (including any matching funds from the city) will go toward popular but hazy public needs such as combating pollution, improving people’s health and expanding economic opportunity.

But where to spend the money? The state will require that much of the $70 million go into projects near the bullet train depot. City officials are already dreaming about the blessings of multi-million-dollar subsidies to private-sector development projects along Fulton Corridor and throughout the South Stadium area. In other words, Downtown.

At the same time, powerful community activists are lobbying here and in Sacramento to substantially liberalize the money’s spending rules. West Fresno neighborhoods relatively far from the bullet train depot have immense infrastructure and social needs. The activists don’t want a narrow niche of Downtown hogging all that Cap & Trade dough.

Chinatown? Chinatown doesn’t appear to be a high priority for that $70 million, and the area’s business owners know it.

“We’re in between,” said Paul Pearson, owner of Chef Paul’s Café on F Street, in the heart of Chinatown. “We’re the stepchildren.”

Adds Kathy Omachi, for many years the heart of soul of Chinatown Revitalization Inc.: “They (city officials) would prefer us not to be around. They have applied to Chinatown what I call the three D’s. They disregard what we bring up. Then they dismiss us. Then they just want to disintegrate (us). Those three D’s, they’re actually happening. You can see what’s going on.”

An Area with a Long History

Chinatown and its history are no strangers to most Fresnans. The railroads in the 19th century made Chinatown just as it made the rest of original Fresno.

Chinatown today is mainly the 16-block area bounded by Fresno Street on the north, G Street on the east, Inyo Street on the south and E Street on the west. Chinatown proper extends further south to Ventura Street, but those blocks are mainly industrial in nature (although the Full Circle Brewing Co. adds some entertainment flavor with its retail venue).

Chinatown’s geographical dilemma is much like the one facing Old Germantown, the tiny neighborhood further south that once was home to Fresno’s hardworking Volga German community.

Mid-20th century progress was such that Old Germantown was turned into an island essentially cut off from civilization by Highway 99, Highway 41 and Golden State Boulevard. Chinatown is similarly isolated by 99, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks and the homelessness industry south of Ventura (Fresno Rescue Mission, Poverello House).

But Chinatown is much bigger than Old Germantown. And, unlike Old Germantown, Chinatown is located in a spot pivotal to Fresno’s future.

Nor is Chinatown a stranger to urban architects and planners. Victor Gruen of Fulton Mall fame joined with Fresno Redevelopment Agency officials in the late 1950s/early 1960s to craft Downtown urban renewal plans that were supposed to reach as far west as Chinatown. That marriage of renowned visionary and local moguls spawned in the coming decades a cottage industry of Chinatown growth blueprints. All were committed to paper at great public expense.

Omachi, whose family roots in Chinatown run deep, watched the plans come and go.

“There are the two reasons we are being disintegrated piece by piece: Lack of political will and lack of (neighborhood) control,” Omachi told me. “There has never been help – an extended hand of friendship – that had staying power.”

The 60 years since the Gruen experiment have confirmed one point: City Hall has no idea what to do with Chinatown.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2035 general plan, the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan and the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, all of them researched, written and approved during Ashley Swearengin’s eight years as mayor.

Mayor Lee Brand, who took office in January, has vowed to implement Swearengin’s many plans.

“Revitalizing our downtown and surrounding neighborhoods has been my highest priority as your Mayor,” Swearengin wrote in the introduction to the Downtown Neighborhoods plan. “… Over time, good planning creates vibrant neighborhoods and supports economic prosperity. In a healthy, well planned neighborhood, quality food, shopping and entertainment options are nearby. Children experience a pleasant and safe walk to school. In fact, crime is less of a problem overall because people know their neighbors and see them every day. In a vibrant neighborhood, property owners invest in their property, keeping living conditions safe and property well-managed and maintained.”

The Mayor’s pep talk was followed by nearly 170 pages of transformative plans for the 11 square miles that are Fresno’s urban core and pretty much constituted the entire city before World War II. The plans dig into “subareas” such as the Jane Addams neighborhoods, the Edison neighborhoods, the Southeast neighborhoods and, of course, Downtown.

