Bakersfield is good. But it has ways to go.
-
2/20/2023
I am a millennial, born and raised here. As someone who wrestled with staying for years, there are a lot of valid reasons to not come to Bakersfield. Air quality, summer heat, and lack of green space are my top three that I still think about moving often. The most frustrating part of Bakersfield is the slow moving forward. We could have an incredibly large art community, desert botanical gardens, outdoor concerts, etc. But who is going to spearhead revolutionary changes? We need outside investors to continue lifting this place off the map. Bakersfield has made huge strides in green energy and away from the big oil days of old. We have one of the largest Bike paths. In the cooler months, you can legitimately ride your bike from one side of town to the other. What if solar panels shaded them in the summer?
There is a ton I love about living here. A lot have described the "big small town" feel and I think that's a really cool part of the community. I love the diversity here. We have an amazing salsa dancing community, fencing community, ballroom dancing, even things like gaming, photography, and art can be found here. We are a huge Foodie town with some of the best food and passionate restaurant owners. You have to look and get involved in the Facebook groups. There is amazing local talent here. Bakersfield small businesses are strongly supported. We need an independent bookstore desperately.
The fabric store on Niles is in a terrible location, but has a better fabric selection than places in LA. The local record store has stocked some crazy amazing finds. And it used to be the best vintage clothing thrifting in CA until resellers took over.
As one of the largest places for ag land, the community is starving for bigger farmer's markets and entertainment outside the restaurant industry. We have a few bands and comedians come through here, but when they do they draw large crowds and unfortunately a bit of the riff raff comes out. Last year Taylor Tomlinson came to the Fox theater and she was heckled, probably won't be back. Things like this make me so frustrated because Bakersfield has an overwhelmingly negative reputation and stupid things like this set it back when there is a huge number of people trying to bring out the good here. This is in addition to the police reform that needs to happen, education needs serious support, and community literacy needs to increase significantly. The cost of living is still affordable, but it's getting difficult. Definitely takes two incomes to buy a house here and that is pretty recent. I can name three local businesses that opened during the pandemic.
Bakersfield could absolutely be on the map as being a true Nashville of the west if it leaves behind the romanticization of urban sprawl and McMansions, putting steel walls and barrels in every single restaurant. Would love to see the revitalization include outdoor space. Have the city hire Monji Landscaping and turn Hart Park into a destination concert oasis. Bakersfield has the land, the people have the ideas.
Mallory | Bakersfield, CA