Is Fresno Child Friendly or UNfriendly?

My below letter I wrote makes me think: “Seriously…What’s WRONG with Fresno? Why can’t it maintain quality programs for children?”

Do you have a theory? I actually could continue to add to the above list…Sea Angels recently went under…awhile back there was a gymnastics place called Jungle Gym or something like that I think…Seems like there was another gymnastics place too that I’m forgetting…and a few art programs…

I wonder what keeps places like Pump it Up alive (presumably…who knows? Maybe they’ll be going under next?) and kills other places? (Incidentally, Pump it Up is AWESOME! And I’m glad that there are 2 locations now…but they only have open bounce time at specific days/times and my daughter is now too old for them!)

I know Zany Brainy and Discovery Zone went bankrupt at the corporate level, so hopefully that means it didn’t have anything to do with Fresno. But still!

It’s so dang frustrating, don’t you think? That Fresno has so little for our children?

On any given day, where can you take your kids? Certainly the zoo, but how many times in a row can you go there? Storyland/Playland are possibilities but both are GREATLY in need of so much repair and attention…Luckily the kids don’t seem to care or even notice, but as a parent, I really worry about things like the ramp on the way up to the big ferris wheel that is a death trap and have never been particularly impressed with Storyland but I guess I don’t have the connection to it since I didn’t go there as a child. (I’m not a native Fresnan.)

Parks are options but during the heat of summer they are downright dangerous since most have very little shade (I know the city is SUPPOSED to be working on this but how long is THAT going to take?)…and as we all know, heat is a large part of our year! How friggin ridiculous that the city didn’t plan for this when they made the parks in the first place! Certainly they don’t think of our children. They thought of the parents, though…there’s shade for the parents watching the kids…but nothing over the play structures! What does that tell you?

Is Fresno UNchild-friendly? I feel like it is!

Am I frustrated? You betcha! With kid stuff dropping like flies around here and not a whole heckuva lot of quality available to just drop in on on a whim…you have to be part of the program and pay an arm and a leg for anything of any real quality.

I’m VERY grateful for places like Young at Art and Gymnastics Beat, which seem to, luckily, be hanging in there and doing well and hopefully will be around for years to come…but not everyone can afford their programs and neither are places for just dropping in on. Well, actually, come to think of it Young at Art now has open studio hours and Gymnastics Beat might have an open gym time, but not sure.

But we need MORE!!! MUCH MUCH MORE!!! We need indoor playgrounds and children’s museums and parks that are completely covered in shade and all kinds of places that we can take our kids to that are quality experiences that we can drop in on even if we don’t have a membership!

I’m so sad and dismayed every time a kid related business closes in Fresno!

Aren’t YOU??