The summary of promises for Downtown includes:

•  Revitalize the Fulton Corridor.
• Target investment towards the Fulton Corridor and the buildings that front it.
• Connect the High-Speed Rail Station to Fulton Street with dense, urban, and pedestrian-focused development.
• Activate existing open spaces such as Courthouse Park and introduce new open spaces.

The summary doesn’t mention Chinatown by name.

Then you have the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, which runs to 250 pages. This plan deals with heart of Downtown. Chinatown is within the plan’s scope of study.

The Fulton Corridor also has seven subareas: Fulton District, Mural District, Civic Center, South Stadium, Chinatown, Armenian Town/Convention Center and the Divisadero Triangle.

The Fulton District, for example, is to be “transformed into a walkable, mixed use district that is the center of the San Joaquin Valley,” the plan states.

The Armenian Town/Convention Center area is to be connected “to the Fulton Corridor with clear pedestrian linkages and wayfinding signage.”

The Fulton Corridor plan deals at length with the challenges and opportunities of integrating six of the seven subareas into one big, dynamic engine of success.

Chinatown? It’s the redheaded stepchild.

“Infill Chinatown’s many vacant lots with sensitively scaled, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly buildings that accommodate a variety of uses,” is about all the excitement the Fulton Corridor plan can muster for that part of Fresno.

City planners have only bromides for Chinatown because they don’t care about the area’s problems (Omachi and Pearson, among others) or are demoralized by the magnitude of the task of fixing things (me).

Crime has Everyone on Edge

A news conference hosted by Police Chief Jerry Dyer in on May 10 shed light on Chinatown’s challenges. The event came in the wake of the Chief’s monthly Crime View meeting with top departmental leaders.

Dyer addressed a variety of public safety issues. The homeless – vagrants and drifters are perhaps more accurate terms – was one of the topics.

“What we’re finding is more and more calls for service for people that are out on the street,” Dyer said. “What we also know is that many of them, a significant number of them, are involved in criminal activity. Breaking into cars, breaking into businesses, stealing items and then openly fencing those items.”

Dyer had Capt. Mark Salazar, commander of the Southwest Policing District, come to the microphone.

Salazar said his officers are taking a proactive rather than reactive strategy to crime fighting.

“We have a small Downtown policing unit – five officers and a sergeant – and their mission is to disrupt that crime in Downtown and Chinatown,” Salazar said. “We know West Fresno gangs come into the Downtown and Chinatown area. We’ve targeted those West Fresno gangs, and we’ve had a lot of success over the last four months. We also know that there’s a lot of homeless out there and they probably should be in prison if not for different (state) propositions. And they’re out there, too. They’re on probation, they’re on parole, they’re running from probation, they’re running from parole. We’re taking them on, as well.”

Salazar told the story of a former gang member now homeless on the streets of Chinatown. The man stole thousands of dollars of equipment from a Fresno Fire Department site. He set the equipment against a fence, only to have a couple of other homeless guys come along and steal the stolen stuff.

Long story short, officers recovered all of the equipment except for a $1,400 radio. Detectives looked for places where the thieves could turn their loot into cash.

“We were led to a store in Chinatown that was fencing the property,” Salazar said. “… As the detectives were in there, there was a line out the door of homeless with different goods. When they knew we were there, they left.”

The radio was recovered.

In the first four months of 2017, Salazar said, Downtown as a whole has seen a 29% drop in robberies, a 17% drop in larceny, an 18% drop in burglaries and a 22% drop in stolen vehicles.

When asked about crime in Chinatown, Salazar said: “It’s hit and miss. The homeless on Santa Clara (the Poverello House area) will go into Chinatown, which angers business owners. But some avenues are quiet and clean. It’s all connected – Santa Clara, Chinatown, Downtown. What we try to do is get in front of it.”

The Bullet Train is a Source of Anger and Hope

Of course, Chinatown wouldn’t be Chinatown if it were squeaky clean from one end to the other. Omachi helps fund the activities of Chinatown advocates by conducting paid tours of the neighborhood’s tunnels. Those underground passageways weren’t built back in the day as a shortcut to the Gottschalks department store.

