Fresno: A City Reborn - rare 1968 documentary by Victor Gruen Associates

This short documentary film was commissioned by Victor Gruen Associates to document Fresno's groundbreaking urban renewal campaign of the 1960s, which led to the construction of the Fulton Mall. The film contains a wealth of rare color footage of Fresno of the 1960s, and paints Fresno as a national model for solving the "urban crisis" of the post-war era. In 1968, the film was screened at the White House for an audience that included First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, as part of her national beautification campaign.

[@cartman4885]

I am 53 and was born here in Fresno and this film reminds me of what a great place Fresno used to be. My friends and I would ride the bus to the Fulton Mall mess around eat some good food ah good times.

[@Fadeawaymiah]

Fresno look so clean back then now it looks all gettho

[@ARMENH91]

Fresno was MORE OF A "CITY" 100 Years ago than it is NOW.

[@arturooM131]

8 years ago woah

[@rivergambler5903]

It went downhill when the Armenians left

[@davidavakian9704]

@@rivergambler5903 deadass

[@davidavakian9704]

and to think our ancestors who came here got to enjoy a beautiful Fresno and we were left with this😭😭

[@aronakbiyikian2577]

@@davidavakian9704 fr wtf. We got scammed

[@cub67]

I don’t live in Fresno anymore. But when I was a kid my mother would take us to Coney Island hot dog joint. They had the best chili dogs.

[@TeachUBusiness]

I used to go there too.

[@49ergang19]

Aaawww man best spot

[@marycatherinegallagher238]

I just walked Futon Street! All the fountains are functioning, the statues look great, the lights that run along the streets look great. No graffiti, no trash, no homeless people or tents. I'm born & raised here in Fresno, 36 years, & I love & believe in my city, ESPECIALLY downtown Fresno. I'm happy & proud with all the new development, lofts, business... we have to take care city to keep it beautiful. #fresyes

[@gutierrezp49]

Why is no homeless people in sight a positive thing for you? You would rather have them just be out of sight across the tracks in Chinatown huh? How about you go to Clovis with your ideas of what Fresno should Be, Fresno doesn’t need you.

[@megank1691]

Not anymore.

[@ivanmcclure8328]

Which Fulton were you on???? 🥴🥴😂😂

[@marycatherinegallagher238]

@@ivanmcclure8328 lol... I posted that 4 years ago... s*** is different down there...

[@ivanmcclure8328]

@@marycatherinegallagher238 no for sure! Haha. Didn’t mean anything by it.

[@marissagomez2689]

I love watching stuff about my town,wish things we’re still like that

[@ehbrownj]

Fresno used to be the spot back in the 60s & 70s, I remember running the track & field at the West Coast relay at Ratcliff stadium, hanging outside the bus shelter by the court house getting high and listening to some RnB, getting fitted at the clothing stores in Chinatown; (Dick's, Oriental, Holly's & Peacocks), and eating a big hamburger at Bob's BigBoy. Those were the days

[@chickenvasquez78]

I agree. It was the only destination to come back then. Not anymore. As of 2020, crime is clearly a nightmare.

[@bqkmg2037]

Remember Lesterburger

[@carrie5471]

I remember the same……

[@Blackboy559]

Dang that's what Fresno look like back in the day

[@johnnymartinez3745]

They don't even run the water fountains anymore at Fulton mall

[@downtownfresnocoalition2037]

This was a decision made by the Ashley Swearengin administration even before a drought was declared in California. Of course its purpose was to make the Fulton Art Mall as run down and deteriorated as possible. This made it easier for the City of Fresno to justify destroying the mall and its Garrett Eckbo designed landscape architecture. More info at FultonMall.org

[@shakirahill885]

They still do I work downtown fresno on m st

[@johnnymartinez3745]

Went down today, seen them on for the first time since like 2002

[@g-maald6884]

Just stumbled upon this documentary. My family moved to Fresno/Clovis area in 1970. The more things change the more they stay the same.

