Fresno has a form of government led by a mayor (executive branch) and seven members of the council (legislative branch), elected on no more than two terms of four years each. The current mayor, Alan Autry, was elected in November 2000 and re-elected on 2 March 2004 with more than 70% of the vote; its second term expires in january 2009.

The city's council consists of seven members, elected by district:

• District 1 (West-Central) - Blong Xiong
• District 2 (northwest) - Brian Calhoun
• District 3 (southwest) - Cynthia Sterling
• District 4 (East-Central) - Larry Westerlund
• District 5 (Southeast) - Mike Dages
• District 6 (northeast) - Jerry Duncan
• District 7 (Central) - Henry T. Perea

The city hosts the Fresno Division of the United States District Court. This 16-story building, opened in 2006, is home to civil, criminal and miscellaneous cases from 16 counties. The city is also home to the 5th District of Appeal of the State Court of Appeal and the High Court of Fresno.

Fresno serves as the commercial hub of Fresno County and Central California Valley. While the unincorporated area and rural towns around the city of Fresno remain tied to large-scale agricultural production, Fresno has seen a significant economic transformation.

Fresno is famous for the number of grapes produced in the surrounding area. There is also significant production of cotton, milk, grapes, peaches, plums, almonds, citrus fruits, apricots, olives and figs. However, a declining share of agriculture in the urban economy is reflected in a lower dependence on agricultural jobs in the county. Today, only 20% of employment results from agriculture, a significant decline in just 20 years. This transformation also led to a growing friction between rural and urban interests, with land shifting to non-agricultural uses, and resources like water moving to more urban uses like industry and housing.

Fresno's current economy is largely constituted by its role as a hub for education, health care, and government and professional services for the Central Valley of California. Jobs in residential and commercial construction have risen rapidly, owing to these sectors’ prolonged period of expansion. On the other hand, food processing has been at the forefront of manufacturing, with companies like Sun-Maid, Kraft Foods, and Foster Farms. Likewise, companies specializing in machinery, manufacturing, medical devices, and water technology have boomed. The city has several distribution centers, notably the 80-acre site of Gap Stores. Public-sector employment has also contributed to the city's economy, with Fresno's Municipal Government, Fresno's Unified School District, Fresno County, Community Hospitals, and IRS (Finance) as the largest employers.

Fresno is located at 36°46′54″N 119°47′32″W / 36.78167, -119.79222 (36.781549, -119.7922 113).

According to the US Census, the city has a total area of 271.4 km² (104.8 mi²). 270.3 km² (104.4 mi²) of this is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of this (0.42%) is water. Fresno is about 60 miles south of Yosemite National Park, being the largest city closest to the park. Since the city lies at the intersection of state roads 41 and 99 (41 being the southern access to the park and 99 a connection to interstate road 5). Fresno is a main conduit for visitors coming from Los Angeles. The city also serves as an entrance to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, via State Route 180.

Fresno has three main public parks, two within the city limits and the other south-west of the city. Woodward Park, home to the Shinzen Japanese Gardens, with several recreational areas and extensive walking paths, is located in the north of the city next to the San Joaquin River. Roeding Park, located near the civic center of the city, has the Chaffee Zoological Gardens, Playland and Storyland amusement parks as its attraction. Kearney Park is the largest in the regional park system and has the historic Kearney Mansion, and is where representations of the American Civil War are made in the Civil War Revisited, one of the largest in the US.[1]

Fresno also has 54 smaller parks.

According to the 2000 Census, 427,652 people reside in the city, with 97,915 families in 140,079 households. Population density is 1,582.2/km² (4,097.7/mi²). There are 149,025 housing units with an average density of 551.3/km² (1,427.9/mi²). The ethnic composition of the city is 50.17% white or Caucasian, 39.87% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), 11.23% Asian (mostly Hmong), 8.36% Black or African American, 1.58% Native American, 0.14% Pacific Islands, 23.3 6% of other races, and 5.16% of two or more races.

There are 140,079 households, of which 40.4% have children under the age of 18, 46.1% are marriages, 17.6% have a female head of household without a present husband, and 30.1% are non-family. 23.3% of all households are composed of individuals and 7.9% have a single resident aged 65 years or over. The average household size is 2.99 and the average family size is 3.57.

