fieldwork engineer and occupational therapist moving to Bakersfield vs tehachapi?? (apartment, rental)

[flgatorpair]

Hi everyone,

Id like to first say that I love these forums, we have been reading them for a few days now and appreciate all the informative posts and responses.

My boyfriend has accepted a job offer out in Bakersfield, Ca. He will be starting this job (in the oil/energy industry) starting in October, and I will be joining him in a few months after I finish my masters degree in occupational therapy. We are young (both 23) college grads that grew up in south Florida (so we are somewhat accustomed to heat) and hope to make bakersfield/tehachapi our home for the next 1-3 years. With your help and advice we'd like to:

1. pick a place to live (bakersfield or tehachapi OR another suggestion?)
-we understand that the air quality is poor in bakersfield and would like to avoid that by living in the tinyer mountain town of tehachapi perhaps.
-we have also read a lot of threads which are negative about bakersfield (I think that a good sense of humor will help our stay. Ouch that it got called the armpit of CA!) and are looking for a second opinion.

2.find a good area within that city and rent a HOUSE (after 5 years of apartment style living at school)
-we have read that the nw and sw areas of bakersfield are the safest/nicest. Are there any specific condos or neighborhood names? what about in tehachapi?
-we would like to rent a small 2 bedroom house or townhouse in a safe area. $1000-1500 is our price range

3.determine which hospital or outpatient clinic has the best reputation and stafffing.
-I am hoping that there is a teaching hospital in the area but I understand that there is only one college near.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[Roaddog]

I would say it depends if you want to drive from tehachapi to bakersfield each day to work, it snows up there in the winter and it may not be the best drive, Tehachapi is nice and I do know a few people who do it.
Good luck with the move, a lot of negitive things said about Bakersfield but I've lived here a long time and have no regretes

[flgatorpair]

how are the roads near tech? My working hours are expected to be long and I am worried about being very tired when I drive home from work. Icy, curvy, narrow roads are not going to be my best friend.

[StuckinBako]

The roads to tahach are going to get you killed in the winter if you drive from Bako.
You cannot drive between 5pm-830am because of fog and black ice. And it's thickass fog, not romantic San Franisco fog, but creepy scary crash into semi head on before you know what hit you fog. So, definitely live in Bako. You can find a house easy in your price range in the NW & SW area. Both are good areas, just don't live on the east side >.> you'll get shot. This is known because Kern Med Ctr is a teaching hospital where alot of the clientele come in from the east side. Just google "Property Management Bakersfield" for rental listings.
The air only sucks in the summer, so it should be nice by the time you get here.
Also, if you're boyfriend is working in the oilfields, the majority of the oilfields are an hour west of bakersfield. And, it's 45 min to get to Bakersfield from Tehachapi.
Check out www.co.kern.ca.us you can find available employment for Kern Medical there.
Good Luck in the armpit of CA... sorry but I call it that all the time too.

[njames]

Deffinitly live in Bakersfield, not Tehachapi. While there are often complaints about Bakersfield...Tehachapi is worse. Bakersfield really isn't as bad as some of the stories make it out to be. The summers are killer, there's no way around it. A 95 degree day will feel good to you. Coming from Florida the heat shouldnt be too big of deal, especially since there is a lot less humidity here than in Florida. While the summers are bad, there are about 2-3 months of beautiful weather and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. The west side of town is newer and nicer overall than the east side. There are still some nice areas in the east side though.

[caldje]

Originally Posted by StuckinBako

The roads to tahach are going to get you killed in the winter if you drive from Bako.
You cannot drive between 5pm-830am because of fog and black ice. And it's thickass fog, not romantic San Franisco fog, but creepy scary crash into semi head on before you know what hit you fog.

This is complete and utter nonsense. Yes, there is fog. Yes, sometimes it snows and 58 gets closed but it is a brand new road (was just repaved). A small ammount of caution and I GUARANTEE you wil survive. Don't let the drive scare you away from Tehachapi. I have a rear wheel drive sports car and have had no problems driving up and down the mountain so long as I am careful. Coming back up the mountain is quite annoying though. All of the trucks slow down and force you to slow down. The drive from teh to bakersfield is 30 minutes. the drive back is 45.