Turlock, CA

Turlock sits in the northern San Joaquin Valley along Highway 99, with Modesto up the road and Merced down it. A grain depot gave the town its start in the 1870s, farming and food processing kept it going, and almonds are now the leading crop by value across Stanislaus County. The city breaks into six parts. Downtown Turlock and Westside both run along Main Street, one around the Saturday market and small-lot bungalows and the other around diners, markets and industrial parks. Northwest Turlock holds the university, Donnelly and Pedretti parks and the Countryside Drive shopping corridor. North Turlock and Northeast Turlock carry most of the newer subdivisions, with the northeast side adding Crane Park and custom-home pockets near the eastern edge. South Turlock follows Lander Avenue, where older ranch streets sit beside taquerías and seafood counters. Housing across the city runs from mid-century bungalows near Main Street to 1970s ranch houses on quarter-acre lots and newer tracts with open floor plans and greenbelts. Most recent building has happened on the north and east sides. Outdoor time centers on the city's park system. Crane Park has old shade trees, Donnelly Park has a pond of ducks, the splash pads at Broadway and Columbia parks get busy in summer, and the Turlock Regional Sports Complex on North Kilroy Road hosts soccer and softball. Dust Bowl Brewing keeps a 30,000 square foot brewhouse, taproom and restaurant on Fulkerth Road, and Roth SocialHouse, Villa Napoli and Huckleberry's give the dining scene a sit-down side. La Mo, Grace and Gather Coffee and Rise N Brew carry the coffee conversation. Daily life runs on Highway 99 for commuters and on Turlock Transit for local buses, with StanRTA connecting to nearby towns and Amtrak serving the Turlock-Denair station outside town. The Stanislaus County Fair brings the valley's crowds each July. Outside downtown, the city is built for cars, and walking to dinner is a downtown habit more than a citywide one. The university, settled on its current campus in the mid-1960s, has shaped the city's growth ever since.