Downtown Academy
Class 12

Lowell CDC - Class 6

We will be doing a combination of a self-driving tour and a walking tour. Please plan accordingly. If you need help with rides, please let me know and we will can arrange accordingly.

Parking – Our night will begin at the office of the Lowell CDC. Please plan to park there to start.

First Location
Lowell CDC Office
234 N Broadway St, Fresno, CA 93701, USA

Last Location
Fenix Apartments
240-250 N Calaveras St, Fresno, CA 93701

AGENDA

Introduction to the Neighborhood 5:30 PM
Lowell CDC Office
234 N Broadway St, Fresno, CA 93701, USA

Executive Director, Esther Carver, and Operations Administrator, Chris Rocha, will welcome us and orient us to the Lowell Neighborhood. They will guide our evening and help us better understand the area.

Drive Tour 6:30 PM

START - 234 N Broadway

Drive South on Broadway

Right on Nevada
On your left is the historic Bethel Danish Lutheran Church

Pull into the parking lot on the right before the light.
On your left is a Mural by Bobby Vohn honoring Native Elders. As you continue your Drive today, look for other beautiful Murals in our community.

North (left) on Echo

Right on Voorman
The west side of the building holds more beautiful murals

Right on Broadway

Left on Divisadero
Divisadero is the southern border of Lowell and the Northern boarder of the Cultural Arts District of downtown. This commercial corridor has seen wonderful recent investment as well as being a home to long standing businesses and organizations. You will see newer development like the Iron Bird Lofts along with renovations and examples of adaptive reuse, like Fulton 55. As well as long-term established businesses like Barr Brothers Dress shop. Divisadero Street has historically served as a commercial corridor, which is still true today. You'll find a great place to get a haircut, grab a burger, seek legal services or attend church services.

Left on Van Ness
On your right you will see Valley Foods, this grocery store serves the community with Fresh fruits and vegetables, a meat counter and wide variety of Hispanic foods. Van Ness is a Boulevard where grand houses were mostly built during the turn of the century and later after the war, many homes became boarding homes, shops and commercial spaces, Today there is a large mix of multifamily, single family and commercial uses along Fulton and Van Ness between 180 and Divisadero.

Right on Belmont
The Corner of Belmont and VanNess is the site of the community's 10th liquor store in a census tract that allows 5. This corner of the community faces ongoing challenges with business vacancy, the over-saturation of liquor stores, a methadone clinic, and now 2 dispensaries. There are also mobile services that serve the unhoused population that utilize vacant lots, and the park, creating an environment where folks can get basic needs met in the area.
As you drive under the freeway notice how it curves, cutting through the neighborhood. The plans for the 180 freeway were initiated in the 60's and it wasn't built until the 80s. Leaving 20 years of disinvestment in the communities on either side, and dividing a community. On the North side you have the South Tower neighborhood and on south side is the Lowell Community.
San Pablo Park and the Lowell Community Garden were both built since 2012, reimagining the space left vacant and scarred by the freeway. In 2025 Murals were completed at San Pablo Park changing the feel and the face of this underpass.

Right on Poplar
This residential street is much different than Van Ness. Smaller homes along with multifamily- stucco boxes line this street. When Lowell was built it was built as a mixed income community. When plans for the freeway went in, Families who had the ability to move north did (did you know about redlining and white flight?) This allowed investors to buy lots or homes (demolishing the original structures) and build the multifamily housing you see now. You will also see 2 vacant lots on your left, both were rental Single Family Homes that were lost to fire in the past 15 years and were never replaced by landowners.
As you come to the stop sign, notice Lowell Elementary School is on your right.

Left on McKenzie
Home ownership rates in Lowell are at 12% in comparison to Fresno's average of 44%. With one of the highest rates of rental housing in the city, Lowell's housing has historically been affordable because of substandard living conditions perpetuated by landowners who live out of town, or whose business model is built on providing housing for low income individuals. Lack of investment doesn't just affect the families living within the homes, it brings property values down, lowering the "cost" of owning housing.

Right on Calaveras
Park on the street between 240 and 286 N. Calaveras

Dinner – Don Tacha 6:45 PM
295 N Blackstone Ave, Fresno, CA 93701

We will meet the owner of Don Tacha, Jose Gonzalez. This conversation will give us a chance to understand food availability and security for the neighborhood.

Please select your dinner from here and let Esteban know your order before Wednesday, Nov 19!

Dinner Options - Choose 1

Fenix Apartments 8 PM
240-250 N Calaveras St, Fresno, CA 93701

Our night will end at the Fenix Apartments to learn more about housing and the role the Lowell CDC has in housing development in the neighborhood.

Downtown Academy Day of Service - Lowell CDC

Saturday, December 27, 2025

Home ownership in Lowell

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