As a member of the OAA (or Ontario Association of Architects) you probably know the government agencies of your town inside and out from all the time you've spent dealing with zoning, construction, and permissions for your buildings. But what about when you move to Modesto, California? What sorts of resources does its city government have available, not just to architects but to ordinary citizens? If this is a question that's been on your mind of late, allow us to give you an overview.

Business

For those of you who are thinking of relocating your aquarium test kits store to Modesto or opening another venture altogether, you'll want to consult with Modesto's Community and Economic Development department under Margaret James. She and her staff can give you all the goods on the business community, workforce, traffic structure, and bylaws that you'll need to be familiar with to make your venture successful and help provide jobs to the community.

Building

All of you architects, building contractors, developers planning Oakville homes, and private citizens looking to build a new home will find everything you need in Modesto's Development Center. Staff in the office or on the website can help you with zoning, plot plans, permits, and inspections. You can get estimates on how much your fees will be, copies of the city's building code, and even read their newsletter to keep up to date on changes.

Residential

There are a number of essential serviced funded by your city taxes that you probably couldn't do without. Things like garbage collection, public transit, utilities, public parks, and property improvement programs are an often taken for granted part of city living. The neighborhood improvement program and access to city council even gives homeowners a way to bring up problems with radiation barriers, sidewalks, road repairs, or other issues so that they can be solved.

Emergency

Those of you who are wary of California after seeing bush fires on the news should feel safer knowing the Modesto Fire Department has your back. Highly trained and on call 24/7, they can handle everything from fire prevention seminars to full conflagrations and can even set you up with polyester slings and first aid until EMTs arrive. The Modesto Police Department is your other major safety net, working to not just investigate but prevent crime. You can file police reports on their website and even stay up to date by following them on Twitter.