I want to buy a home but the home I want to buy doesn't exist in Modesto and the community I want to live in doesn't either

• I don't want to live in a shoddily built track home surrounded by SUV owning wannabe cowboys with screaming brats and soccer moms and the must of a car ride to get a carton of milk.

• I don't want to live a pretentious 40 year old craftsman where you pay a premium for a 40 year old tree on your street that you have no right to prune.

• I don't want to live in some sort of gang killing field where the city refuses to provide basic services like street lights and police protection.

I'm a young professional that has lived in urban areas and loved it.

So downtown then? Where? In the squalled rentals catering to illegal immigrants and crack heads?

I want a condo, a studio, a loft or a high rise..

I want to park on Friday and not have to drive until Monday.

I want to walk out of my downtown loft to the local Trader Joes or Whole Foods for my carton of organic milk.

I want to enjoy midnight movies, live comedy, great local coffee shops, book stores, unique eateries open past 9, art galleries and all that can be considered culture.

I want a community... but it does not exist.

What is there? Why doesn't it exist?

There is no sense of community in our downtown but what could we do?

Construct mixed use buildings up and down J street with first story retail and apartments above. Remodel Rosten towers and scrape out the old people smell. Build a green shopping complex with some of those stores mentioned before. Have the police stop scarring away the good clientele of downtown business and encouraging them to come. Nurture the established tax base that was just talked about in the bee to make this happen!!!

then I can truly plant roots in Modesto instead of renting a home that is nothing more then the best choice among lessors ones.