Tech About Town

                                         Virtual Visalia                         

                                                                                       By Tim Torian

                                                                                                             January 2005

    Virtually everything these days has a web site. You can shop at your favorite stores online, play games, watch the news, and update your portfolio. Visalia is no exception. Virtually everything in Visalia is on the web somewhere. When looking for information, most of us start our search at one of the major search sites: google.com, msn.com, yahoo.com, aol.com, etc.

To find information that is locally relevant, add the city and state to the search terms. Most search sites have a ‘local’ section, which is usually a kind of online yellow pages – you search for a business in your local area, and get a directory of matching listings.

Many stores now offer web sites where you can place orders and pick up merchandise at the local store. Borders and Best Buy are good examples.

Most banks offer online banking and bill paying services. In addition to being able to manage your account over a secure web page, many banks will automatically download data into home accounting programs such as Quicken, and Microsoft Money. This greatly simplifies balancing your checkbook.  For more information, search on the name of your bank on the web.

For those of you that are new to virtual Visalia, here are some local attractions:

www.ci.visalia.ca.us – the official city of Visalia web site. They have done a good job of making city related resources easily accessible. This site has a lot of depth, with all kinds of city related resources. Highlights include the online permits system, City transit schedules, a directory of local churches, and community services.

                        City of Visalia Crime Map – one of many local internet resourceseseseses

www.vpd.ci.visalia.ca.us – Visalia police dept. Check out the ‘crime map’ showing a city map of where various types of crimes were committed.

http://www.visaliachamber.org – Visalia chamber of commerce. The chamber is working on a new look, including a new logo and web site. The chamber site includes a directory of local businesses, and useful information for visitors.

www.visaliatimesdelta.com  - The other local paper. Includes recent articles, classified.

www.visalia-online.com – Directory of local businesses.

 www.cityofvisalia.com – Managed by Star-s publishing, a web portal for local Visalia resources and businesses. They have a directory of local clubs and associations, sports, entertainment etc.

http://www.downtownvisalia.com – Guide to local events, Businesses, Real Estate. Links to local theatres and attractions.  Managed by the Downtown business association.

www.visalia-arts.com – Maintained by the Visalia Arts Consortium. Includes links to all kinds of local arts events and resources, and a directory of local arts related organizations.  Note the Saturday Arts Market starting in April on Main street.

www.unitedwaytc.org – Includes a good directory of local public service agencies.

www.visalia.k12.ca.us – Visalia Unified, including links to individual school schedules and menus. A great resource for parents with school kids.

www.tcoe.org – Tulare county office of education – including special services, and other county education programs.

www.co.tulare.ca.us or www.tcgov.com – Tulare county government, including links to County agencies, and sites of local politicians. This is another site rich with content.

foxvisalia.org - Fox Theatre

www.worldagexpo.com – The farm show.  Includes a calendar of events at the Heritage complex.

www.tularecountylibrary.org – Including an online library catalog.

www.untraveledroad.com/USA/California/Tulare.htm Virtual tour of nearby natural beauty.

Many Realtors offer virtual tours of homes, allowing you to tour properties while online. Here are a couple of starting places: www.realtor.com  www.tcmls.org

www.tcwid.org – Job related resources, and links to local resources for businesses. Their office offers computers and many other resources for job seekers.

And, of course, the Valley Voice online: www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com

One of the nice things about the internet is that it doesn’t matter where you live. No longer do you have to be in a big city to experience a rich environment of resources, culture, and information.  We enjoy the benefits of a close knit community, with the resources of the world at our fingertips. The interconnected links of the World Wide Web touch every aspect of our community.

For comments or questions regarding Tech About Town, contact  tim@toriangroup.com