Whats up homies..
I’m moving back to Fresno, I left when I was a kid and I recently got a job opportunity in Fresno. I’ve been looking at properties in the Fresno area and it seems like houses in Friant are a little cheaper. I understand there isn’t stores, restaurants etc.. nearby and honestly that’s what I want, country side with peace. Would you guys say the commute from Friant or Yosemite Lake Parks to Downtown Fresno doable?
Thanks! Cheers
I will say that exit onto friant from 41 is an absolute shitshow at times
That's just about any exit off the 41 within city limits.
I live in coarsegold and commute to Fresno and further daily, it’s worth it to me for the peace and quiet.
Same. Great podcast time. Friant is practically Fresno in my mind by now.
Yosemite Lakes is nice and has cable internet available. Community well with fire hydrants too which you’ll need when it comes to getting fire insurance. I commute from there to Clovis everyday and it’s about 50 minutes. Some days it gets to you but I can’t move back into town now.
I should add it’s 30 minutes to Riverpark or 30 minutes to Oakhurst for groceries and restaurants but has a grocery store and gas station in the community.
Niice! That’s exactly one of the areas I’m looking at
You won’t regret it!
How bad is the Friday commute?
I’d suggest looking into if you can get fire insurance on the property and if so for how much. I have family that lives up that way and their homeowners insurer dropped their fire coverage due to the high risk of wildfire threat. This said, what you might be saving living up there compared to in town you will likely pay towards getting proper insurance.
Depends what part of Fresno you're going to. If you are going deep into the Downtown area, driving through Friant gets super busy. There are literally long lines of cars trying to get on the highway. Some people try to skip by driving the faster lane and cut everyone in line and get into accidents, especially on rainy weather, and now your whole commute is +30 minutes.
My niece did it for work and it was costing her about $600 a month in gas. The drive itself isn’t hard.
What vehicle?
A small Honda suv don’t remember the name of it. It was totaled when she hit a wild pig in Coarsegold (not joking) but it was the smallest suv they make
That's insane I thought Honda had decent gas mileage
It does
Yosemite Lakes is a bit further than I would prefer for a commute, but if you want country living its not a bad option. The 41 in Madera can get nasty during rush hour, so just know that is going to be part of your life if you go this route.
A lot of people make the commute, so some people find it worth it , but consider that gas is really expensive right now & the population here has grown A LOT in the last 15 years, so there’s tons more traffic than before. Maybe stay at table mountain for a few days and make the commute 3 days or so and see if it’s tolerable to you.
Ask yourself, where’s the water table going to be in Friant in a decade.
What’s gonna happen?
Dams only have a certain life span
And that's why they undergo routine maintenance.
Yea but concrete only lasts so long, I am a wastewater treatment plant operator I can show you fresh concrete that already is decaying 2yrs after being poured.
And I've seen concrete that was poured 60 years ago and still rocking strong.
Ok well personally I'm not living below an 82yr old Dam. Especially with how America treats it's infrastructure.
Even in drought years, the lake was over 150' deep in the middle.
?
I had a manager who commuted from YLP to the mall every day and she didn't mind it whatsoever.
How long ago did you talk to your manager about that? It’s a nightmare now after 3pm once you pass the valley children’s exit.
Couple of years, but she literally did the open shift so she'd be gone by 1pm every day.
I used to live 12 miles from the north gate of Kings Canyon np, roughly an hour or so each way. My time in the car was decompression time and the quiet rural life appeals to some. You will just have to arrainge your priorities.
Exactly how far is Friant from the city of Fresno?
15 min
I recommend it. The drive isn't that bad
Friant to Fresno is nothing. I commute from Clovis to Merced 2 weeks a month, and even that’s not bad at all
One thing to keep in mind: insurance prices. If you plan on building or buying in these areas, homeowners insurance is going up or getting dropped.
I was in a similar position when I was looking to buy my house a couple years ago. In general, the further you’re willing to commute, the more you can get for your money. Obviously there are exceptions in resort style towns like bass lake and shaver but you can get a lot of house for your money in the smaller towns in the hills. What are your top priorities? Views? Lake access? National parks?