The city's population age groups have 32.9% of children under 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 24 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% from 65 or more. The average age was 28 years. For every 100 women, there are 96.6 men. There are 93.0 men for every woman aged 18 years or over.

The average income for a household is $32,236, and the average income for a family is $35,892. Men have an average income of $32,279, versus $26,551 for women. Per capita income for the city is US$ 15,010.20.5% of families and 26.2% of the population are below the poverty indicator, including 36.5% of individuals under 18 years of age and 10.7% of those aged 65 or over.

A study by the Brookings Institution in October 2005, titled "Katrina's Window: Confronting Concentrated Poverty Across America" (The Katrina Window: The Confrontation of Concentrated Poverty (across America), they described Fresno as the city with the highest percentage of people living below the federal poverty indicator concentrated in specific neighborhoods. [2]

Fresno County was formed in 1856, taking its name from the numerous strawberry trees flanking the San Joaquin River. The county at the time was larger, composed of what is now Madera county and parts of what are now the counties of San Benito, Tulare, Kinas, Indo, and Mono, in addition to the present area.

The city of Millerton, California, then near Fort Miller and on the banks of the freely flowing San Joaquin River, became the county seat, after becoming a major point of arrival for the new settlers. Other early settlements in the county included the city of Firebaugh, Scottsburg, and Elkhorn Springs.

The San Joaquin River overflowed on December 24, 1867, flooding Millerton. Some settlers rebuilt their homes and others moved in. The flood also destroyed the town of Scottsburg that same winter, which was rebuilt on high ground and renamed Centerville.

In 1867, Anthony Easterby acquired what are now Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California Avenues. Unable to grow wheat due to lack of water, Easterby hired Moses J. Church in 1871 to build an irrigation channel. Church then built the Fresno canal and the Irrigation Company, the predecessor of Fresno Irrigation District.

In 1872 the Central Pacific, a railway company, established a station near the Easterby ranch for its new Southern Pacific line. A market opened shortly thereafter. Around the station and the market grew the village of Fresno Station, later named Fresno only. Several Millerton residents, attracted by the convenience of the railroad, moved to the new community. Fresno became a built-in city in 1895.

Two years after the station opened, residents voted to transfer the headquarters of Millerton County to Fresno. When the Friant Dam was completed in 1944, the town of Millerton was flooded with Lake Millerton. In extreme dry seasons, when the water reserve falls, you can observe the ruins of the original county headquarters.

During the nineteenth century, several villages on the so-called American border were burnt down by fires, owing to wooden constructions and the absence of sophisticated methods to combat them. The biggest of Fresno's first fires in 1882 destroyed an entire block of the city. Another devastating fire occurred in 1883.

The "Municipal Health Fill of Fresno" was the first modern landfill in the US. It incorporated several important innovations to waste trafficking, including compressing and covering it daily with land. It opened in 1937 and closed in 1987. Today it has the curious distinction of being both a National Historical Monument and a site identified as highly contaminated and toxic (superfund site).

Before World War II, Fresno had several ethnic neighborhoods, including "Little Armenia", "German People", "Little Italy", and "Chinatown". During 1942, in what is now the north of Fresno, the Pinedale Assembly Center was located, where several Japanese-Americans relocated[3] (see Concentration Camps in the United States).

Fictional residents of the town were represented in the 1986 comedy series "Fresno" with Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Charles Grodin, and other celebrities. The TV series was a parody of American daytime soap operas.

In 1995, the FBI's so-called "Operation Rezone" resulted in the laying of charges against several prominent politicians in Clovis and Fresno for receiving bribes for the redistribution of agricultural districts (zoning) for housing development. Before the operation was implemented, commercial developments could buy cheap agricultural land, bribe members of the municipal council to redistribute it, and receive large profits by building and selling cheap housing. Sixteen people were convicted as a result of the operation (most of them being unrelated convicts) [4].

Fresno currently has a state university, California State University, Fresno, and Fresno City College and Fresno Pacific College. The city has a major airport with commercial flights: Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), formerly Fresno Air Terminal. And it's on the railway route between Bakersfield and the San Francisco area. It has a modern road system.

