Pictures/opinions of Bakersfield, Fresno, and Sacremento (Sacramento, Clovis: jobs, university)

[The A-Team]

Hey all though some people dont like these areas, the time I have spent in Sacremento and Bakersfield has been excellent I have really enjoyed them, and i've passed through Fresno which seems interesting! Does anyone else like these areas or have opinions on them as far as scenery/safety/things to do etc? If you guys have pictures please post them!!! (especially of Bakersfield and Sacremento!!) Thanks guys!

[jdavid93225]

Originally Posted by The A-Team

Hey all though some people dont like these areas, the time I have spent in Sacremento and Bakersfield has been excellent I have really enjoyed them, and i've passed through Fresno which seems interesting! Does anyone else like these areas or have opinions on them as far as scenery/safety/things to do etc? If you guys have pictures please post them!!! (especially of Bakersfield and Sacremento!!) Thanks guys!

I like both of these cities. I must admit, though, that I've spent way more time in Bakersfield than I have in Sacramento. I like Sacramento because of the different things there are to see and do there. Old Town is really neat to see and explore. I like seeing the river as it flows past that area. The Capitol is pretty neat to see, too. My favorite place to visit (so far), though, is the California State Railroad Museum. There is so much to see there that I could easily spend hours, and just scratch the surface. I am really looking forward to going back there soon.

As for Bakersfield, as I mentioned above, I spend a fair amount of time there. It's only 45 minutes north of where I live, so I do a fair amount of shopping there, as well as going there for entertainment. I also have a number of friends that live there, so I sometimes go there to visit them. Of course both of these cities (and Fresno, too) have the usual variety of stores of every type. They also have most of the major chain restaurants. Bakersfield is well known for it's Basque restaurants, of which there are several to choose from.

My favorite place to go there is the Buck Owens Crystal Palace. It's a restaurant and concert hall rolled into one. I've seen some great acts perform there over the years, including (of course) Buck Owens while he was still alive. I've also seen Ricky Skaggs and Brad Paisley there.

The Kern County Museum is a neat place to visit, and has a lot of interesting displays about the history of Kern County. They also have various temporary exhibits that I've found very interesting.

As for safe communities in which to live, I would say most of Bakersfield is pretty safe, with the general exception of the southeast part of town. The northwest (Rosedale area) is usually considered the best part of town, but the southwest and northeast (e.g. Rio Bravo) areas are pretty good, too. Some of the areas near downtown (e.g. Westchester) are nice, as well.

[rgb123]

I was pleasantly suprised by the Basque culture in Bakersfield....great restaraunts!

[Jarndyce]

Fresno is not interesting. It is a sadsack depressed dump. It's image hurts California rather than helps Cali because the only time Fresno makes "the news" is for some pathetic criminal reason or some sort of weird domestic dispute, or for when the Fresno State University embarrasses itself such as recently with all the sexual harassment lawsuits, brought on by former female coaches, that have come out against the university.

Fresno is a laughingstock kind of agricultural wasteland.

Bakersfield usually makes the press for wanting to "grow" but "not become Fresno" which is amusing. I can't say there is anything interesting in Bakersfield, because the view of Bakersfield from the 99 is not all that inspiring.

Sacramento "COULD" be decent someday. It is another community which sprawl and apathy built. It needs some significant non-farming industry (not the Government, not Casinos) to bring jobs. It never got a piece of the silicone valley action and doesn't appear interested in gaining any anytime soon...

[fresnofresno]

Quit judging cities based on freeway views. Fresno covers over 100 square miles and I'd bet you could only see 10% or less of it from 99.

[TaJasMi]

I stayed in Bakersfield and Sac. for a lengthy period. I enjoyed both. Bakersfield was very comfortable and the locals were some of the friendliest strangers I have ever met.
I was stuck in Sac. for a a few weeks, and I thought "I don't want to be here". But I soon found out it was a nice place.
There are negative areas everywhere, but I liked the people of these areas the most.

[Kingsnkali]

As far as technology, the Sacramento area is not Silicon Valley, however, my suburb alone, Folsom, has about 6,000 Intel employees. Plenty of other smaller technology firms as well in the area. Sacramento could always use more technology, but this is not an agricultural city at all. The service sector is well developed, it's just not a major Fortune 500 type metropolitan area. The base is still government, but the advancing service sector is a big player too.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by fresnofresno

Quit judging cities based on freeway views. Fresno covers over 100 square miles and I'd bet you could only see 10% or less of it from 99.

I certainly don't judge it from the freeway and I used to live there along with just having returned from the area.

I would live in Clovis if I had to make a choice between the two. Luckily I don't

[misslove]

I live in Fresno. Trust me. You'll be dissapointed.

[Nexis]

i wasn't impressed with fresno. all i heard on the local news was brutal multiple gang killings