Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-27-2016, 12:46 PM
 
8 posts, read 13,784 times
Reputation: 15

Advertisements

I'm sorry, but Bakersfield is a hideous place. The San Joaquin Valley is poisoned with ag chems, the air gets trapped in the valley, it is very very unhealthy. If you can manage to not go there to live, please don't.
On the other hand, Tehachapi though small, has a wonderful feel to it, I find it quite charismatic. I could have lived there happily. Between Tehachapi and into the valley? not so much. I tell ya the air is killer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-27-2016, 03:10 PM
 
Location: Northern California
16 posts, read 18,227 times
Reputation: 44
I have only driven through Bakersfield so I really don't have an opinion on the town. Politically it is considered the most conservative city in California. That can be good or bad depending on your perspective.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-27-2016, 03:23 PM
 
1,994 posts, read 4,842,027 times
Reputation: 2031
LOL...You need to travel to other parts of the world and other parts of the country to see what hideous is..Yeah Bakersfield does have some not so nice parts,but the entire city is not hideous..Their are many nice parts of Bakersfield,but everyone has their own opinion of course.

The San Joaquin Valley does have poor air quality at times,but the air quality has been improving as time goes by,but the air is breathable..Were not going around with oxygen masks if that comes to mind

The poor air quality is mostly an issue for those with a sensitive respiratory system..I know elderly people who lived in the valley their whole lives that have no respiratory problems,but everyone's bodies are different.

If you like Tehachapi then that's great,but being in a remote,isolated,very slow paced town is not my cup of coffee,and I don't really care for snow that much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchmts View Post
I'm sorry, but Bakersfield is a hideous place. The San Joaquin Valley is poisoned with ag chems, the air gets trapped in the valley, it is very very unhealthy. If you can manage to not go there to live, please don't.
On the other hand, Tehachapi though small, has a wonderful feel to it, I find it quite charismatic. I could have lived there happily. Between Tehachapi and into the valley? not so much. I tell ya the air is killer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 12:58 AM
 
Location: People's republic of California
245 posts, read 542,488 times
Reputation: 231
Bakersfield is not that bad. True, the air sucks but no place is truly perfect. The city is growing with the Hyatt Place coming into town, a new shopping center by Stockdale and another one on Brimhall. I believe if a city is growing than it cannot be that bad. Travel to Detroit or Flint, Mi one day and let me know what hideous is.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 12:59 PM
 
1,994 posts, read 4,842,027 times
Reputation: 2031
Bakersfield had a long history of being made fun of or hated on...When I was a kid and living in Long Beach,people really thought Bakersfield was just farms,honky tonks,okies,horses,and country boys.LOL

New construction of neighborhoods,stores,restaurants,etc are constantly going on throughout Bakersfield every year,so Bakersfield is becoming more like a Southern CA mid-sized city,and yup this city will continue to grow,especially because of it's affordability and proximity to L.A,and that's part of the reason why the Westside Parkway was built,because it's all part of a future beltway that will connect all the major freeways in and around Bakersfield to accomodate the growth,but to also make it more easier to get around as the city expands.

Most people probably don't know that during our recent recession,Bakersfield was one of a few resilient cities in CA that actually went through the recession with hardly any negative impacts.

Bakersfield has a lot of potential,but it will probably always be made fun of because of it's name,location and it's history.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce81 View Post
Bakersfield is not that bad. True, the air sucks but no place is truly perfect. The city is growing with the Hyatt Place coming into town, a new shopping center by Stockdale and another one on Brimhall. I believe if a city is growing than it cannot be that bad. Travel to Detroit or Flint, Mi one day and let me know what hideous is.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 01:02 PM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,301,329 times
Reputation: 29336
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caliguy2007 View Post
Bakersfield had a long history of being made fun of or hated on...When I was a kid and living in Long Beach,people really thought Bakersfield was just farms,honky tonks,okies,horses,and country boys.LOL

New construction of neighborhoods,stores,restaurants,etc are constantly going on throughout Bakersfield every year,so Bakersfield is becoming more like a Southern CA mid-sized city,and yup this city will continue to grow,especially because of it's affordability and proximity to L.A,and that's part of the reason why the Westside Parkway was built,because it's all part of a future beltway that will connect all the major freeways in and around Bakersfield to accomodate the growth,but to also make it more easier to get around as the city expands.

Most people probably don't know that during our recent recession,Bakersfield was one of a few resilient cities in CA that actually went through the recession with hardly any negative impacts.

Bakersfield has a lot of potential,but it will probably always be made fun of because of it's name,location and it's history.
And as its population increases its affordability will decrease. Welcome to Northern Los Angeles of the future.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-28-2016, 02:42 PM
 
1,994 posts, read 4,842,027 times
Reputation: 2031
It will always be more affordable here than L.A,The Bay Area or The Coast.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post
And as its population increases its affordability will decrease. Welcome to Northern Los Angeles of the future.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-30-2016, 01:02 PM
 
Location: Northern Colorado
4,932 posts, read 12,703,933 times
Reputation: 1363
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstnghu2 View Post
People who call Bakersfield the armpit of CA don't get out much. There are MUCH worse places you could choose to live in CA. Places like Barstow or Stockton come to mind immediately. I'd take Bakersfield any day of the week over them.

OP, keep in mind that many people on this forum call any city or town in the Central Valley "the armpit of CA". As far as your friends saying "it's not like the rest of CA", it's kind of like comparing your arm to your nose and saying "it's not like the rest of your body". CA is a huge state with lots of diversity. There are many parts of the state that are nothing like other parts of the state.

I'd be most concerned about air quality if I lived in Bakersfield, not crime.
At least Stockton and Barstow have nice places to live nearby. Even in Fresno you have Clovis and that area is getting nicer. Bakersfield is the worse in all of the Valley. Madera, Hanford, and Visalia are pretty low too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-30-2016, 10:00 PM
 
Location: People's republic of California
245 posts, read 542,488 times
Reputation: 231
You have no clue what you are talking about. Comparing Barstow to Bakersfield?? A city of 30,000 vs 375 000 and then saying Visalia is behind Fresno? I can tell you have not visited the valley much. Fresno is not up and coming, Clovis is nice, Visalia is probably the nicest of all the valley cities with Bakersfield growing the fastest. Stockton??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-31-2016, 01:56 AM
 
478 posts, read 677,135 times
Reputation: 546
Imo you can't say Clovis Without Fresno and vice versa. You wouldn't even know you are in Clovis or Fresno. All of Fresno north of shaw is just as nice as Clovis and parts of Fresno by Clovis is also nice. Like I said hard to consider one without the other when you talk about Fresno or Clovis. Fresno/Clovis is def up and coming with the high speed rail. It will be the best city in the CENTRAL valley if it isn't already. Also a lot of the big projects currently going on in downtown will just continue to provide more positives. Even if the HSR rail is dropped from making it from SF to LA the line from SJ to Fresno will be done and that will be a huge boost.

Visalia imo isn't better compared to Fresno/Clovis. It's much smaller and even further to the Bay Area yet not that close to LA compared to Bakersfield. Fresno/Clovis is 2 hours from SJ. 3 hrs from SF. And is a combined 600K+ population with Fresno/Clovis together. They have all amenities.

Then I would say Bakersfield second. Again big population so amenities all there and day trips to LA is a breeze except going up the grapevine.

Stockton? Really? That is below everybody. The only good thing about Stockton is its the closet to the bay area so people still drive to and from work to the Bay Area.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top