[@kittygonzalez2827]

Yep . ..we moved from San Diego to Fresno in 66 or 67! The crime they were afraid of then was nothing compared to the increases since the mid 80s! I don’t even remember any gangs until then! Educational video, and I think of the schools I attended ...the ones my kids went to...and the sudden question lingering as you go to bed and the car alarms start wailing....did I lock the front door...the sliding glass door, and you get up to check the doors for the 3rd time. In the morning, you breathe a sigh of relief as you make the coffee that all vehicles appear to be ok. But your neighbor is sweeping up the shattered glass!

[@jzuniga999]

@@kittygonzalez2827 poetic

[@kittygonzalez2827]

@@jzuniga999 😎Dr Seuss and Mother Goose always keep me a little loose and greatly Obtuse‼️😉

[@Aikynbreusov]

Clovis is not that much better either... just go check Tarpey Village.... it's as ghetto as the ghetto of black and brown neighborhoods

[@chetoos008]

This video has an aura of optimism that I hope a significant majority of people currently living in Fresno share in regards to the new development movements in the downtown area.

[@jasonpiecuch239]

Could someone PLEASE show this to our current "City Council" and Mayor? This was a FIRST in the nation, and it could EASILY be brought back to life. This is a relic of "the Johnson years" and "Great Society" we have now an urban forest DOWNTOWN and all we need to do is get city hall outta of the "politics" of the mall and let OWNERS of the buildings be ALLOWED to zone upper floors for residential use.

[@softwater88]

Jason Piecuch The Armenian Mafia in Fresno won't let progress ever be made.

[@Valley.Visitor]

This documentary is an incredible moment in history. This comment section is interesting to read. I love Fresno💚💚

[@midocrimsonfate1948]

14:48 This guy forgot to edit that out for his private time later.

[@shawn4ever77]

and after 50 years it's now going to reopen as Fulton Street

[@martinzenor7449]

And it is still full of boarded up store fronts.

[@softwater88]

And still no one has come. 😣😝🙃

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

Gentrification is a bitch.

[@MrBonedaddy500K]

And another thing, Fresno average temperature during the summer is 103° so explain why an outdoor mall was a great idea

[@pcaetano7527]

it had many fountains, and tall buildings that shaded the area in the afternoon , also it was in line with the natural breast of the valley , it's clear you've never been there.

[@Mrkevi123]

There was lots of shade, lots of fountains. You rarely got direct harsh sun as you would be in and out of shops.

[@thomasbaird4200]

LOL!

[@eddiegee897]

i miss the old days downtown hanging out at Fulton mall .I remember eating at the Chinese buffet where you can go upstairs back when there was a longs drugs

[@SombraLocs]

Whatever happened to that store?

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

@@SombraLocs Pushed out...so much got eminent domain'd during Autry and Swearengin's time to make way for all the potential shit to surround Grizzlies Stadium that never came to fruition.

[@9Mehrani8]

This is really cool to see what it looked like with my mom was young.

[@Leftlanedave]

Oh my God the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again with the same result 50 years later and they still haven't got it right

[@famousobs]

Downtown Fresno is cracking now 😁

[@chickenvasquez78]

Long live my hometown of Fresno!!

[@chickenvasquez78]

@Nunya Business dude you're judgemental is out of hand. Of course I knew that the town is crap. My dad is a police officer for 20 fucking years. Do I need to say anything else to you??????

[@mass96mass]

I lived in Fresno my whole life until 2021 and moved. I was 24 when i moved away. It has its rough areas like anywhere does but I miss it.

[@Phillipzu]

Where did this ambition go in American planning? Truly amazing!

[@benoitocazallo6841]

I really enjoyed watching it. :)

[@smashing559]

So happy downtown fresno is getting remodeled

[@starlite556]

Yeah , back to a street and years later back to a mall.

[@sukhchainsinghghotralubana4264]

Awesome 😀😃😄😁😆😅🤣😂🙂🙃😉😊🥰😍🤩😘😗☺😚😙🥲😋😛😜🤪😝🤑🤗🤭🤫🤔

[@numbersvibrations]

We shopped downtown at the Fulton Mall in the late 60s and 70s at Gottschalks, Woolworth and JC Penny. We loved it. I forgot the name of the wedding gown store where I bought my wedding dress.