It’s not far at all. If it’s saving you some money and you like the area, I say go for it
I drive to Friant to work. I love the drive. I don’t mind the commute
I've lived near Millerton Lake for 10 years. I couldn't imagine living in town crammed in with a ton of people. It's nice and quiet, zero homeless people in the neighborhood, walk across the street to my boat sitting in the Marina, mountain bike trails all over the place, friendly neighbors, 35min to Shaver. My wife works downtown and it's only 30min. If you're coming from LA or the Bay, it feels like zero traffic.
I was just going to say… it took me 30 minutes to get to the grocery store in LA. 😅
Exactly. I can be at the ski resort in the same amount of time it used to take me to drive 15 miles to work in the Bay.
How’s fire insurance though?
Cheap. My house is stucco with a tile roof, indoor sprinkler system, a few miles away from two different fire stations, right next to the lake. Safer than living in an old house in town packed in tight with old roofs.
Watch Friant Roulette on YouTube
That intersection is still safer than anywhere in ghetto Fresno
Oh I didn’t know this but I’m not looking in the subdivision, I’m looking more up the hill. In between Friant and Yosemite lake parks
The water issues don't impact the entire area. It's unique to Mira Bella and the West side of the lake.
If that's what floats your boat then go for it.
Madera Ranchos to Friant is easy... Friant to Fresno shouldn't be much different. Just make sure you go a little different time than the rest of the traffic for ease. I.E. getting to work at 7:30 will be a lot easier than arriving at 8:00.
What is that? Like 10 miles? Lol
Only if you can write off your commuting expenses
It's not that bad from YLP, I guess it depends on where you work. If you're downtown it can be a bit of a pain with traffic but if you're north of Herndon it's fine.
It’s really getting built up over there. I even noticed a bunch of stores and shops in the area. The only thing I would be concerned about is the lack of streetlights during the winter months when you’re commuting home.
Certainly doable in 30 minutes on most depending on where you work. It’s getting busier because 41 and Friant Road are busier but still quite doable. Nearly everyone in the Friant area commute to Fresno, and some even to Madera. I commuted from Copper River and then Coarsegold for many years. Coarsegold was a but painful but still less than an hour. I passed Friant less than 30 minutes all the time.
I personally wouldn’t. I think it would be a hard sell to encourage people to visit.
For some people that’s the reason to move a little further out, LOL
Exactly. People move out here for a reason. We don't want to be surrounded by city folks and all of their bullshit.
Friant will be that nearby community/city/neighborhood in the hills that will be known as rich and fancy. You could see it years ago and now starting to come to fruition. Those who invested years ago, in 10 years it will be winning.
You're looking for cheap property you're looking in the wrong place
Friant is in Fresno county…
It’s a pretty big county so that doesn’t really help.
This areas population is very small. Distant outlying communities yes but friant is right here… No long commute unless you are walking. The population includes small farming communities 45 minutes away. The immediate population is concentrated and nothing more than a slew of car lots, fast food joints and one decent outdoor mall. When that mall was opened it created blight throughout the town. It’s small and hopefully you visited for a time before making your decision to move. The only 2 intersections that may cause any delays are Herndon/Blackstone and Shaw/Blackstone but are avoidable by the freeway. You are only about 10 miles from the aforementioned outdoor mall and within “spitting” distance of EVERYTHING.
Ok, but “Friant is in Fresno County…” still doesn’t help. Coalinga is also in Fresno County. Would that be a helpful answer to a question about the Fresno metro area? Of course not.
Coalinga is 70 miles away. Like I said, and like everyone else on here is trying to tell you, it’s right here. Try a map.
Nothing to contribute on this subject myself, but I would be interested in a "follow up" reddit post once you've made your decision :)
I am building up in Friant. I have been driving there and back at least once or twice weekly to track progress. Honestly, there is nothing to the drive. Add twelve minutes on to get from Friant to basically the corner of Friant and Audubon and then your commute is your basic Fresno commute. Waze this morning says, for example, it would take 26 minutes to get from Friant to downtown Fresno by 8:30 am. If your goal is a little peace and quiet and country living, I don’t think the commute time is something you should see as a hurdle. You should more focus on the quality of property (water, fire zone etc) that you are getting into.