Community Input

Results from Phase III Community Forums:

California State University Bakersfield - April 26, 2000

Our Slogan

  • Where the action is!
  • THE place to live!
  • Fun..Sun..Safe..Place

Our Image

  • A literate populace
  • High quality of life
  • Calm and lovely
  • Business and family friendly
  • Tolerant: appreciative of diversity and novel ideas
  • City life
  • Is terrible to the "outside" But what they don't know is how terrific it really is

Our Reputation

  • The reputation we deserve as an interesting, diversified community of intelligent, helpful people
  • Progressive and forward thinking
  • Healthy, safe, and interactive community
  • Concerned for all members, tolerant
  • Values Family
  • Values Higher Education
  • Quality
  • Service oriented
  • Safe
  • Clean
  • A community based with mental health

Business Environment

  • Robust/environmentally safe business
  • Family friendly jobs
  • Collaboratives between businesses and schools (Jr. High-high school)
  • Child care in work places
  • Adequate parking
  • Dynamic, hi-growth companies
  • Downtown - Central Business - Cultural
  • Surround services - one stop for working families

Arts & Culture

  • Visual arts education for all ages
  • The New Art Museum
  • A Natural History museum to reveal Kern Co's beautiful prehistoric past
  • A multitude of music education foundations for children
  • Operas, Musicals!
  • Everything imaginable
  • Impressionist exhibit
  • Many diverse offerings

Education

  • Health, science education center at CSUB
  • World class faculty also committed to students
  • Another college (UC with Ph.D. programs)
  • H.S. grads in top third statewide
  • Vocational school for the deaf
  • Quality schools
  • Crime free High schools
  • More teachers
  • Cross cultural education with lots and lots of multi-lingual educators
  • Great E.C. programs!
  • Technology in schools
  • Greater or closer relationship between the future economic development and the areas of emphasis in this University, e.g. School of Engineering

Heart of the City

  • Cultural acceptance and integration
  • Destinations downtown
  • Recreational destinations (bike/walking trails - family-focus)
  • Natural History Museum
  • Symphony/lecture hall
  • Educated youth
  • Care and concern for the elders of the community
  • Cultural garden pavilian
  • Green belts
  • Water way incorporating Central Park and Kern River
  • Interaction
  • Respect for all generations including the elderly
  • Friendliness - good interactions
  • Equal access to resources
  • Well-established restaurants

Our Values

  • Families, children, education
  • Respect for all cultures - and ages
  • Pro-marriage and education
  • Non-violent conflict resolution practices
  • Individualism
  • A really "connected" community each caring for the other
  • Healthy exercise options

Technology

  • Free internet access
  • More public access to computers
  • More start up companies
  • E-commerce
  • Technology savvy (familiarity with trends)

Transportation

  • Good air travel to many destinations
  • Jet planes
  • Very prominent high-speed rail
  • Crosstown East-West Parkway
  • Loop around city
  • Park & ride lots with express buses
  • Buses run 24 hours
  • Monorail- people movers- efficient parking
  • More bike lanes - dedicated and protected
  • Fast train to LA, SLO, SAC, S.F.
  • Walking paths - safe!
  • Park and ride with express buses

Biggest Changes

  • Clean air and water
  • No graffiti
  • Big city amenities withsmall town flavor
  • Recycling system in place for everyone - glass/paper etc.
  • No areas of blight
  • All of community - good housing - education
  • City and county cooperate
  • Got rid of KCCD bureaucracy - made BC independent
  • Big industry (oil and ag) plus Govt (Fed & State) giving back to our area in proportion to the resources and taxes taken from here
  • Majority of population speaks a minimum of 2 languages
  • Air quality meets all standards including the maximum
  • Leader in sustainable tech and Ag & industry

Break Thrus

  • Bank ofr volunteer hours
  • Coordinated animal care shelter
  • More and bigger parks
  • 24 hour childcare centers, accessible, quality, local centers
  • Advertise opportunities for volunteer work needed
  • Sound abatement - activity buffers
  • Tolerance of all (race, ethnicity, sex orientation)

Looking back I'm most proud of…

  • Increase in higher education
  • Continued community involvement with Vision 2020
  • Majority of our high school graduates are going on to college, with local scholarship support!

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

  • Increase in overall salary and economy
  • Reasonable health care costs
  • Increase in theatres, restaurants
  • New Art Museum
  • Well-educated, productive workforce
  • Lower taxes
  • Higher taxes
  • Solar power plants - let's develop a solar power industry-encourage wind power industry
  • Broad based concerned and centered in agriculture
  • Clean industry - trend setting-sustainable
  • More high tech attracted by low cost of living and dramatically improved air quality
  • Value and pay for child development - pre-birth to adult

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

  • More jobs
  • More jobs for deaf
  • Tourism
  • Inter-regionall and internationally connected
  • High tech
  • Intergenerational day care
  • Venture capital
  • New economy jobs
  • $$ into K-12 education to bolster viability of workforce
  • Economic development of the Kern River for recreation

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

  • Professional health care people
  • Artists
  • Engineers
  • Cutting edge, high dollar
  • Preserve farmland- ag
  • Intellectual property - technology
  • No dairies
  • Attract bigger corporations
  • Deaf teachers
  • Bilingual educators
  • Properly trained and paid caregivers for elderly and handicapped, young children - good pay and benefits
  • Software (More like Edgemail, Mustang, etc.)
  • Post-industrial (Tech)

