Better Blackstone Association

Blackstone was first a country lane, north of the city limits of Fresno.

A horsecar line connected the homes on Blackstone from Belmont south to downtown.

The horsecar line was converted to a streetcar that took people north to Zapp’s Park at Olive Avenue.

The large plots of land on either side of Blackstone Avenue began to be subdivided for houses in neighborhoods.

Blackstone Avenue was designated as a part of "State Route 41," connecting the Central Coast (Morro Bay) to Yosemite National Park. Hotels and other amenities for travelers began to be built.

The urban stretch of 41 running through Fresno was upgraded to freeway standards, intersecting State Road 99 to the south. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the freeway portion was extended several miles beyond Fresno, in both directions.

41 is expanded to Friant.

Blackstone is identified as a good candidate for a Bus Rapid Transit system in the Fresno Council of Government’s Public Transit Infrastructure Survey. The Blackstone corridor is envisioned as a high-rise corridor in the 2025 General Plan.

City of Fresno votes for the creation o f a mixed use corridor along Blackstone as a part of the 2035 General Plan. The Fresno City Council vote to continue progress to build the Bus Rapid Transit system along Blackstone and Ventura Kings Canyon. Better Blackstone Association is formed.