Would you recommend Bakersfield for a recent college grad? (Santa Maria: sales, real estate)

[gc57]

Yea, it's a great place to live, go ahead. How long did you want to live anyway?

[Roaddog]

Originally Posted by City Boy

I guess we should all lie to him to make YOU feel better.

Yes move to Bakersfield. You'll LOVE it.

Theres a big differance giving a objective opinion and acting like a 2 year old, you know nothing of Bakersfield but you feel the need to troll around, you keep coming back over and over, you need to seek some help for your obsession.

[Roaddog]

Originally Posted by gc57

Yea, it's a great place to live, go ahead. How long did you want to live anyway?

Oh now thats intelligent.

[rickers]

I would rather live in Bakersfield than Fresno ! Why don't you consider the Tahoe area, I know it gets a bunch of snow in the winter but coming from NYC it will be a cake-walk for you. Not too hot in the summer either. Lots of fun stuff to do all year and the economy shouldn't be any worse than most other places at this point.

[gc57]

Hey, thanks for the compliment!

[impala666]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

I can understand why City Boy doesn't like Bakersfield. In Bakersfield, you pretty much have to be able to entertain yourself. Having your entertainment spoon fed to you doesn't really happen there. You probably won't like it there unless you like to do one or more of the following activities:

Motorcycle/ATV riding
Horseback riding
Canoeing/Kayaking/River Rafting
Fishing
Hiking/Mountain Climbing/Backpacking
Shooting
Hunting
Metal Detecting
Gold Panning
Four Wheeling
Rock Collecting
Bicycling
Snowboarding/Skiing/Sledding
Boating/Water Skiing
Skydiving
Flying Model Airplanes/Helicopters/Rockets
Going to Church
Visiting Friends
Camping
Photography/Viewing Wildlife & Scenery
Trainspotting/Railfanning
Geocaching
Building/driving/looking at Hot Rods
Auto Racing
Performing or listening to Country Music
Visiting Museums

If someone doesn't like one or more of those things, they will be bored in Bakersfield, and should live in the Big City. For the rest of us who do like some of those things, there are places in or near Bakersfield to do all of them, and we are rarely bored because we can always find something to entertain us. To the original poster, keep these activities in mind. If you like some or all of them, you may find Bakersfield is somewhere that you would enjoy.

For the record, there are some good places to eat there. Bakersfield is famous for its Basque restaurants, but has some other good places, too. Buck Owens' Crystal Palace is well known for its food, in addition to its entertainment. In my opinion, it's excellent.

As for being visually appealing, what do you expect? It's a city, after all. If you want visually appealing, it's only a short drive (2 hours or less) to some very scenic areas of California, including the beaches, deserts, mountains, and plains.

The Sierra Nevada has some spectacular scenery, including several groves of Giant Sequoia that are incredible. There are also streams, rivers, lakes, meadows, valleys, and peaks that offer gorgeous views.

The California desert offers some beautiful scenery, too, if you just slow down enough to see it. The area around Red Rock Canyon and the El Paso Mountains has some very pretty places, as well as a lot of history.

The Central Coast of California has some neat places like Morro Bay and Cambria, as well as Pismo Beach and Hearst Castle.

The Carrizo Plain offers some scenery that is different from what you find elsewhere in California, as well as some wonderful opportunities for wildlife viewing.

Nearby lakes for watersports and fishing include Lake Webb and Lake Evans (both in the Buena Vista Recreation Area), Lake Isabella, Lake Nacimiento, Castaic Lake, Lake Piru, and Pyramid Lake.

Winter sports are available in several areas nearby, including cross country skiing on Mt. Pinos, sledding and snow play in the Frazier Park and Tehachapi areas, and downhill skiing at Shirley Meadows in the Greenhorn Mountains.

All of these areas can be accessed within two hours driving time from Bakersfield on a good day (accidents and bad weather can cause significant delays).

I hope this long post goes a long way toward illustrating why many people actually do like Bakersfield and other parts of Kern County. It's actually a good place to live, where people care about one another, and life is lived at a slower pace than it is in the bigger cities in California. If this post makes it sound appealing, then you really should check it out for yourself.

I know Jack S**t about Bakersfield, what I do know is that you can do all that s**f in Wyoming or Colorado or probably 20 other states so... What is the point?
Nobody want`s to s**t in their own back yard, but it becomes a little tiresome when other people do.

[rkb0305]

[quote=rickers;4638217]I would rather live in Bakersfield than Fresno !/QUOTE]

WHY?

[rickers]

Because I've been robbed in Fresno and haven't been robbed in Bakersfield. ! That's enough reason for me ! Also there are a bunch of posts mentioning the differences between the two. I just would choose Bakersfield if I had to choose between the two. Fortunately I don't have to live in either one. I got the heck out of California about 12 years ago and moved To Montana where there are very few gangs if any at all. There are absolutely no gangs in our town. I also must add that it's been a long time since I've been to either F. or B. so my opinion my be quite out of date. Several folks have said that Fresno has improved quite a bit. The only Graffiti I ever see anymore in on rail cars.

[heathenkitties]

I escaped Bakersfield over 13 years ago and have never regretted my decision. It's hotter than hell more months than not; there is no culture, THE SMOG IS DISGUSTING; and the housing is way too expensive compared to salaries. The rest of my family still lives there, but I cannot even stomach a visit. I live in Portland, now, and it was a positive move for me. I totally agree with other people: other, nicer places to live in which to further your career and still live on the cheap.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by jdavid93225

I agree with what Tim C. said. Bakersfield meets the criteria listed to a tee, but it might not be your cup of "tee." There are widely varying opinions on Bakersfield that are found on this forum, but from what I've seen, people either tend to love it or hate it. There aren't many who are in between on the matter. I don't live in Bakersfield, but I do live near it, and I go there regularly for shopping, dining, and other things. It is one of my favorite cities in California, mainly because it's friendly and still fairly small. To me it feels more like a small town than a big city, even though it has about 300,000 people in it. I grew up in L.A. (and still work there), so this may be why it feels that way to me. Bakersfield gets hot in the summer, as do most of California's inland valley areas. It gets chilly in the winter, especially when the fog settles in, but only occasionally dips below about 30 degrees farenheit. It gets a lot of sunshine, so if that's important, it can be a plus. There are lots of recreational opportunities nearby if you're into outdoor activities. For cultural events, it is much more limited than places like L.A., but those things are only a couple hours away, which is generally okay if you only want them occasionally. I'd suggest that you check out some of the Bakersfield threads on this forum to get a better idea of what you're looking for, and to read people's opinions about it.

Cup of Tee? or,
Cup of Tea?

Maybe a typo?