Lodi

[jim9251]

Spent a few days in Lodi (I'm from northwest Arkansas). I was impressed with the overall look of the town and the cleanliness, and really impressed with the downtown area. Enjoyed sitting on the Starbucks patio and wandering around the small shops there. The larger shopping areas, with the pastel stucco and tile roofs are near carbon copies of the shopping areas here, so I didn't take any photos of them. I did notice where most of our homes here are all brick, most of the homes there are stucco, with tile roofs. I found the people friendly, the accent is a bit strange, and nearly everyone was shocked I would visit Lodi. All told me "it's boring here". Gas and home prices were a bit insane but they are insane where I live. Food is a lot cheaper, and I wish we had an In n Out Burger here.

I liked the arches over the entrance to the downtown area.

A Starbucks is next to the theatre. Seems like a popular local hangout.

One of the many treelined downtown streets.

I thought this building looked interesting.

Where wine comes from.

[Chris-LA]

Yeah I'm shock you choose Lodi to visit as well. Typically many of the Valley cities are somewhere most outsiders only pass through heading somewhere else in California. Now don't get me wrong I think many of the valley cities have its charms but theyre not exactly tourist havens. I see them in a lot of ways as quaint and laid back can be good places to raise a family. Being from Los Angeles myself most of my peers are ignorant of the San Joaquin Valley cities. They only see them as places to stop along their way to Yosemite, or San Franicsco. Its the same way among the bay area residents as well. Its like you're looked at strange if you defend anything in the valley but its like another world to many of the big city residents. It took me a while to have a liking for the valley, but I had to live there for 5 years to appreciate it. Now ask me if I live there again?

It wouldn't be my top choice because I love mega cities, but at the same time I wouldn't be depressed if I was forced to. I have many good friends in Fresno, and that in itself would be enough to keep me happy. Also the valley has more defined seasons than the coast, but the summers are a bit hot and brutal for my taste (yet not as bad or as dry as Phoenix or Las Vegas).

Thanks for sharing your photos, its always good to see something other than the big and popular cities.

[FromCityToRural]

A lot of the growth out there is spurred by people who actually commute the two-plus hours every day to work in the Bay Area and have an affordable house (probably a few do this to LA as well). Being from the Bay Area myself, yeah there is a certain elitism on our part. I have always thought of the Valley places as being pleasant enough but a little po-dunk for instance...but I try to keep an open mind.

I gotta say, though, that downtown is a nice, quaint little place. It looks much nicer than I'd imagined...it's certainly more clean and pleasant looking than it is from the freeway.

[convulso]

yeah; thanks for posting these. these arches remind me of modesto's famous 'water, wealth, contentment, health' arch.

the central valley towns i've been to generally have nice, older, small downtown areas that, as mentioned above, a freeway drive-through would never reveal. don't know about lodi, but some towns as far away from the bay area as modesto have a bedroom commuter population - and that's a 90+ minute one-way trip to san francisco.