Our Vision for Downtown

  • Put water in river!!
  • Green belts through city
  • Park along river
  • A little green place to sit S of California E of Chester and W of Chester and along Kern River
  • Bike lane to connect to the West downtown to the bike path
  • Gid rid of Garces circle
  • Babyboomer center @ Union and 178
  • Central downtown: retail, bookstores, movie, caffee bar plus jobs and living spaces
  • Entertainment and retail and recreation complex between Truxtun and California
  • Parks with planned recreation W of Lakeview
  • Bike lanes on California Ave.
  • Attractive "Riverwalk" through Central Park
  • Canals : Columbus S to Beale, W thru Central Park, back N (W of Chester). Another canal through the center of that square
  • Trees on Brundage, California, 24th St., 34th St. Columbus
  • Tree-lined Parkway with rapid transit along Union Avenue
  • High speed rail depot in E. Bakersfield
  • New dance/hall facilities on East side
  • Lots of restaurants downtown
  • Ballpark S of Truxtun
  • Recreational center for Greater Bakersfield children S of California, W of Chester
  • Art Gallery on Union and California
  • Lakeview area totally rejuvenated houses with a branch of the University E of Lakeview
  • Improve interchange at Brundage and 58
  • High medical specialist near 343th St.
  • Major medical center E of Beale

In our Community's Future We Wanted and We Got…

  • Thriving after-school programs and high achieving youth
  • A university with high academic standards
  • More recycling systems
  • Parenting classes
  • More visual arts
  • Water in river and canals before taking it out for Ag all year
  • Dance club for under 18s
  • Promote ethnic/cultural diversity
  • Better funded schools
  • More safe activities for youth (H.S.)
  • Trees - big ones!
  • Agriculture and dairies protected
  • Support for family caregivers fo the elderly
  • More and better movies - w/captions
  • A better sports complex (nationally recognized)
  • Mass transportation
  • Clean air and water
  • Charter schools
  • Bike paths
  • More attractive architecture
  • Planned development
  • Water slide park!
  • Theme parks with race cars, mini golf, etc.
  • Expanded water bank
  • Stimulating small child care that facilitates intellectual physical and emotional development
  • Lots of small green places to sit and read
  • Symphony Hall
  • Support and building for our Natural History Museum
  • Whitewater Slalom Kayak Park on the Kern River by Hart Park
  • Business and service activities for the Jr. High and High Schools. Get them into the business world early
  • Waterway in downtown as in Dallas
  • A better mall, better cable
  • Bullet train/more bus service
  • Clean up backyard
  • Green belts
  • More cultural activities and events
  • Education for all
  • Affordable mental health
  • Adequate children's mental health services

In our Community' Future We Didn't Want and We Didn't Get…

  • Unplanned development
  • Gridlock
  • Elders to be hidden in nursing homes or isolated in their old houses
  • Dairies
  • "Oildale" image
  • Urban sprawl
  • "Garbage" dumping in Metro Bakersfield
  • Digital divide
  • Ugly freeways
  • Local government and businesses which will prevent much of these dreams
  • People who don't have health care options
  • Drugs
  • Rosedale Hwy (a major entrance and 1st exposure to Bakersfield) needs a face lift. The businesses should be fined for non-compliance to aesthetic standards.
  • Development without water resource and air quality considerations
  • Air pollution - water pollution
  • Water Park in the middle of a residential community
  • Unplanned growth
  • Change in samll town atmosphere
  • Overcrowded/overdeveloped residential and business areas
  • Freeways without landscaping

Metropolitan Bakersfield - 2010 General Planning Area

  • Ecological/recreation zone around entire river course
  • Whate water Slalom Kayak Park
  • River Run for Kayakers
  • Bike path from China Grade Loop to residential
  • High speed rail serving entire community
  • Put industry that might contaminate groundwater on West side where water qualty is poor
  • Keep River way - water year round
  • No freeway over water banks area
  • Clean up Rosedale
  • No WaterPark on river
  • Downtown: Nordstroms, Cheesecake Factory
  • Southern freeway to bypass city
  • We need to route traffic on a circular route around Greater Bakersfield using 7th Standard Road on the North and Panama Road on the South. Roads coming into the city would be like the spokes of a wheel for local trafic
  • A 7th Standard Road route connecting Hwy 99 and I-5 would be an expensive way to solve the cross-town traffic problem
  • Keep hospitals dispursed for emergency access
  • Vocational schools for the deaf (old Stier's lot)
  • Signal at White Lane and Hwy 99
  • A big park on undeveloped portion of River
  • Increase green belt along the river all the way out to I-5 on River
  • Freeway N of river to connect with I-5
  • Freeway beltway looping the city
  • Airport - no stacking
  • Stop light - 4way on Old River and 7th Standard
  • Connect Akers between Harris and Planz

Common Themes

  • Recreation
  • Tolerance
  • Green space
  • Education
  • Clean industry
  • Transportation
  • Cultural amenities
  • Fun safe affordable activities
  • Beautification of Bakersfield
  • Sense of community
  • Need for "cross-town' freeways
  • Technology in business & schools - Bakersfield = "Silicon Valley"