Kern County Superintendent of School Staff (11/16/99)
| What do you like about Greater Bakersfield? What are our Strengths? | |
| Affordable housing | 49 |
| Location/centrally located/access to mountains & sea | 45 |
| Family oriented | 34 |
| Committed people/community minded | 33 |
| Law enforcement/Fire Dept., ie: Public Safety | 28 |
| Revitalized downtown/commitment to downtown | 28 |
| Small town feel/atmosphere | 26 |
| Improving education/educational opportunities K-16 | 22 |
| Cost of living | 18 |
| Friendly people/People | 18 |
| Arts strong/museum/symphony | 17 |
| Strong churches/faith community | 15 |
| Schools | 15 |
| Kern Network for Children/Collaboration | 14 |
| Diverse Cultures/growing acceptance | 13 |
| Good medical facilities/services | 12 |
| Access to Transportation Corridors | 11 |
| Signature entertainment (Centennial Gardens) | 9 |
| Concern for less fortunate/generosity | 8 |
| Non-congested traffic | 7 |
| The Marketplace - shopping | 6 |
| Kern River Parkway | 6 |
| Bike path | 5 |
| Landscaping | 5 |
| Services for senior citizens | 5 |
| Public Parks | 5 |
| Strong Ag Community | 5 |
| Colleges | 5 |
| Interagency cooperation | 5 |
| Community activities | 5 |
| Strong recreation programs | 4 |
| Easy to live here | 4 |
| Child care centers | 4 |
| School to career/academies = innovation | 4 |
| Steady consistent growth | 4 |
| Natural recreational activities | 4 |
| Property values | 4 |
| American Airlines - jet access to larger cities | 4 |
| Plenty of recreation for youth | 4 |
| Educ. Is small or big, when necessary | 4 |
| Variety of shopping venues | 4 |
| sports (soccer complex. Centennial Gardens, etc) | 4 |
| Potential economic growth | 4 |
| Good jobs @ KCSOS office | 4 |
| Resort weather/good weather | 3 |
| Short commute | 3 |
| Good opportunities for children | 3 |
| Convenience of supermarkets | 3 |
| Health/welfare services | 3 |
| Variety of tourist attractions (rafting, wildflowers) | 3 |
| Ample parking | 3 |
| Safe downtown | 2 |
| After school programs | 2 |
| Pleasurable driving | 2 |
| Basque Food | 2 |
| Nationally ranked sports teams | 2 |
| Adequate roads | 2 |
| Good amt. Of organized activities for all ages | 2 |
| CALM/museums | 2 |
| Good retirement community | 2 |
| Opportunities | 2 |
| Sense of community | 1 |
| Trees on Chester | 1 |
| Teen meeting places | 1 |
| Costco | 1 |
| Kern Regional Center | 1 |
| Technical services/internet | 1 |
| Film industry | 1 |
| Restaurant variety | 1 |
| Kern Canyon/River | 1 |
| Cooperation among public agencies | 1 |
| 24 hour grocery stores | 1 |
| Oil industry strong | 1 |
| Tree Foundation | 1 |
| Convention Center | 0 |
| Businesses related to technology | 0 |
| Street fairs | 0 |
| Crystal Palace | 0 |
| Accessible political leaders | 0 |
| View where air is clear | 0 |
| Parent participation @ Stockdale | 0 |
| What are Bakersfield's key weaknesses? What don't you like? | |
| Air Quality | 56 |
| Airline service | 34 |
| Large homeless community/poverty/unemployment | 28 |
| Poor mass transit/public transportation | 20 |
| Gang activity | 16 |
| Urban sprawl/land use policies/uncontrolled development | 15 |
| Loss of prime Ag land | 14 |
| Drug activity | 13 |
| Freeway access system | 13 |
| Limited recycling | 12 |
| Road maintenance | 11 |
| Arterial congestion | 11 |
| Lack of city/county cooperation-animosity | 10 |
| Dropout rate | 9 |
| Teen pregnancy | 9 |
| Overbuilding/deflation of property values | 9 |
| Lack of vertically integrated housing | 8 |
| Too short of school year | 8 |
| Child abuse | 8 |
| Lack of affordable child care | 8 |
| Limited recreation for school age children | 7 |
| Economically segregated | 7 |
| neighborhood deterioration (SE and E.Bakersfield) | 7 |
| No supermarket in S.E. Bakersfield | 7 |
| Lack of after-school programs | 7 |
| Lack greenbelts and maintenance of greenbelt | 7 |
| No UC campus | 6 |
| Overcrowded schools | 6 |
| Lack of architectural conformity and standards | 6 |
| Undesirable businesses ( prisons, dairiers, waste dump) | 6 |
| Not enough business diversity | 6 |
| Narrow mindedness | 6 |
| Send kids home too early from school | 6 |
| Pesticide contamination | 5 |
| Not enough infant programs for low income | 5 |
| Ag policies (burning/pesticides) | 5 |
| More trees/wish it were "prettier" | 5 |
| Inequity in public services/maintenance | 5 |
| No shared vision/goals | 5 |
| Too much truck traffic on local streets | 5 |
| Vacant office space/transient businesses | 5 |
| Lack of growth restrictions | 5 |
| Lack of environmental controls | 5 |
| Need more mentoring programs | 4 |
| Not enough coordination between feeder & high schools | 4 |
| Lack of "upscale"/higher quality shopping | 4 |
| Declining oil industry | 4 |
| Litter/lack of cleanliness | 4 |
| Not enough $ spent on prevention services (youth & seniors) | 4 |
| Lack of qualified teachers | 4 |
| Underrepresentation of ethnic diversity of local officials | 4 |
| Not enough for teens to do | 4 |
| Safety in neighborhoods | 4 |
| Lack of higher education opportunities | 4 |
| Limited medical services | 3 |
| Lack of traffic control | 3 |
| Low community self esteem | 3 |
| Rosedale Hwy | 3 |
| Wheel hub bus system | 3 |
| Deteriorating school facilities | 3 |
| Inconsistent zoning laws | 3 |
| Graffiti | 3 |
| Valley Fever | 3 |
| Crosstown traffic patterns | 3 |
| Lack of collaboration between school districts | 2 |
| Higher quality, variety restaurants | 2 |
| Conditions of children due to lack of parenting | 2 |
| Lack of services for seniors | 2 |
| Political corruption | 2 |
| Ignoring Northeast | 2 |
| Yucky property downtown | 2 |
| Low test scores | 2 |
| Need to be pedestrian friendly | 2 |
| Lack of higher Ed. Courses @ CSUB & BC | 2 |
| Uneven athletics | 2 |
| Stereo type "Country Western" town | 1 |
| Transportation from outlying areas to Bakersfield | 1 |
| Need more conventions | 1 |
| No performing arts center | 1 |
| need more recognition of local heroes | 1 |
| Better street lighting | 1 |
| Lack of art displays | 1 |
| Public safety in mall | 1 |
| Illegal drug manufacturing | 1 |
| Less self interest | 1 |
| Ignoring Southeast | 1 |
| Preparing for school growth | 1 |
| Too few high paying jobs | 0 |
| Parks (poor utilization) | 0 |
| Prostitution | 0 |
| Marketing of river safety | 0 |
| Lack of jail facility | 0 |
