Mayor Jerry Dyer speaks at the State of the City luncheon Wednesday. Photo by Frank Lopez

Fresno is a “City On the Move” exclaimed Mayor Jerry Dyer at this year’s State of the City luncheon at the Fresno Convention Center Wednesday.

One facet Dyer seeks to put into motion is getting more people into housing. That’s the idea behind his announcement of the city’s new mortgage assistance program, which will provide up to $100,000 in state funding for income eligible households.

Money from the Mortgage Assistance Program (MAP) could be used for the purchase of a home and/or a down payment.

There will be no monthly payments required from borrowers towards the $100,000 loan. 

There is also no minimum cash contribution required.

To qualify, a prospective buy must have not owned a home in the past three years, meet income requirements, and complete an 8-hour homebuyer education class. 

If a person lives in the home for 15 years, the loan becomes forgivable.

The prospective property must be located in the  city of Fresno, be the buyer’s principal residence, and be a single family residence. 

Non-occupying co-borrowers or co-owners will not be allowed for MAP.

“After hearing what you heard here today,” Dyer asked the audience, “do you believe Fresno is an impoverished town without a vision, or a City on the Move?”

In Fresno, 40% of residents own their homes, while 60% rent. These figures are reversed on the national scale, he said.

Dyer noted the ongoing housing development that is taking place on Blackstone Avenue, what he called the “spine of the city”.

This adds to the 600 housing units planned at Manchester Mall, a project he calls “One Vision at Manchester.”

Plans are underway to develop the first tiny home village in Southeast Fresno that will consist of 26 prefabricated homes.

The homes are currently being built offsite by Pre-Fab Innovations in Fresno, and will be deployed when the site is ready.

Dyer also highlighted the fact that Fresno experienced the nation’s second-strongest post-pandemic economic recovery.

In 2022, Fresno also had the fastest wage growth in California.

To dispel the reputation of Fresno being an unsafe city, Dyer brought up that Fresno is one of the few cities in America to have significant downward crime trends in the last two years.

With the recent addition of 62 police officers, Fresno is in position to be one of the only fully staffed police departments in the country. By the end of 2023, the department will have 900 police officers, the most in its history.

Year to date, property crime is down 15%; business burglaries fell by 47%; residential burglaries fell 29% and auto theft was down by 32%.

In the last year violent crime also dropped by 17% and murders decreased by 54%.

In the past two years, 66 firefighters have been hired, allowing 103 firefighters on duty daily — up from 88.

This, year, Fire Station 18 was built, and there will be a groundbreaking for Fire Station 12 in 2024 at Ashland and Valentine avenues.

Fresno also saw a 36% drop in its homeless population in the last eight years.

To respond to potholes on city streets, especially after months of heavy rainfall, Dyer said his 2024 budget proposal adds several dedicated pothole crews that will repair them all year round.

They will also use new equipment giving them the ability to use a hot-mix asphalt material that will provide a longer-lasting fix.

Dyer said that outside media likes to paint Fresno as an impoverished farm town with no vision.

But the City does have a vision, he said, one that is a beautiful, inclusive, prosperous city where people take pride in their community and have a government that listens to the people and keeps promises.

“Don’t buy into the ‘woe is Fresno’ nonsense. We are not an impoverished farm town without a vision. Fresno is on the move,” Dyer said.