Universities

• California State University, Fresno (Pública)
• Fresno Pacific University (Private/Menonita Brethren)
• University of California, San Francisco - Fresno Medical Education Program [5]
• San Joaquin College of Law (Private) [6]
• Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary [7]
• California Christian College (Private/Baptist) [8]
• Alliant International University (Private)
• Fresno National University [9]
• University of Phoenix [10]
• Fresno City College
• San Joaquin Valley College [11]
• Heald College [12]

The Fresno Unified School District runs public schools.

The Public Library of Fresno County manages public libraries.

In the center of Fresno you will find a historic monument to the Water Tower, several museums, trials and government offices of the federal, state, county, and city governments. St. John's Cathedral, a 19th-century Catholic cathedral, is home to the Catholic Bishop of Fresno. There is also an important cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, St. James Episcopal Cathedral of the Bishop of Saint Joaquin.

Metropolitan Museum of Fresno

The "Met" (Fresno Metropolitan Museum) features temporary exhibitions, exhibitions of its own collection, chairs, and various educational programs. The museum also has a science center called the Reeves ASK Science Center that was developed in collaboration with the San Francisco's Exploratorium. The museum's traditional home in the Fresno Bee newspaper building is currently closed for renovation and is scheduled to be reopened in autumn 2006. Meanwhile, the science center has been moved to 993 Van Ness Avenue in Fresno civic center. Met participates in Fresno's ArtHop program, sponsoring annual education and fundraising events, including First Friday Films, Christmas at the Met and the Bubble Festival, which focuses on science education. www.fresnomet.org

Art Americas

Arte Américas is a local center of Latino culture. Arte Américas was founded in 1987 by a group of artists and educators "to turn the Central Valley into a fertile place for Latin art"; this one presents exhibitions of plastic and performing/musical arts. [13]

Fresno Museum of Art

The Fresno Art Museum is located in Radio Park and features a series of transient exhibitions. He participates in monthly ArtHop, and has a variety of film programs, including classical cinema, anime, as well as international shows. The Museum of Arts is also home to Rhythms of Art, an innovative program founded by jazz composer and pianist Armen Nalbandian, in which musical pieces are composed and executed for exhibition displays. In addition, the museum is home to the readings of the Fresno Poets' Association in the Bonner Auditorium.

Grand Opera of Fresno

La Fresno Grand Opera produces internationally acclaimed concerts and operas.

Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra

The city sponsors Fresno's Philharmonic Orchestra. [14]

Monthly Art Hop Event of the Arts Council

The Fresno Arts Council holds the monthly Art Hop event featuring several artists in the Fresno area, which takes place on the first Thursday of the month of 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. One of the biggest artistic events takes place during the Rogue Performance Festival in March.

Save Mart Center

The Save Mart Center is a modern covered professional sand (cap:16,000) that opened in 2003, located at the intersection of Shaw Avenue and 168 Road in northeastern Fresno. It has hosted various musical performances such as The Rolling Stones and Madonna, as well as a variety of events. It is the home of the men's and women's basketball teams at Fresno State University and the ECHL league hockey team Fresno Falcons. The sand was recently recognized as one of the top 25 in the world for ticket sales.

Forestiere Underground Gardens

The Forestiere Underground Gardens in northwestern Fresno near 99 Road, is a spectacular building built by Baldasare Forestiere in a 40 year period. It contains almost 100 cameras, corridors, patios and squares dug in hard soil. It contains fruit trees that have been planted underground and which stand out on the surface by several openings. Forestiere resided here, benefiting from fresh temperatures during the summer heat of the Central Valley, as well as warmer conditions during the winter. The gardens are an impressive example of non-traditional vernacular architecture. Forestiere's creation and history is comparable to that of Simon Rodia and Watts Towers, both of whom are Italian immigrants born in 1879, and settled in California building single residences by hand and in prison.

The "The Underground Gardens" short story, written by T. Coraghessan Boyle, published in The New Yorker (25 May 1998), shows a creative narrative of Forrestiere and its obsession.

Filmworks Fresno

Fresno Filmworks brings cinema samples to Fresno that are generally not seen in the large commercial cinema halls. It shows art cinema, and foreign and independent productions every second Friday of the month (except December), and in May the annual Film Festival is held at the historic Tower Theater.

