stepper77
Oct 4, 2007, 10:54 PM
Stockton and Modesto are the fourth and fifth largest cities in California's Central Valley. I've only ever seen one other photo thread on here before. Modesto, in particular, I am quite familiar with as my mother was born and raised in the surrounding small towns and her side of the family still lives in the city. Both Stockton and Modesto are somewhat similar in that that are primarily regional urban centers for a historically agricultural community and are seats of government for their respective counties. Nowadays, however, their proximity to the Bay Area has resulted in them becoming the eastern edge of Bay Area sprawl.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1651/modesto001yk0.jpg
Modesto
The city of Modesto, itself, has a population of about 206,000 and is the "urban" center surrounded by a collection of other smaller towns (Ripon, Salida, Ceres, Turlock, etc). But, despite my cousin's frequent protests when I was younger that it is a "big city" (as opposed to the small foothill town I grew up in), Modesto feels more like a large suburb than a "big" city. It does have a functional, if unassuming, downtown as well as its own junior college, but, Modesto is mostly made up of tree lined residential neighborhoods crisscrossed with long avenues of strip mall commercial development. I just focused my photos on downtown.
Let's get the dreariest shot over with first
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5645/modesto002fi4.jpg
On to better things...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8594/modesto003qm4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1637/modesto004um3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8933/modesto005vv6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3645/modesto006bd7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9212/modesto007ey6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6586/modesto008su5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/869/modesto010dv5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4994/modesto011fn1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8430/modesto012uu8.jpg
The streets are pretty quiet but it was early on a Sunday morning
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6032/modesto013oa7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4958/modesto009pi5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7024/modesto014te0.jpg
County and city administration building
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/881/modesto015ku3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9752/modesto016ch9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4821/modesto017ws2.jpg
Modesto's only skyscraper that isn't a grain mill or a water tower
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1989/modesto018uv2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6161/modesto019mf8.jpg
And that's all the time we have for Modesto...yes, I know that was bad!
Stockton
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5046/2007stockton004nf6.jpg
The city of Stockton is much bigger than Modesto in both population (289,789) and functionality (even if a lot of the recent growth is due to its proximity to the Bay Area). Stockton has its own port along the San Joaquin river, is a regional hub of agricultural production, has a private university (University of the Pacific), and has a proper downtown with lots of great possibilities. The city also has a reputation of having a lot of crime and, if this (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=137025) is any indication, clearly needs a new redevelopment director if it ever expects to capitalize on its potential. These were taken last spring.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6332/2007stockton001ys1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8744/2007stockton002qe3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9517/2007stockton013dt8.jpg
It's biggest asset, the waterfront.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4768/2007stockton003hj0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/847/2007stockton005po0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6650/2007stockton006ze8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3918/2007stockton007uv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4686/2007stockton008kz7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/787/2007stockton009bn2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/416/2007stockton010ga6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1188/2007stockton011hw3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/244/2007stockton012oa5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3405/2007stockton017qw2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/486/2007stockton016ps7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9393/2007stockton014by7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3258/2007stockton015lx0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1236/2007stockton018qr5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8409/2007stockton019rk8.jpg
Every good city plants lots of trees
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9851/2007stockton020fs2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6406/2007stockton021rq8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4180/2007stockton022sk9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5381/2007stockton023sp5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9350/2007stockton024or0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7530/2007stockton025cc2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2974/2007stockton026nd4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4733/2007stockton027fp4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2739/2007stockton028zf7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3401/2007stockton029bj7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9230/2007stockton030jl3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2512/2007stockton031vc6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5425/2007stockton032bt8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1684/2007stockton033sv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6130/2007stockton034ms5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4968/2007stockton035un3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3106/2007stockton036vt5.jpg
I was surprised at the amount of historical character Stockton has.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2681/2007stockton037uy5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1686/2007stockton038vz2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/843/2007stockton039cp8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8537/2007stockton040nq6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2017/2007stockton041lc4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/213/2007stockton042zy8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3305/2007stockton043zr0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6761/2007stockton044js1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8344/2007stockton045ul3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/627/2007stockton046eq2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5082/2007stockton047xt4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5931/2007stockton048bb9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7908/2007stockton049th8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6015/2007stockton050ju8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2434/2007stockton051hl3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3249/2007stockton052nv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6856/2007stockton053nf1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8941/2007stockton054xt7.jpg
San Joaquin "transit hub"
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2205/2007stockton055qt1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3156/2007stockton056ae6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3366/2007stockton057rc6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/50/2007stockton058sk7.jpg
Things start to fall apart once you leave the immediate downtown area
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3600/2007stockton059rs4.jpg
So, let's go back...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3451/2007stockton060xy0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8360/2007stockton061yz3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7088/2007stockton062il9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1921/2007stockton063vo7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3342/2007stockton064sc8.jpg
And now for a Stockton 360...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/371/2007stockton065yz9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6520/2007stockton066qc5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1894/2007stockton067ds4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/391/2007stockton068so0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6424/2007stockton069no0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5290/2007stockton071px9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9394/2007stockton070sa8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8596/2007stockton072ts0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4624/2007stockton073xf2.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7898/2007stockton074pc1.jpg
----------------------------The END---------------------------------
Tour of California
Part One - Los Angeles (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133321)
Part Two - Beverly Hills, Glendale, Pasadena, Hollywood (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133496)
Part Three - Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133766)
Part Four - San Jose (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=2997751)
Part Five - San Diego (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3052689)
Part Six - Fresno (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3061619)
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1651/modesto001yk0.jpg
Modesto
The city of Modesto, itself, has a population of about 206,000 and is the "urban" center surrounded by a collection of other smaller towns (Ripon, Salida, Ceres, Turlock, etc). But, despite my cousin's frequent protests when I was younger that it is a "big city" (as opposed to the small foothill town I grew up in), Modesto feels more like a large suburb than a "big" city. It does have a functional, if unassuming, downtown as well as its own junior college, but, Modesto is mostly made up of tree lined residential neighborhoods crisscrossed with long avenues of strip mall commercial development. I just focused my photos on downtown.
