Community Input

Results from Phase III Community Forums:

Bakersfield College - March 24, 2000

Our Slogan

  • The city with the Heart of a small town
  • The Nashville of the West
  • Leave your heart here! And your worries behind!
  • Great place! Great people!

Our Image

  • Trees!!!!
  • No crime
  • Clean city
  • Diversified and ecologically sensitive
  • Friendly!
  • Culturally rich!
  • Travel Destination
  • Safe

Our Reputation

  • Friendliest
  • Great economic & employment potential
  • Forward-thinking
  • Trendsetter
  • Green!!
  • Access to visual and performing arts
  • Great place to raise a family

Civic Culture

  • Complete cooperation between city/county government
  • Smart growth
  • Responsive leaders-Respect eht IQ of those you represent
  • Let the people choose!

Business Environment

  • International trade center
  • Welcoming to new businesses - Fewer loopholes & Barriers - streamlined process - partners with government
  • Businesses committed to social support, service & improvement

Arts & Culture

  • Outdoor cafes
  • Arts education
  • Neighborhood art centers for after school art, music, theatre, video
  • Great arts programs in every school
  • Broad diverse entertainment
  • World class symphony
  • Full time paid symphony, opera.
  • A cultural arts center downtown
  • Open air street center (like Santa Monica)
  • Wonderful places to dance/romance (diverse musical themes)
  • LARGE scale public sculptures everywhere

Heart of the City

  • Equality
  • Unity
  • Friendship
  • Pride in our community
  • Unitified Bakersfield
  • Richness across cultures

Technology

  • Every student has access to www and computers
  • Internet communication at all public venues
  • Community Tech access bars - ALL over town

Transportation

  • I love our light rail system
  • Great gas prices
  • East-West Freeways
  • Fast rail system - SF-LA
  • Reliable light rail system
  • More folks live near their work

Biggest Changes

  • More housing downtown
  • Rapid Transit System
  • City/county cooperation (no more fussing and blame-gaming)
  • Affordable day care for lower income families
  • Appreciation for the arts

Break Thrus

  • Better pay and more job opportunities
  • Affordable living
  • Seamless education system
  • Redevelopment rather than new development
  • Annual gay and lesbian pride festival
  • Decreased calss size
  • Business & Education partnerships

Looking Back, I'm most proud of…

  • The 2020 Vision work!
  • How we cleaned up the air
  • Our new understanding of the central role of the arts in community culture
  • Being heard by community leaders

What's Our Vision for our economy over the next 10-20 years?

  • Higher wages
  • Social security benefits still exist in 2020
  • Complete Medicare coverage for all elderly
  • Equal opportunity
  • Seniors integrated into workplace
  • Business opportunity for all
  • Tele-commuting
  • Internet hub
  • More of our share of state and federal taxes
  • Early job training

What kind of Economic Development Initiatives do we want to create?

  • County-wide cooperation
  • Partnerships in education

What kind of Jobs do we want to attract here over the next 10-20 years?

  • High tech
  • Music industry
  • Vocational
  • Amusement Park/Theme Park
  • Man-made beach
  • Internet industry
  • Still have abundant agriculture (outlying)
  • Marketing, public relations
  • Radio Industry (Western music hub)

Our Vision for Downtown

  • Riverside restaurants
  • Little Italy and Old Town Greece along the river
  • Children's Art, Science and Tech Centers in every quadrant od downtown (Museum area; 34th & Columbus; Beale; South of California between Chester and Oak-between Chester and Union-between Union and Lakeview
  • Buck's Theme Park
  • Country Music Assoc. Center
  • Elevated freeway through downtown until it goes underground before Oak St. Park on top of underground portion
  • Art, entertainment activities mall for kids between Chester near Golden State
  • Street Art and Art Galleries parallel to Chester
  • Educational center (Weill?)
  • Nordstroms, Saks, Lord & Taylor - East side of Chester
  • River Walk thru Central Park to Truxtun
  • Large Scale sculptures on Riverwalk and along Truxtun
  • Still the best neighborhood and now also a beautiful neighborhood - East of California , West of Chester
  • Trees everywhere
  • More antique stores
  • Art Museum
  • Eateries and shops along Riverwalk past 34th
  • NFL Stadium and Baseball stadium between Beale and Union
  • Bakersland Theme Park - East
  • Man-made beach
  • Trade Center on Lakeview and Brundage
  • Light rail along California and Union

In our community's future we wanted and we got

  • Better P.R. in L.A. press on what we have to offer!
  • Inter-rail trans with Amtrac & local transportation. Mass upper rail transportaion
  • Sculpture everywhere
  • Educational equity across all school districts
  • More vocational training for our young people
  • Free after school activities
  • Metro rail (like Washington DC) and light rail
  • A performing arts center for theatre, symphony, opera, fine art center
  • Land to farm
  • Nordstrom, Saks, Lord & Taylor
  • Trees!
  • Activity Mall (kids) - old, used buildings - community centers
  • Bike lane on all roads
  • Riverside restaurants
  • Recreation for latch key children - parks in each neighborhood

What we didn't want and didn't get…

  • Continued emphasis on single-car travel
  • Drugs
  • Gangs
  • Low-paying jobs
  • Neighborhoods that are cluttered
  • No more stinky polluting busses!
  • Uncontrolled growth
  • Brown sky
  • High school dropout
  • Smell air from Bear Mtn Blvd.
  • No emply lots (old unused buildings)
  • High school graduates always wanting to leave Bakersfield
  • Racial barriers
  • Homeless

Common Themes

  • Light rail
  • Arts & cultural center
  • Shopping
  • Theme parks
  • Dining
  • Riverwalks
  • Community partnership
  • Trees
  • Friendly environment
  • Fun and educational environment
  • Technologically savvy
  • Clean
  • Beautiful
  • Responsive government
  • Inviting reputation/image