Question for the Bakersfield haters (Los Angeles, San Diego: college, income, income tax)

[Californiaguy2007]

That's very true Roaddog,if you focus your life on the negatives then you won't be happy anywhere.

I also agree with you when you said their are other much worst places than Bakersfield.

Originally Posted by Roaddog

All I can say is this, I'm not no kid, I've lived in many other places, I've been here for a long time, I've seen much worst than Bakersfield. If a person looks for the negitive they will find it, I'm not that way and in all the years I've lived here I have not known more than two or three people who lived here and hated this town, I've never had a problem finding something fun to do. If a person wants the big city life then they should move to the city of their choice. Most people who can hate a town so bad will not be happy where ever they go because they are only looking for the bad. Lifes what you make of it, it can be good or bad but only the person can control it.

[elcapitan]

Okay now you've done walked on the fightin' side of me.

[tangodoodles]

I agree that it is annoying when people come here and basically start bashing a city that they haven't taken the time to understand. However, not everyone is here by choice. A lot of high school kids can't stand it and don't ever want to come back because they believe that a big city is what they want. As I've grown up a bit, I've been able to appreciate some of the things that Bakersfield offers but there are still some areas that we are lacking in. I've now come to the conclusion that while I want all of the amenities of a big city, I want a more laid-back atmosphere. Think Portland and San Diego rather than New York and San Francisco. Part of my appreciation for a more laid-back lifestyle has come from growing up in Bakersfield. I realize I've taken certain aspects of the city for granted like the general politeness and slower-paced atmosphere. However, growing up in Bakersfield also highlighted for me exactly what I wanted to avoid in the future. I would like to live in a place that is not quite so narrow-minded. I got the dirtiest looks from some old guy in a pickup truck when he saw my Obama bumper sticker. And last year when, in a fit of rage, I put an Impeach Bush sticker on my car, some dirty redneck on a motorcycle followed me for about three miles until I turned around and led him straight into the police station parking lot on Buena Vista. He got out of there real fast. Oh, and people like Chad Vegas make me want to leave Bakersfield. I just wish that it was a more open-minded, progressive city. But I suspect that for some people the charm is that it is conservative and old-fashioned. I am leaving in August to finish my undergraduate studies and I won't ever be moving back. However, I have grown to understand that Bakersfield isn't really the worst place in California as I believed in high school, rather, it just isn't the right place for me.

[ZeeDante]

Bakersfield is rediculous. You know how people leave home for vacation or to visit relatives and they get homesick? I would go on vacation to the beach and instead of saying "I want to go home, I miss my bed", I would be like "Crap, I like my bed, but can't I just bring it here instead of having to go back there?" I went to Yosimite National Park and spent 3 days in the woods. I could smell the air, it was like getting one of my senses back, for the first time I could breath easy. I came back here and I couldn't leave the house for a couple days. The best way to describe it is a constant blanket of oppression in the lung region, no one notices because over time, you get used to it. Like having a 5-pound weight in your backpack for a year, after a while, it is natural. Take that weight out though and you feel like you are carrying a feather. People looking in from the outside or people who have married themselves to this town look at what I'm saying and think, "What a jerk, what is his problem?" Well, think about it. I have been living here all my life, with no real chance of escape due to being born here. Not only that, but I have been to dozens of different California cities, 3 different states, and another country. With the exception of a few of the cities in Cali, Bakersfield is worse.

It would be one thing if it was just the air quality and the weather, but the overall attitude of intolorance to differing beliefs and opinions staggers me. I won't pin it on individuals because I know a lot of people here personally who are nice and respect others. However, walk out into the public and interact with people and you start to be taken aback by how bigoted some people are. I am genuinely afraid of sharing my atheist beliefs with anyone here because I might be shunned. Also, as a liberal, I am not in my element at all. I don't put bumper stickers and whatnot on my car because I don't want any weirdos vandalizing it or worse. This is a country town, which is a nice way of saying that the feeling here is "respect our president or shut the hell up". Bakersfield might be one of the few places where Bush might be welcomed overall.

When it comes to the big city vs small quiet town thing, well, Bakersfield has slowly been moving away from "small quiet town" for some time now. In fact, we are becoming our big brother up the highway, LA. I used to, when I first got my license, drive around at all hours of the day with little traffic to speak of. Now, you just try to drive the highway during the hours of 5-7 at night. Forget about it, it is a mess. Even places I wouldn't have thought to see traffic in before get clogged like rosedale. We are already in the premordial stages of big-cityitus.

Add to that the low quality of education, the fleeting job market, and the increase in crime and gang activity and I can't really see why anyone would want to come here. I really can't. The redeeming qualities for Bakersfield are scarce at best. If you like country music and you have conservative values, you probably will like our community, just be ready to deal with all that other stuff. Everyone else, for your own sakes, stay away.

