Kettlemen City....where do all the workers come from? (Visalia: homes, to live in)

[RJay123]

Do you ever drive by Kettlemen City and wonder who would drive so far to work in the middle of nowhere? I cannot think of any city that would be close to this place....

[EscapeCalifornia]

Nope. Never thought about it. As long as the In N Out is air conditioned and the burgers are hot, I don't care.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by RJay123

Do you ever drive by Kettlemen City and wonder who would drive so far to work in the middle of nowhere?

Oil workers, and I'd guess most of them live in and around Kettleman.

[KC6ZLV]

It is 25 miles to Lemoore and 30 to Hanford.

[CAVA1990]

"Drive-thru Country", California's equivalent of "Fly-over Country".

[BayAreaHillbilly]

It's a doable commute from Visalia.

[DMenscha]

Also Avenal

[CA central coast]

There's housing there. Residential homes, there's at least one trailer park if memory serves correct. People do live there.

[FresnoFacts]

If you only drive I-5 and stop, you miss the actual town of Kettleman City about a mile or two north on Highway 41.

Like most interstates, I-5 was built to bypass the existing small towns.

Population numbers put Kettleman City at about 1,600 people. Really not much in the town itself other than housing and a few services like a fire station, post office, market, mechanic, etc. But it would show on aerial shots like Google Earth.

[bentstrider]

When I was driving the semi, I often wondered that too.
It seems many "service areas" along the 5 in CA had no visible habitations for the workers to live in.

But, when I was rolling through Oregon and Washington along the 5, the adjoining towns were clearly visible beyond the truckstops and the food-joints.