Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists of Pasadena California was selected in late January to l

Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists of Pasadena, California, was selected in late January to lead the planning and design of 7,000 acres of Fresno, California, the state’s fifth largest city with approximately 500,000 people. The $2.6 million project includes a revitalization plan for the core and downtown neighborhoods of Fresno — a city where 49 percent of residents live below the poverty line, according to a 2005 study. Current land use and zoning rules make it almost impossible to open a sidewalk cafe, and difficult to do “mixed use” projects with stores on the ground floor and apartments upstairs, Craig Scharton, director of the city’s Downtown and Community Revitalization Department, told the Fresno Bee. “The conclusion that we have come to is that we need to start over,” he said. The new plans, largely expected to be paid for with federal grants, will address everything from building designs to what activities can take place inside, Scharton told the newspaper.