[Roaddog]

I'm glad I'm a happy person and not bitter and filled with hate, i wish others would seek out what or where it would take to make them content, lifes is just just to short to waste being bitter.

[The A-Team]

Wow its cool to see that almost a year and a half later, you're still posting on the same thread lol, cool stuff! Personally I like Bakersfield a lot. The times i've been there i found the people to be some of the most nice I've encountered anywhere, and I'm from the south so thats saying something! I found it to be a comfortable, nice town that still has the california feel(palm trees, sunshine etc). I look forward to spending time in Bakersfield again someday.

[Roaddog]

Originally Posted by The A-Team

Wow its cool to see that almost a year and a half later, you're still posting on the same thread lol, cool stuff! Personally I like Bakersfield a lot. The times i've been there i found the people to be some of the most nice I've encountered anywhere, and I'm from the south so thats saying something! I found it to be a comfortable, nice town that still has the california feel(palm trees, sunshine etc). I look forward to spending time in Bakersfield again someday.

It's amazing that it keeps coming back, I tell myself just let it be but the next thing I know I'm posting a reply

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by Smartacus

I registered just because you guys are driving me nuts. Talk about smog. Talk about crime. But don't show your intolerance against all things not liberal and call it an objective review of a town.

Some of us, BTW, can add 1+1, and we can also see that those of you who think that conservatives don't value "artistic, diversity, tolerance, creativity, intelligence, etc" don't understand that when we see self-involved Art History majors with an inability to hold an honest job (and a snobby attitude towards those who do), we are really having to work at it to be nice. Considering that you don't even try. And if you want to live surrounded by people who hate America, move to Iran, or maybe Frisco. It is NOT a normal attitude, it is just normal where YOU come from.

You can call those who disagree with you "stupid" or "provincial", but that just shows your own arrogance. Someone wrote that basically anyone worth a darn won't live in a small town, but some of us think that only freaks, welfare cases and socialists would live in big cities. But rather than bash you, or move to your cities and try to change them, we move to the country, or smaller places and live our lives. Until you come along, and try to change everything, sue us for not accepting your crossdressing 9 year old, for trying to widen a highway, for insisting that your illegal housekeeper show an ID card before she votes, etc etc etc.

And PS, Increased "diversity" = increased crime and gang activity. Just compare crime rates to diversity stats for any community that you care to look at. The relationship is much stronger than any relationship between poverty and crime. But then you liberal "intellectuals" don't bother with analysis, your feelings are what count, and diversity "feels good".

I don't think conservatives are dumb, I just prefer a liberal atmosphere. If you read my post, I don't actually dislike Bakersfield in any way, rather, I feel that I am meant to live in a larger city. I do think it is a bit much that Chad Vegas so clearly has a Religious Right agenda though. I think it was a mistake that everyone voted for him. Some of the schools in our city are considered "drop-out factories" but the first thing Chad wanted to do when he was elected was change Winter and Spring break to Christmas and Easter break. Really? You couldn't do anything about all of the dropouts first Chad?

This vitriol against anything liberal is one of the reasons Bakersfield is not right for me. Don't worry, you're still in the majority in Bakersfield so why not let us say our piece? When you post in such a hateful manner about liberals you really just make other conservatives look bad because you end up sounding like an ignorant person. I'm bothered that in Bakersfield we can never get anything fixed because the good ol' people of Bako almost never approve a tax hike. Repairs = more taxes, more services = more taxes...how do we not understand this by now? All of those liberal counties you deride in your post prop up conservative counties that can't pass a tax increase (even for the good of the city or state) if their lives depend on it. Oh and don't even get me started on you "Christians" who hate God's children just because they're different. Yes I'm talking about gay people, but I can tell by your post that you hate them as well. You're the type of person from Bakersfield that makes people hate it here.

[Laredo]

Well, I have lived in Porterville, which is about 45 minutes north of Bakersfield. I do not go to Bakersfield that much. The shopping I do there once in a while, and also got my Teaching Credential there. All I got to say after reading this thread is if Bakersfield was so bad, how come every time I return to Porterville to visit my folks, I see people more and more people moving in from bigger cities to these smaller towns like Porterville? The only thing that changes in Bakersfield is the scenery. The rest of any issues people may have is just part of any community anywhere in the world.

[hotornot]

Originally Posted by LP41

I have lived in some truely great areas and only gave you some EXAMPLES of "crappy" places.

I noticed one of those EXAMPLES was Chula Vista. That was wrong to generalize Chula Vista that way. I've never been to Bakersfield, but I have to wonder if you're painting it with a broad stroke of the brush the way you maligned Chula Vista. For the record, Chula Vista has some bad areas to it but it also has some nice, great areas to live. The San Diego Chargers are thinking about moving Chula Vista, that is if they don't move to Los Angeles.