Fresno Reel Pride

Fresno Reel Pride is one of the largest and oldest gay film festivals in the United States. Today it takes place at the Tower Theater and next door Starline Cinema. Reel Pride is a gay film celebration that has been recognized as a major cultural event in central California. Reel pride features an annual five-day festival in September, as well as special cinema shows throughout the year.

Civic Center

During the 1990s, the civic center was one of the last examples of 20th century architecture in California, but it has recently been subjected to a mixed effort of revitalization. While many of the buildings that were once abandoned for many years have been refurbished, several others have been demolished to be replaced by new structures. Among the newly built buildings are Grizzlies Stadium (now Chukchansi Park) and the Federal Court building; there are also plans in place to build new multi-story buildings, which for some threatens the unique and rare beauty of twentieth-century architecture.

One notable victim of this renovation has been the Vagabond Hotel, which is unique in its relevance to popular culture. Vagabond, which was an important site in the history of skateboard and an excellent example of modern architecture in the 20th century called googie, was demolished and replaced by commercial lots of concrete in 2004.

The historic Alameda Fulton (Fulton Mall) and Chinatown are two downtown areas that still maintain a large number of historical buildings and several examples of architecture with contextual, associative, and memorable value compared to other cities in California and the western US. these are being considered to be preserved as historical districts.

The "Old Armenian Town" (Old Armenian Town) is currently under construction with a projection to be completed in 2007.

Sunnyside

One of Fresno's first prosperous areas, this neighborhood is located at the far east of the city, framed by Chestnut Avenue to the west. Although today it is considered less prosperous than other new areas of Fresno, it is still home to some notable residents.

Old Fig Garden

A historic community among mature trees, Old Fig Garden (or Old HigueraHigueras Gardens) has been one of Fresno's most prestigious neighborhoods. This area is located in an area of approximately 6 mi2 that was once found at the northern end of Fresno, although the city has already incorporated all the surrounding land. The traditional "Christmas Tree Hilera" (Christmas Tree Lane) can be seen in a section of Van Ness Boulevard every year.

Tower

Surrounded by the historic Tower Theater, just a few steps from the center of Fresno, this area of a vibrant and diverse culture contains homes and shops that have been restored after a significant collapse in the mid-1990s. The neighborhood features restaurants and bars, as well as several independent shops and bookstores. Today the Tower District has also become the center of Fresno's gay community.

Bulevard Huntington

This boulevard is flanked with early 20th century homes in the heart of the historic "Alta Vista Tract". The surrounding streets, Kerckhoff and Balch, contain homes from the era of "Arts and Manualities" that, like the city center, are being remodeled to regain their historical roots. At Christmas time, the houses along the boulevard are adorned with lights and decorations. The country's largest Christmas tree, in Huntington and 6th Street, is the highlight of the event. This area is close to the grounds of the Fresno Fair and the center of the city.

Van Ness Extension

Van Ness Avenue is transformed from a main street in the center of the city into a boulevard that leads to the largest and most expensive mansions in Fresno. The Tower District and Old Fig Garden are home to several houses, from magnificent to stately, with important historical value.

Bulevard Kearney

Named after 20th century entrepreneur and billionaire M. Theo Kearney, the Boulevard stretches west 20 miles from Fresno Street, downtown Kerman, California. The part of the road that lies within the limits of the city has large houses from the 20th century. Then, turning into a narrow two-way rural road, the boulevard is lined with palm trees.

Sierra Sky Park

It was built in 1946 thanks to a unique agreement in the transport law to allow personal aircraft and cars to share certain common ways. William Smilie development is the first aviator community in the nation. The public-use airport, still in operation, provides this neighborhood with an originality that has seen interest and been the inspiration of other similar communities across the country.

• Mike Connors, actor
• Kelly Corcoran, actor
• Kirk Kerkorian, businessman
• Planet Asia, rapper
• Bee Vang, actor
• William Saroyan, writer

Fresno has seven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

•   Chihuahua, Mexico
•   Taraz, Kazakhstan
•   Kochi, Japan
•   Lahore, Pakistan
•   Morogoro, Tanzania
•   Münster, Germany
•   Torreón, Mexico
•   Verona, Italy
•   Mashhad, Iran

• Fresno Case