Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 10

25 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 10 CHOWCHI LLA , CAL I FORNI A itself is located on Interstate Highway 99, just 40 miles north of Fresno and 60 miles south of Modesto. In approximately two hours by car, you can be at the stunning beaches of Santa Cruz, or visiting the many cultural landmarks of San Francisco Bay. “We’re a couple of hours away from the Bay Area, from oceans, from mountains – you can easily get to anything you need to do,” says City Administrator, Rod Pruett. “The Central Valley provides a lot of benefits for people, both in terms of work and home life. People like that small-town feel where everybody knows each other. You feel safe and secure. That’s the kind of community we have.” The towns that pepper the Central Valley tend to be smaller than those found in the Bay Area or Southern California. They have active main streets and a comparatively low cost of living where young families working on tight budgets can prosper. According to Pruett, “You can have a Bay Area job and work from home in a lower cost of living environment. COVID-19 has opened a lot of employers’ eyes to the remote work revolution going on. A lot of places are embracing it. We’re definitely starting to see that reflected here with the rising demand for housing.” New inventory on the Woodcrest, Sessions Family Trust, and Legacy Ranch lands is expected to cool off some of that heat from Chowchilla’s real estate market. “Sessions is approximately 200 units, Woodcrest is around 190, and then we have Legacy which is about 615, and they’re all getting ready to go,” indicates Director of Community & Economic Development, Mark Hamilton. “We have quite a few housing developments in the works, including 130 units currently being built by Century Communities at the Pheasant Run Golf Course. We’re also seeing another smaller subdivision of about 28 City Administrator, Rod Pruett