[@jcdealy5962]

It's sad that we gave the Fulton Mall back to the cars. And we kicked people out, tearing down housing to make room for more parking... if you want a living core people need to live there. Study Vicror Gruen... he was so right. By the way, when they were kicking people out we were down there protesting. When I see this I remember how idealic my childhood was.. Loved the old mall. I was one of those kids playing around. As an adult I worked down there. Now Fresno was become a suburban desert!

[@anamarimoreno8952]

How sad.I think all of Fresno should watch this video

[@cbarrm]

Great job on an important subject

[@downtownfresnocoalition2037]

Mr. Barrett, check out the KZbin channel at FultonMall.org which is an Archive of recently produced and archival Fresno Fulton Art Mall documentaries. They tell the full story of what Fulton Art Mall was and how it was destroyed.

[@MrBonedaddy500K]

Fulton mall is unsafe you wouldn't catch me down there after dark. The last time I went down there I wanted to see if it had improved. While looking at a window display I smelled something bad. I was standing in vomit.

[@softwater88]

MrBonedaddy500 Go behind CVS/Longs and it smells like urine. The staff jet water cleans it every so often and the indigents return to urinate and defecate on it again.

[@poeticbuddha5608]

I think the California Highspeed Rail is why downtown looks so much different today. A few years ago they got rid of the open mall. Now there's condos, new businesses, which brings in customers and revenue. And they are building the highspeed rail station which runs right in front of Chuckchansi park. Fresno is becoming a modern city, starting in the downtown area.

[@MrSpikebender]

My Mom and Dad met in 1963 cruising Fulton. Mom was a senior at Roosevelt Dad was based in Lemoore. There first real date was Cedar Lanes

[@SOKAT559]

Idk why people hate Fresno so much . Especially the natives .... I am born and raised in Fresno ..i love my city and how much it has grown

[@stevemeinecke]

❤ father of the shopping mall he did well in his life ❤

[@AntiMusick]

we need to keep this vision

[@dannyhood8857]

Fresno was small town in early 70s. But also metropolitan. For a small town Fresno had lot of concerts. Many filmed on KZbin. Ratcliff stadium 1965

[@yerxiong123]

Now it needs to be reborn again

[@kittygonzalez2827]

Downtown is the one place in the whole city I always get lost in! I could barely find my way to work when I worked at Gottschalks on the Fulton mall!

[@lafokinmodaniana]

i did know the beautiful downtown :) now it's just pure get there and leave people who don't know the history i grew up downtown and there was always people my dad had his shop at the mammoth mall till 2002 i knew it before there was a stadium, before they took out the old playground, even when there was a gotschalks so sad! this should happen again but they should remodel old buildings not build new ones. promote businesses already there not kick them out embrace the culture promote the arts.

[@killjoybritt]

*sigh* I wish the Fulton mall was still this great. I was born in the wrong generation, hopefully the city does restore and remodel downtown

[@fresnofultonartmall3995]

Brittney, it's inspiring that you appreciate the Mid 20th Century Modern aesthetics of the Fulton Art Mall. Please explore and share the recently produced and archival documentary films at FultonMall.org They tell the whole story of why the Fulton Art Mall was created and the methodical, unfair actions undertaken by the City of Fresno and the Mayor Ashley Swearengin administration which ultimately led to its destruction.

[@chery.8141]

WOW 😀 Pretty cool.

[@jeffmorse645]

In the late 1960s Fresno had a population of 175,000 and was 70% white. Totally different than today.

[@Anon54387]

Totally different than the California of 1960. San Franciscans consider the rest of the state racist because we aren't pro-immigration. The problem is that the demographics roughly match the demographics of American in 1960. San Franciscans don't have to live with many immigrants, legal or illegal. The shooting of Kate Steinle should wake them up, but probably won't.

[@thecontroversy7914]

you sound border line racist not that you hate the blacks. It seems although you feel the blacks, Hispanics and Japanese are below us????????

[@thecontroversy7914]

danielboone72 Daniel from central? from rio?

[@usdesertracing]

in the 70's Fresno was 70% white.....it is now less than 30% white.

[@danielboone72]

Well, not quite.

