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Awhile back I posted the first portrait I took. Tonight I completed my first digital collage. I assembled the images I captured when I visited the Review (subject of a former blog) but for those who dont know, the Review is a coffee house in Fresno’s Tower District. Here it is:

Please remember that all my images are copyrighted and not to be used without my express written permission.

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Historic Fresno Buildings

The Tallest building between San Francisco and Los Angeles is the Pacific Southwest Building located in the heart of downtown Fresno in the Fulton Mall. Between 1920 and 1930 this was the most expensive building erected in the entire state of California. You can read all about the history of this grand edifice which has been recently rename Fresno Pacific Towers here.

Its a great subject for those who like to shoot landscape/architectural shots.

You see that statue of the lady in 2 of the pictures. She is famous! She is “La Grand Laveuse (Washer Woman)“There were 6 original bronze statues of the Washer Woman by Pierre Auguste Renoir, the famous French Impressionist, and Fresno was fortunate enough to get the last one made.Looking to buy or sell real estate in the Fresno/Clovis area. Call me, I can help: 559-301-1647© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee
Owner /Broker Lazarus Realty

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I wouldn’t have even bothered to go except I thought I might be able to get a few good shots. The weather was horrible, it was overcast and drizzling: COLD. I almost didn’t stay. I read about an event beginning at Fruit and Olive in the Tower District yesterday in the Fresno Bee, but I forgot it was a Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras in Fresno on Superbowl Sunday? Apparently someone made a scheduling error. I haven’t been to a Fresno Mardi Gras before so I dont know what the turnout is usually like but today’s attendance looked scant to me. Bottom line: the words Fresno and Mardi Gras shouldn’t even be used in the same sentence. IT WAS HOKEY!

BUT…

…It was in the Tower District - SO IT WAS COLORFUL!

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I love puppet theater and really enjoyed this YouTube video of shadow puppets.

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What in the world were they thinking when they built the Fresno City Hall? According to Wikipedia Fresno’s “downtown was one of the last remaining examples of untouched architecture in California...” So here you have a city with all these older buildings, some of them, like St. John’s Cathedral (2 blocks away) are over a hundred years old, and right smack in the middle of them they build an ultra-modern city hall: a perfect illustration of feng shui gone terribly wrong.

For those of you not familiar with Fresno - here is photo of the city skyline (courtesy wikipedia)

My kids have dubbed city hall “Darth Vader’s Hat”. Perhaps in the normal course of events the rest of downtown Fresno will start start looking like alien landing zone over the next 100 years.

How in the world did they ever get approval to build this thing?

Fresno City Hall - west side

Fresno City Hall - east side

There is a night shot of the building on the architect’s website which shows it all lit up with the fountain running.  Speaking of the fountain - and by the way - that’s the fountain in the first picture, only there isn’t any water in it

When I stood in front of the bone dry fountain I felt a huge disparity between the building’s ultra-modern, high-dollar aura and a fountain that appears to be broken. It makes me wonder if I drive by at night, are half the lights burnt out? I don’t know why the fountain isn’t running but I get a “Third World” feeling when I see things that don’t operate as intended. (If you know why the fountain isnt running - feel free to drop a comment). I hope they fix, and fix it soon!

© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee
Owner/Broker: Lazarus Realty

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After eating lunch yesterday at Arsenios on North Blackstone, I asked to myself  “why not share my dining experiences with a world starving for my opinions?”  Besides, my epicurean discoveries can fill the voids between posts on real estate.  So here we go…

I ordered a carne asada burrito ($3.95) and while I was waiting I saw some tasty looking chips under a warming light and asked how much a side order would cost.  To my surprise the chips were free.  Next to the chips they had condiment bar with red and green salsas, jalepenos, radishes, cucumbers, limes, etc.  I just love it when these little Mexican restaurants provide a nice side of chips like that and super condiment bar.  The burrito was great - lots of guacamole and pico de gallo.  

I googled Arsenios and notice they have 3 other locations.  I was there during peak lunch hour time and didnt see many people inside, but the drive thourgh window was very busy. I would definitely go back again…. unless of course I get bad case of  diarrhea today

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Just about everyone who knows anything about Fresno knows that Fresno has a beloved Christmas Tree Lane located on Van Ness Blvd in Old Fig Garden. Old Fig Garden is known for its tree-lined streets with historic homes. Every year they string up lights on Old Van Ness and many of the homeowners decorate their homes and yards with lights … and often much more.The other nite I was eager to see what I could accomplish with my new camera and shot the photos below. I dont really have a good night lens for what I was doing but that didnt stop from doing the best I could.

© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee
Owner / Broker Lazarus Realty
559-301-1647
Email Me

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Here are the statistics for November 2007 in Fresno.

Homes Sold November 2007: *213

Average days on the market: 79

Median Sale Price: $255,00

The highest median sales price was in June of 2006 when prices peaked at $314,000. since then prices have fallen approx 19%

As of today our MLS is showing 3829 listings of Single Family Residences, Condos, and PUDs in the cities of Fresno and Clovis.

In the last 12 months the average number of units sold per month is 313 which puts current inventory at about 1 year to absorb.

*SFR, Condos, Puds in Fresno and Clovis

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THE GOOD NEWS:

According to the information provided by The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)

in their LAST REPORT

Property values in Fresno CA increased 97.52% in the last 5 years. Fresno is actually way up there in the ranks for home appreciation [ mostly because prior to the run up prices were so depressed].

THE BAD NEWS:

According to the same report Fresno Housing Prices gave up 2.62% in the last quarter and 5.74% for the year. Those numbers, however, conflict with the those reported in the Fresno Bee, Sunday DEC 2, 2007 (Real Estate Section - page D2) where numbers from DataQuick Information Systems are used stating values have plummeted 13.7% from Oct 2006 to Oct 2007.

The DataQuick numbers in the Fresno Bee show the following:

Median Price: Oct 2006 $289,750

Median Price: Oct 2007 $250,000

From what I know of the market I would say the more provincial report from DataQuick looks like a far more accurate figure than that reported by the OFHEO.

© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee
Owner / Broker Lazarus Realty
559-301-1647
lazarusrealty@gmail.com

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I have always been fascinated with puppets and puppetry.  And this may be news to some of you reading this,  but I am a puppeteer.  I do make mention of that on the ABOUT page where I have picture of my theater.  Anyway, when I saw this video on YouTube I just couldn’t resist posting it here.   

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