Walk #19 Reflection – Sunday morning, 7:30 am starting at the Milburn Overlook of the San Joaquin River, on Milburn just north of Herndon. – Six walkers enjoyed a beautifully cool morning strolling neighborhoods, along a wide Alluvial, along railroad tracks overlooking the Riverside golf course, and down dirt path to the edge of the San Joaquin River.
A walker started the conversation revealing her own unexamined assumptions in an upscale neighborhood like this. She ‘assumed’ whites, two cars hidden in the garage, two kids, etc….. She saw many houses with multiple cars parked in the driveway and street indicating numerous adults, or even extended family members living together, a number of rental signs, people from India, heard Punjabi, saw a couple of houses neglected with overgrown lawns. She shared thoughts that the economy and housing bubble was showing in this neighborhood, too. There is some ethnic diversity in a neighborhood like this. At one point, an older SUV/Truck with a camper shell drove by with bumper stickers in Spanish and driven by people who were hispanic. We shared that our reaction was to think “why are they in this neighborhood?” Do they work here? and to assume that they don’t live in this neighborhood. How do all these assumptions impact how we live together in Fresno?
Walkers observed that from street to street, you see large shade trees and then the next block glaring sun with no shade, showing the development of the neighborhood over time. Some pockets of houses maybe in the low $200k and some up to half a million.
This neighborhood is Clean and Green! Lush lawns clearly getting watered. Less than a handful of homes had brown lawns and dead trees. And clean! Only one house had exposed overflowing trash and household items on the curb. Seems they had just moved. This was a very clean neighborhood, most all houses had manicured yards. Walkers who have been on previous walks indicated this was by far the cleanest neighborhood. Most other walks encounter streets full of overflowing trash, alleyways of garbage, and abandoned furniture and mattresses are a regular sight.
Walkers noticed not much graffiti in the neighborhood until we got down by the river. What does the graffiti mean? Gangs? Artwork? Political? We were’t sure.
At the river, we met a couple who had slept right at the riverbank last night, and it looked like it could have been an extended stay. They did not give permission to take their pictures so I will not share their names either. The young man asked if we knew of anyone who was hiring.
We noticed the very tall cinder block wall between the railroad track and neighborhood. Many other neighborhoods we’ve walked have houses within 20 yards of the tracks with no barrier.
No churches on this walk, which is unusual. Most all walks have at least 3 churches right in a residential neighborhood. There is a very large church just about 1/2 mile away across Herndon — NorthPointe.
A walker compared this walk to other walks, and she said there are clearly two Americas. And this walk was definitely in the America with comforts, access to safety, and the health and abilities to maintain such clean and green surroundings.
We talked about our freedom to walk through this neighborhood and look and take pictures. Had we been brown or black or men, would we have raised suspicions?
These are our brothers and sisters who share the space of Fresno with us. Whether the couple down by the river, the Indian couple out for early morning walk, the family in the largest house on the block, the owners of the rental, or the renters in a foreclosed house, our futures are all tied up together.