[@rainmond]

Shit the city needs to be reborn again 😂

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

I don't know about Fresno solving the "urban crisis". Fresno State is the crown jewel and other than a few high schools in Clovis pumping out excellent athletes it's a city pretty much stuck in the 1960's. I was there for 3 years and when I told people I was from San Diego and thinking of moving permanently to Fresno the response was always "Why would you want to leave San Diego to come to FRESNO???"

[@robertgreen9980]

Im 62 and was born in Fresno. Family moved to Oregon when I was 14. I visited last year (2022). Its worse than before. Like I was driving Fulton Mall! Dirty garbage from people not caring or drug use homelessness. Oh but hey, my golden key from Story Land that I've had since I was 9 still works. Although they took away the real animals and painfully changed the stories!

[@juni674]

The deterioration of Fresno has a lot to do with the mismanagement from the City Council. What is now Cal State Merced was originally supposed to be here. The city council had so many restrictions on telling them where to build they basically told them "Up yours" and left. Another one was Bass Pro Shops was going to build near the Chuck ballpark downtown. City council screwed that one up as well. I know we all don't like "The Don" but he backed out of the golf course deal because of the council. Someone needs to investigate the mayor and other council members. I bet you someone has pocketed or at the very least mismanaged money. Our city council is corrupt and does not have Fresno's interests at heart. I grew up here and remember going down to play at the Fulton mall. I remember when Ashley Swearingin went from door to door wanting your vote so she could be mayor. You do not see her hardly at all. Also I knew when she went for state comptroller that she would not get the vote. You need to learn how to budget money in Fresno first before you can do a whole state. Our council has no idea how to run a town. Ashley I cannot wait until your term is up. Just go away and hope you get caught.

[@downtownfresnocoalition2037]

Dear J.R. Taylor, I just read your comments. I wholeheartedly agree. If you haven't seen them already, please go to: FultonMall.org to review a whole channel of current documentaries dedicated to enlightening the public about the corrupt process which Mayor Swearengin used to destroy the Fulton Art Mall. And please spread the word about this channel. The Fulton Art Mall may be destroyed but it will never be forgotten. Thank you for your comments!

[@danielboone72]

Follow the money!!!

[@softwater88]

Fresno has its Armenian Mafia that prevents these advancements from occuring.

[@dannyyorri2345]

Very well said many cities are taking traffic lights out and putting roundabouts to prevent pollution or building more traffic free areas in downtown's of their cities we are doing the opposite in Fresno sad place to live.

[@softwater88]

@@dannyyorri2345 Sure there isn't. 😣😥😝

[@pcaetano7527]

it would be amazing to fix the colors on this since the old film stock goes reddish

[@lvlesh28]

Too bad Fresno wasn't still like this when I lived there. I lived there 2000-2005

[@bonniegaither3994]

Very sad. “The Fulton Mall was a six-block corridor in downtown Fresno, California which was closed to traffic in 1964 and made into a pedestrians only mall. Despite opening to much fanfare, the downtown mall suffered from the city's suburban expansion, especially the opening of the Fashion Fair Mall six miles to the north. By the 1980s, most storefronts on the mall were empty and plans to renovate the mall were discussed. In 2017, car traffic was reintroduced to the street after most the public art and amenities had been relocated to sidewalk areas.[1]”

[@chickenvasquez78]

Good on days of Fresno :)

[@ameyallihernandez8761]

I'm only 13 and I wish Fresno was like this today. I live by McLane High and it's not that pretty here, especially with all the hobos and that ghetto look to it. If I only I lived in that time period.

[@MarioMartinez-tt9ly]

Haha we live close to eachother then . I graduated from mclane high school and and I still live nearby .

[@danielboone72]

Ah those were the days!

[@AntiMusick]

the problem is really not only Fresno but California, back in the early 1960s California had award winning Highways and Roads, even the Fulton Mall was build with famous artists and architect planners. Maintenance must have not been planed for and also a failure for the States Highways. See the recent report, "California highways among worst in the nation" 07/01/2013.

[@emsk8s]

I wonder who filmed all this...

[@isaacdeleon2749]

Dang a lot has changed everyone that lives in Fresno knows that downtown don’t look the same like in the video it’s just a lot of old abandoned buildings it’s really sad

[@SouthValleyComputers]

It's was SO great, the city ripped out the mall in 2020 reopening the road to traffic

[@kittygonzalez2827]

Unbelievable!

