Will Central valley be longest city in world?

[-KwK345-]

By 2100 California will probably have fallen into the ocean.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by kevin_wk

By 2100 California will probably have fallen into the ocean.

We're pretty buoyant. Don't get your hopes up.

[Guitar_drummer87]

I am from Clovis (Fresno), so here are my thoughts...

1. Air pollution would be too bad. So if some major changes to pollution law and technology don't happen, this is a no go.

2. Agriculture is too rich. This is the number one source for economy in the Valley and also for the whole state of CA, doubling that of any other industry.

3. Transportation is already crazy. There are no monorails or subway systems. Even a high speed rail system wouldn't fix the inner city congestion, it would possibly just add to it by bringing in more people from the big mets (Sf, La, etc).

4. Valley cities are beginning to build up instead of out. Although the sprawl is still very apparent.

5. There is already a major water shortage as it is. We rely on the Sierra Nevada snow pack for our water, and the annual snow/rain fall rate is only dropping and will continue to do so. Not to mention how much water the LA area takes from us. So unless LA start desalinizing water from the ocean and not rely on any other outside source for water, we are doomed regardless if the valley become one giant stretch of city.

I do however see some connectivity happening in the near future (few decades). Fresno has hit its most northern rim, so it is now focusing on the South end. SW & SE Fresno are still booming and I believe are actually picking up their pace. I think Fresno, Fowler, Selma, and Kingsburg will be connected very soon. There is still about a 10 mile strectch between Kingsburg and Visalia, so I dont think they will connect anytime soon. But a 92year gap between now and 2100 could bring a lot more real estate booms.

And within 100 years: I could see Visalia and Tulare connecting. Madera to Chowchilla. Merced to Atwater with little separations between Turlock. Definitely Turlock to Modesto. Possibly Modesto to Manteca/Stockton. And a bunch of others of course.

Originally Posted by ryskillz

first, you need people, and barely anyone lives in the central valley. so no, it will probably never connect. and if it does, so many other cities will be bigger by that point.

6.5 million people live here. That is only 700,000 less than the bay area. Not including over a million in the lower hills in the Sierra Nevada. Most of the people moving here are from SF, LA, and SD. When the high speed rail comes through here, that number will jump at an alarming rate.

Originally Posted by CrazyAboutCities

Only city in Central California I think its looks nicer and attractive... Sacramento because that city knows how to take good care of its city than Fresno, Bakersfield, Shafter, Stockton, Redding, and Red Bluff.

Go to the Woodward area in north Fresno. This area is extremely nice, a huge abundance in high-end retail and luxy homes. Nice parks and office complexes. Most of downtown has cleaned up and is on the brink of some major developments. Clovis is also pretty nice. No slums at all, low crime, better education, better view of the mountains.

The problem with the way people percieve Fresno, is the view they get when they drive through it on the 99. First it's the early 1900 industrial/warehouse area, then the really old side of downtown and Chinatown, followed by a bunch of old houses until you get to Shaw ave. Then it's just new homes and dirt fields. Other than the old parts of SW, most of Fresno is actually pretty clean.

[qymekkam]

i was born in clovis anyways 99 makes fresno look like crap. they should do more development around that area

[B-town Cris]

dude if been saying that for like the past 6 years, but bakersfield is fucking stupid and they want to just waste all this precious farmland just because mayor harvey hall said "you cant stop growth, you just cant". we need new political leaders that will make change

[fieldsofdreams]

Let me revive this thread.

For the Central Valley to be the longest city in the world could entail a lot of challenges. What do I mean?

Take the CA-99 corridor from Bakersfield to Sacramento. It loosely parallels itself with I-5 for most of the way. Most of what I-5 goes through are rural areas in Kern, Kings, Fresno, Madera, and Stanislaus Counties before going close to the urban and suburban enclaves in San Joaquin and Sacramento Counties. Hwy 99, on the other hand, goes through many of the larger cities in the Central Valley, including Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento. In between those cities, large tracts of farmland exist, providing food for a majority of the state, not to forget the California Aqueduct that provides water from the north (Sierras) to Southern California, as well as providing water for San Francisco from Hetch-Hetchy in Yosemite.

If there were plans to make the Central Valley a megalopolis (an amalgamation of several metropolitan areas into a single core), then it can present multiple challenges, with the most important question being where will the central focus of power will be: Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Modesto, or Sacramento? Since the California HSR is approved and now under construction, I think that all those cities will benefit, but to what magnitude will still need to be discovered later on. I would start slowly about this topic until the HSR sections are completed.