Let's get the dreariest shot over with first
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5645/modesto002fi4.jpg
On to better things...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8594/modesto003qm4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1637/modesto004um3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8933/modesto005vv6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3645/modesto006bd7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9212/modesto007ey6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6586/modesto008su5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/869/modesto010dv5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4994/modesto011fn1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8430/modesto012uu8.jpg
The streets are pretty quiet but it was early on a Sunday morning
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6032/modesto013oa7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4958/modesto009pi5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7024/modesto014te0.jpg
County and city administration building
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/881/modesto015ku3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9752/modesto016ch9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4821/modesto017ws2.jpg
Modesto's only skyscraper that isn't a grain mill or a water tower
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1989/modesto018uv2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6161/modesto019mf8.jpg
And that's all the time we have for Modesto...yes, I know that was bad!
Stockton
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5046/2007stockton004nf6.jpg
The city of Stockton is much bigger than Modesto in both population (289,789) and functionality (even if a lot of the recent growth is due to its proximity to the Bay Area). Stockton has its own port along the San Joaquin river, is a regional hub of agricultural production, has a private university (University of the Pacific), and has a proper downtown with lots of great possibilities. The city also has a reputation of having a lot of crime and, if this (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=137025) is any indication, clearly needs a new redevelopment director if it ever expects to capitalize on its potential. These were taken last spring.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6332/2007stockton001ys1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8744/2007stockton002qe3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9517/2007stockton013dt8.jpg
It's biggest asset, the waterfront.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4768/2007stockton003hj0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/847/2007stockton005po0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6650/2007stockton006ze8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3918/2007stockton007uv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4686/2007stockton008kz7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/787/2007stockton009bn2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/416/2007stockton010ga6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1188/2007stockton011hw3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/244/2007stockton012oa5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3405/2007stockton017qw2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/486/2007stockton016ps7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9393/2007stockton014by7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3258/2007stockton015lx0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1236/2007stockton018qr5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8409/2007stockton019rk8.jpg
Every good city plants lots of trees
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9851/2007stockton020fs2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6406/2007stockton021rq8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4180/2007stockton022sk9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5381/2007stockton023sp5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9350/2007stockton024or0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7530/2007stockton025cc2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2974/2007stockton026nd4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4733/2007stockton027fp4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2739/2007stockton028zf7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3401/2007stockton029bj7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9230/2007stockton030jl3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2512/2007stockton031vc6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5425/2007stockton032bt8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1684/2007stockton033sv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6130/2007stockton034ms5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4968/2007stockton035un3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3106/2007stockton036vt5.jpg
I was surprised at the amount of historical character Stockton has.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2681/2007stockton037uy5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1686/2007stockton038vz2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/843/2007stockton039cp8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8537/2007stockton040nq6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2017/2007stockton041lc4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/213/2007stockton042zy8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3305/2007stockton043zr0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6761/2007stockton044js1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8344/2007stockton045ul3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/627/2007stockton046eq2.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5082/2007stockton047xt4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5931/2007stockton048bb9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7908/2007stockton049th8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6015/2007stockton050ju8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2434/2007stockton051hl3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3249/2007stockton052nv4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6856/2007stockton053nf1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8941/2007stockton054xt7.jpg
San Joaquin "transit hub"
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2205/2007stockton055qt1.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3156/2007stockton056ae6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3366/2007stockton057rc6.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/50/2007stockton058sk7.jpg
Things start to fall apart once you leave the immediate downtown area
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3600/2007stockton059rs4.jpg
So, let's go back...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3451/2007stockton060xy0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8360/2007stockton061yz3.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7088/2007stockton062il9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1921/2007stockton063vo7.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3342/2007stockton064sc8.jpg
And now for a Stockton 360...
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/371/2007stockton065yz9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6520/2007stockton066qc5.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1894/2007stockton067ds4.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/391/2007stockton068so0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6424/2007stockton069no0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5290/2007stockton071px9.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9394/2007stockton070sa8.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8596/2007stockton072ts0.jpg
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/4624/2007stockton073xf2.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/7898/2007stockton074pc1.jpg
----------------------------The END---------------------------------
Tour of California
Part One - Los Angeles (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133321)
Part Two - Beverly Hills, Glendale, Pasadena, Hollywood (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133496)
Part Three - Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=133766)
Part Four - San Jose (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=2997751)
Part Five - San Diego (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3052689)
Part Six - Fresno (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3061619)