It’s the bullet train that is the disruptor of unprecedented force.

The east side of G Street is already no-man’s land, denuded (except for the old Jensen-Pilegard shop) of life and buildings. It’s along here that the bullet train’s tracks will go. The infrastructure for those rails will be imposing.

“They say they’re trying to build Downtown Fresno,” said Chef Paul’s Pearson. “But when they say Downtown Fresno, they never mention Chinatown. Then they say they’re going to build a wall – when I say a wall, I’m talking about the railroad tracks over there. High-speed rail. I believe Chinatown is part of Downtown Fresno. But if they build a wall, they’re saying Downtown Fresno stops just east of the tracks.”

The Cosmopolitan restaurant, long a fixture at the northeast edge of Chinatown, moved last summer to new digs on a corner of the Convention Center parking lot. Credit (or blame) the bullet train project.

The High-Speed Rail Authority is supposed to start work this summer on the Tulare Avenue underpass between Downtown’s H Street and Chinatown’s G Street. That means one of the main entryways to Chinatown from Downtown will be out of commission up to F Street for a long time.

A small food store and an even smaller boot store operate out of a building on the south side of Tulare between G and F. High-Speed Rail officials promise to provide plenty of signage so customers know the stores are still open.

Many spots among Chinatown’s 16 blocks are fields or buildings undergoing the slow process of demolition by neglect.

“When you have some juice with the powers that be, you may be able to survive what’s going on with high-speed rail,” Omachi said. “But Chinatown doesn’t have the juice. We don’t have the support.”

Is there hope for Chinatown? Of course.

The place is home to popular restaurants, among them Chef Paul’s, Cuca’s and the Ho Ho Kafe. There is the beloved Central Fish Company. I know from years of firsthand experience that Ofelia’s Barber Shop on Kern Street delivers a great product.

There are other fine businesses in Chinatown. But 16 city blocks is a lot of space to fill up.

The Redevelopment Agency with its power of eminent domain is dead. Hard to tell whether that’s good or bad for Chinatown.

Plans gathering dust at City Hall talk about a park or two in Chinatown. I wouldn’t guess how a bunch of green space a short walk from the Rescue Mission would turn out.

There’s always the Fresno Housing Authority with its high-density residential projects. But housing advocates are already complaining about the high concentration of low-rent apartment complexes in poorer parts of town.

City officials tell me they’re all set to help should investors show a serious interest in Chinatown.

How’s that for government initiative?

Finally, there’s the bullet train. The $100 billion project connecting Southern California to the Bay Area via the San Joaquin Valley with 200-miles-per-hour trains is supposed to deliver economic miracles in every neighborhood within spitting distance of a depot.

All that remains is for someone to find the money to complete the network.

Two Perspectives on Chinatown

Chinatown obviously is worth preserving and revitalizing because of its role in Fresno history.

“Somebody asked why I do the tours and why I’m so involved (in Chinatown),” Omachi said. “Part of that is my family’s history. My dad was born here. My grandfather had a business for a while, a pool hall, in China Alley. Being a kid, listening to his stories, I would let it go in one ear and out the other. So I know that I cut myself off from some of my own family history.

“If we don’t have an idea of who we were, then we’re anchorless. We’re just kind of floating out on a sea of the general population. But when we do the tours, we see people from a wide range of areas making connections. And I tell them it’s important for them to talk to the senior members of their families – their uncles, their aunts, their grandparents – because their stories are what made you. You must know who you are, where you came from and to honor the community. Chinatown is an example of what I’m talking about.”

But Omachi would be the first to acknowledge that what today’s Chinatown needs most is not noble sentiment but dollars-and-cents commitment from the public and private sectors.

“Chinatown is probably one of the key pieces of real estate in the entire city of Fresno,” Council Member Baines said. “It connects Downtown Fresno and Southwest Fresno. We need to be paying more attention to Chinatown. I have no doubt that attention is going to start to occur. But to date, yes, Chinatown business owners and residents who live in Chinatown have a lot to be unhappy about.”

I take that to mean: Wait.