[@ruthjimenez2768]

Downtown Fresno is not the same like back in the early 60s it's all messed up nothing but homeless a lot of empty buildings I don't go there no more hope they bring it back

[@pcaetano7527]

the City of Fresno Hates anything Vintage... the Fulton Mall is no More and the name Mall has been stricken from the designation and no longer pedestrian, and is now just a street.

[@Anon54387]

It's because the Fulton Mall never really lived up to what was promised.

[@downtownfresnocoalition2037]

There is more to the story than your simple statement which was echoed by the City of Fresno. Fulton Art Mall was never promoted or maintained properly by the City. And the City used outdated studies to justify destroying Fulton Art Mall. Please review the current KZbin channel for more info: FultonMall.org

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

@@downtownfresnocoalition2037 The Fulton Mall area ceased to represent white people by the early 70's. That is why it didn't matter. White folks moved further and further north and east out to Clovis.

[@pcaetano7527]

@Nunya Business clovis sucks even more, and if clovis was so great were is it's historic film , LOL

[@AntiMusick]

did anyone learn anything from the past, its funny how people know all the problems then and yet they let those problems continue, the Fulton Mall tried to help fix this but with all the redevelopment scandals in the 1980s the area died around 86 when Gottschalks left for the suburbs, and they got their new land that was once farm land to build a new HQ on.

[@erich84502a]

Some hasn't changed much

[@jonslauter2932]

OMG how things have changed. In a span of a few decades Fresno has gone from a City Reborn to a City of Shit.

[@nomaticvanduraartz1720]

Wait did I see that right? Was the jail originally a parking structure?

[@newnormal1841]

Clovis used to be way out there. The mall, rink-stadium china town, 🚂 depot near by little family owned basque restaurant, um good. skid row. Now bullet train. Progress 🤺💐

[@levrier88ify]

Me watching this in 2020 🥺wow

[@teresahysell]

it looks crowded to me

[@AntiMusick]

10:50 today this inter loop is broken thanks to the ball park and irs building were the idiots would planed those forgot about the original plan, so now this road loop is F...ed-Up, and has yet to be fixed and it is fix able with out totally distroying the orginal plan.

[@elephantwomen]

Lol so in the 1960s they covered the street now in 2014 they want to open it again. City officials need to come up with a new plan. Doesn't seem like they know what they are doing.

[@Anon54387]

When does anyone in government know what they are doing?

[@timliao9158]

What when wrong since 1968?

[@eveleneleven9675]

***** that makes sense, that the first thing that poped into, my mind was how much apts are here in fresno

[@Mario-by2xc]

Mostly rural people with no diversity of interests, and so agriculture is still king in the area. Sad that a city of 500,000 feels more like some overgrown hick town than an actual city.

[@danielhanson2417]

Tim Liao fucking gangs and poverty

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

White people took their money and ran. White money was downtown during those days and black people lived almost exclusively in West Fresno and the rural areas of Easton. Once white folks started moving north, so did the money and emphasis. That's how Blackstone (particularly Manchester Center area), then Shaw, then the Barstow area and then ultimately the North Fresno/Riverpark area were built up. All you have to do is follow the patterns of white mobility. White people by sheer volume controlled the $$$. And thanks to redlining and other measures, they made sure to keep their areas as white as possible.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

@@danielhanson2417 LOL, no. Poverty was the result of whites fleeing the city to Clovis and what became first Central and then North Fresno. Their money is always the focus. Redlining kept black and brown people affluent enough to actually live with them from doing so. My grandfather was a successful business owner in construction. Yet, him and my grandmother lived in a house on Whitesbridge (basically the 180 now) way out in West Fresno until 1988 because with all of his wealth and DIRECT connections in the housing market/business, he couldn't get a home. They eventually bought their house off of Shaw and Marks that year in cash...paid it in FULL. My grandma lives there to this day. Still only one of four black people to live in the nearby neighborhood, even as it's gone through a lot of changes. Gangs are a result of poverty...kids not having shit to do, no resources, no infrastructure. I grew up around Tehipite Middle School in Central Fresno in the 80's. The Mexican gangs like the F-14ers where everywhere. But I had a mother and father and structure in my family. So did my Pacific Islander, Mexican, poor white, and Asian friends. We had community. Many areas don't. So gangs become the community or family a lot of these kids in broken ass homes and neighborhoods lack. Doesn't excuse the shit they do BY ANY STRETCH, but the superficial idea of blaming them is for the financial changes to a city like Fresno is silly.

