Patterson Irrigator

Yeah, there is only one reason to live in Patterson - because you can't afford to buy a house in the Bay area.
Patterson is a non-desirable place to live, period. It has NOTHING to offer other than cheaper housing. It's amazing that this burg has about 20,000 population and you still have to drive to Turlock or Modesto to do most shopping. It's ridiculous.
The "downtown core" that the ignorant old-timers want to protect so much is a big joke. What downtown? There are ZERO businesses I deal with downtown, except for maybe once a year when I go to Valadez Jewelers for a new watch battery. The downtown is for the poor people and for those speaking other than English as their primary language. For a "real" downtown worth having try checking out Livermore or Pleasanton or even Newman if you don't get out much.
We've been here over 4 years which is at least 3 years too long. It took awhile to realize what a mistake it was moving here. We should have just kept renting a house in the Bay area. Now that our house is worth almost $90k less than what we owe on it we basically are just renting it. Right now Patterson is dieing with people losing their homes. If we decide to leave we won't hesitate for a minute just walking away from the house and this "city".

If you hate it here so much, by all means go back to the Bay Area. To me, the Bay Area is an over-priced, over-crowded hell hole. If you want to pay close to a million bucks for a shack so you can play golf and sit next to a bunch of snobs, be my guest.

I guess my overall point or lesson-learned is that it isn't worth owning a house to have to live in Patterson. There is no other decent reason to live here.
You learn by your mistakes and it was a huge one moving here. I'm paying way more for a mortgage here than renting a house in the Bay area on a house I now can't even sell. And spending almost 3 hours a day on the road commuting. For what? To live in a "town" with no decent stores, no movie theaters, no people of similar interests and only recently a couple decent restaurants.
I don't mean to sound rude or obnoxious but my family and other relatives who live here can't believe how locals are worried about growth, losing the small town feel, etc. Patterson will never be anything more than a small town, regardless of the population.

Doesn't anyone see that more and more people want out of here rather than come here to live? We hear it more and more from long-time Patterson residents we know and are acquainted with. People are sick of the small group of people who run everything and control business growth. The increasing gang activity is only going to increase the desire to get out of Patterson.

stealthcat....obviously you didn't do your proper research before moving to Patterson. While there are some points that I disagree with Country Dweller on.....this is not one of them. Why did you move here in the first place? You knew there was no local shopping(big box), you knew restraunts were limited...and you knew that you'd be drawing on the resources of a small town.

No decent reason to live here? Well then who in their right mind would stay, rent your house until the market picks up again. Not saying that to be rude....just saying that because it makes sense. You see....many of those reasons why you don't like Patterson.....are the very same reasons why many locals DO like Patterson. The point is...we choose were we live. And while many of the complaints you have are valid...those very same complaints would be considered Kudos by residents who enjoy the small town life. And I'm sorry but I have to take offense to you saying Patterson has "NOTHING" to offer. Being born and raised in Patterson, it offered me many things larger communities could not. Now we're not quite big enough to be called a "city"...but we're also loosing some of the small town qualities that made Patterson so great. All parents no longer know each other, thats a big one!! When I was growing up...you couldn't piss in an apricot orchard without "Billy's" parents seeing you and calling to notify your parents of whats going on(example). So thats why there is this huge divide happening....old timers are seeing the "old" Patterson fade away. But new comers still think that growth and ammenities are needed. We are stuck in a middle ground where nobody is completely pleased.

Patterson's downtown should NEVER bulldozed and re-done!! Its historical content and uniqueness are both valuable assets to the city. However I do think that a re-vamping of downtown is in order. Del Puerto business could make a killing if it would get turned into a restauraunt/coffee shop/boutique strip of stores. Is the Farmers Market running again? That would be a great addition to cities activities. One night a week...local crafts, goods, and produce is sold....live music playing. Very similar to San Luis Obispo's farmers market.

" I guess my overall point or lesson-learned is that it isn't worth owning a house to have to live in Patterson. There is no other decent reason to live here.
You learn by your mistakes and it was a huge one moving here. I'm paying way more for a mortgage here than renting a house in the Bay area on a house I now can't even sell. And spending almost 3 hours a day on the road commuting. For what? To live in a "town" with no decent stores, no movie theaters, no people of similar interests and only recently a couple decent restaurants."

I had much to say about this but SloDesert beat me to it. His post says alot of what I was going to say. For you, a good choice may have been Modesto. You could have purchased a home for about the same price and you would have had alot of the stores and restuarants you crave. I prefer the small town qualities that SloDesert mentions and am willing to drive to Modesto and Turlock. But in Patterson, the small charm is gone. If those things were important to me, I would have moved to Modesto a long time ago.
"
I don't mean to sound rude or obnoxious but my family and other relatives who live here can't believe how locals are worried about growth, losing the small town feel, etc. Patterson will never be anything more than a small town, regardless of the population. "
" People are sick of the small group of people who run everything and control business growth. The increasing gang activity is only going to increase the desire to get out of Patterson. "

First of all, over the past several years Patterson has been the fastest growing city in the County and one of the fastest growing cities in the date. Back in the early 1980s nobody in Patterson thought Patterson would grow as large as it has grown. Patterson is currently working on plans to grow to 150,000 people. The only potential thing that could halt growth in Patterson is water. Patterson can no longer rely on wells and is going to have to look for outside sources for water. If that water does not materialize, Patterson is going to have a hard time growing. I would not consider 150,000 people a small town. As far as the small group of people who complain and control growth, they aren't controlling the growth in town. There are old timers who complain about the growth, but they never show up to complain at city council meetings. None of these people run for office. I have attended general plan meetings over the past decade and basically most of the people in attendance are developers, real estate interests, or landowners looking to cash in. David Keller was the last elected official pushing for controlled growth and he quit after just one term as Mayor.

You mentioned Newman's downtown. I do like Newman's downtown better than Patterson's although there are more retail choices in Patterson. Unlike Patterson, Newman has made and continues to plan Downtown as its main core. Patterson didn't make that kind of committment to its downtown and Patterson has pushed retail all the way to highway 5 by annexing all the way to I5. Businesses have moved from downtown to west side shopping centers. As you can see, there are more west side retail being built. In my opinion, this is at the expense of downtown. It is sad that even with all of Patterson's growth, you still isn't a coffee house open downtown after 7:00PM. Eventually, Patterson's downtown may get better, but I don't think it will change much in the near future.

I have been in Patterson for 2 years now. I was happy with the move it is just my husband and myself. We were looking forward to a life in a friendly small town but then I started reading the items people wrote about the people such as us looking for a nice quiet place and now I see things differently. People are angry that so many people have come to make their homes in Patterson from the different surrounding areas. If the swarm of people looking to have a chance at owning a nice home at an affordable price were not welcome why did the citizens of Patterson allow so many homes to be built. If the answer is the city counsel did it. Well they have public meetings for the people to voice their opinions to appose urban sprawl.
I try to support all the public functions as they happen. I don’t have any children, yet I go to support the local high school athletic programs as often as possible. This whole forum was started when I asked about the proposed highway that was to go into San Jose. The people that were selling the homes said that it was in the future for Patterson and its neighboring communities to have a shorter commute if the highway were to be constructed into the southbay. Well needless to say urban sprawl is here and its only going to get worst depending on the way you look at the situation. In the mean time I think that we should all accept what has happened and make an effort to make things better for all of us , the residents of Patterson.