[@jeffmorse645]

Its gone - back to a street with cars.

[@famouslee5598]

Looks way different

[@minceorbeminced9885]

this documentary is ironic

[@6a1aRZA]

Fresno is such a sad city, caught between L.A. & S.F... can't catch a break, poor Fresno.

[@galilealunamondragon4619]

David Galarza Jr i live there 😕 YOURE FACe IS SAD AND UGLY (sorry I got triggered)

[@stevenrogers8939]

I am in and from Fresno. It is currently not as good as it used to be. Too much crime and gangs

[@pastor-tom-sims]

I mention and link in this article: kingsriverlife.com/09/13/strolling-a-forgotten-corridor/

[@Imanimal-lover]

😂 This narrator has the DEBBIE DOWNER mentality for most of this video .

[@dylantyt6654]

The horse poop was the problem the news paper read. And the smog was the next news cycle. Don't worry yourselves to death over problems we have the ability to solve. People live in the conditions they choose.

[@misesforlife]

@MrDanielJamieMontero You obviously do not live in Fresno.

[@lafokinmodaniana]

yo si lo conoci bonito but now there's nothing i grew up downtown and there was always people so sad! this should happen again but they should remodel old buildings not build new ones. promote businesses already there not kick them out embrace the culture promote the arts.

[@samsepulveda2175]

14:48 Your welcome

[@niknik5380]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@midocrimsonfate1948]

Lmao wtf

[@teodoratolentino5576]

Downtown mostly homeless ppl now 👎

[@mainlinestopage]

i don't think it lasted very long sad

[@thecontroversy7914]

Kate Steinle

[@Scalia-ig6qz]

A city reborn again.... it's the only city in America with a 220 mph bullet train!

[@richy5913]

1776 over 1984 we are talking about fresno,California right?

[@danielhanson2417]

1776 over 1984 you talking about the high speed rail we've been building for god knows how long that we've stopped building because it's way over budget that train?

[@Batlord_Carcas]

The HSR Train system is to be operational by 2033. The Conflict of forward thinking development is hindered by the local city council, the state of Californias government had to step in and start whipping the councilmembers into shape to fall in line with development and growth. As costs of living skyrocket in other metro areas like the bay and southern California, Central California is going to see more of a rise in population. Fresno as of 2020 having a population growing past half a million is already a sign of the times, and even then cost of living is rising quick in Fresno, CA.

[@marycatherinegallagher238]

#fresyes #lovemycity

[@SoMuchSoy]

Hahahahaha... 😭

[@tomewing4645]

This idea turned downtown into a shit pile, killed the downtown and destroyed the retail market when everything moved north.

[@rp78900]

Downtown worst part of the city.

[@gman458]

I farted and pooped a little....silly me.

[@sandim9078]

This is not fresno

[@AB-hj4zd]

Product of its time. No color/ethnic people besides when used for displaying crime/poverty.

[@1skylinedreamz]

how is this place a city it's nowhere close to like the major cities like L.A. N.Y.C. and CHICAGO....

[@bagzm4767]

Yes it is it's by LA dumb ass

[@ameyallihernandez8761]

I'm only 13 and I wish Fresno was like this today. I live by McLane High and it's not that pretty here, especially with all the hobos and that ghetto look to it. If I only I lived in that time period.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

If you lived in that time period, you would've been out in Calwa or West Fresno. Black and brown people weren't living in the same neighborhoods as white people. That's the POINT. They control the wealth and whenever enough people who don't look like them move near them, they go somewhere else. That's what the term white flight means.

[@davidavakian9704]

@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 Same thing with Armenians, they were segregated to downtown Fresno where there’s now an “Armenia Town” that recognizes we were segregated to these quarters. Fresnos got a super racist history everyone likes to ignore but what American city doesn’t?