Results from Phase III Community Forums:
Centennial High School - March 9, 2000
Our Slogan:
· The best of California!
· Big on Hospitality
· A great place to visit-a better place to live
· A city you would be proud to live in
· And proud to give back too!
Our Image:
· People want to come here
· People = Asset
· I'm from Bako and proud of it
· Clean
· Contemporary
· Pedestrian friendly
· A town of willing inclusives
· Everyone is so caring and compassionate
· City of flowers & trees
· More pleasing transitions between housing/industrial/business/etc
· Where are you going to retire? Right here, of course.
· Clean, family friendly city
· Positive
· Destination spot (as we once were)
· Open-ness
· Inclusive
· Cultural high spot
Our reputation:
· A great place to raise kids
· State-of-the-art health care
· Quality living that is affordable
· The best of California!
· A great place to visit…a better place to live
· A friendly place
· No child abuse
· Being sought after
· Still affordable living
· Community wide diversified jobs
· Dynamic, progressive
· Bakersfield setting the standard!
· Oli, Agriculture & High Tech capital of California
Civic Culture:
· Leaders of our state, nation and the world
Business environment:
· Broad business base
· Lots of knowledge worker opportunities
· Affordable "Silicon Valley" environment
· Business employment cycles that keep seasonal workers employed
· Business supports city
· Nordstroms
· Many types of high-paying jobs
· Business friendly but responsible
· Healthy business climate - retention of current business - incubation of new businesses
· Attract large, reputable business that support our community's goals
· A great deal of interaction with our schools
Arts & Culture:
· Performing Arts Center
· Youth Arts Festival
· Numerous art galleries
· Continue outdoor murals with goal to have largest outdoor art gallery, depict Bakersfield history, founders, assets
· Business supported
· Big name concerts
· Broadway production quality plays
Heart of the City:
· Welcoming and walkable
· Outdoor shopping mall
· Downtown College Campus - CSUB
· Better use of water resources
· Much better and safer malls
· Skateboard friendly
· Business & cultural center
· Great restaurants
· Pedestrian friendly
· Places to have outdoor concerts and gathering spots
· Gas lamps/good lighting
· Trees-trees-trees
· Government center
· Revitalized buys downtown (as it was many years ago)
· With protection of Downtwon neighborhood areas
· Keep it clean!
· Great traffic flow
· Let downtown grow larger
· Infill!: build on empty lots downtown
· Excellent food; entertainment; inviting
· Good neighbors
· Broad based community/humanitarian service
· Respect and admiration for our history
Our Values:
· Respect
· Integrity
· Collaboration
· Family & church
· Where God/family and others come before self
· Family unity
· Tolerance
· Morals
· Love & protect our children
· Respect for others
· Patriotism
Technology:
· Every child with educational software at home
· Mecca for high tech companies
· Affordable place to do high tech business
· Tie to higher education opportunities
· Everyone has access to latest mediums of communication
Transportation:
· Shuttle services between residential/retail/downtown/transportation terminals (air/train)
· Mass transit system connecting centers of population, business, entertainment
· Historic transit vehicles that goes between downtown venues
· Water transit
· High speed rail (N, S, E, W)
· Mass transit - easy to get anywhere
· Satellite airport to handle U.S. transportation
· Use our flights so they won't leave us
· Ease of getting from place to place within city
· Parkway joining whole city
Biggest changes:
· Downtown housing
· Developed signature attractions
· Attractive "entrances" to the city
· Cleaner air
· Low drop out rate
· Connecting freeways
· More libraries
· No substandard housing
· Thousands of mature trees
· Highways all connect
· High speed rail system
· Bring back the water thru our town
· Stoop selling our water to L.A.
· Positive image
· Hispanic community active; included; involved; participating in the development of the city!!
Break Thrus
· No children with lead poison
· No surplus dogs & cats that need to be "put to sleep"
· 90% recycling
· Low unemployment
· "West" and "East" (of Hwy 99) meet and work together
· Decline in unemployment, fewer people with drug problems,
· Excellent qualtiy education for all students
· Trees everywhere
· Emphasize and enforce traffic safety
· Computer/high tech innovation developed here
Looking back I'm most proud of…
· Successful Vision 2020 process!
· Didn't become Fresno
· Community investment in children
What's Our Vision for Our Economy over the next 10-20 years?:
· Stable growth - not tied to just one or two industries
· More technical jobs and places where people can increase their technical skills
· ..and education for filling them
· Diversified, limited polluting industry
· Tourism, shipping, tech.
· Continual employment opportunities for seasonal workers
· Value added agriculture
· Water banking for community profit and habitat/open space
· Opportunity for anyone who wants to work
· Educational opportunities to create high paying jobs
· Stability
· Thriving agriculture
· Greater demand for domestic oil (ours)
· Lowest property tax in California
· More millionaires per capita than any other community
· Diversity
· Not only in volume but and concentration. Greater affluence will raise all boats
What kind of Economic Development Initiatives do we want to create?
· Credits designed to attract entertainment-leisure-Tech industries - communications
· Dedicate tax collection to industry/agency doing solicitation/market.
· Job/work force with skills that match business needs
· Incentives for using clean technology, recycling, telecommuting/transportation
· Remember small businesses can be remarkabley successful
· A cooperative effort among agencies
· Low or no taxes; Fewer or more streamlined regulations
· Tourism
· Support for home businesses
· Business retention policies
· Balance
· More women in leaderhship positions
What kind of Jobs do we want to attract here over the next 10-20 years?
· Non-polluting
· Limited use of chemicals
· More higher paying jobs - possibly more manufacturing
· High Tech
· Warehousing
· Service industry
· Hospitality industry
· Entertainment/arts
· Jobs with growth opportunities
· Jobs that pay adequately even at bottom levels
· Jobs-that are focused on brain power (less manual)
· So much demand that there is a shortage of knowledge workers
· E-commerce
· Companies that have many types and levels of jobs
· Auto assembly plant
· Production of goods - made in Bakersfield!
· Value added Ag, year 'round employment
· Light manufacturing
Our Vision for Downtown:
· River -flowing
· Trees! Trees! Trees! along Hwy 99
· Nice Welcome signs on Hwy 99
· Sculptures
· Murals
· Fountains
· Statues
· Parkway along river all through town
· Expanded Museum with family recreation, water park, cultural center
· Schools parks housing around 34th
· Old Town Kern: trees, businesses, retail
· River canal project around convention center
· Nordstroms
· Tunnel into center
· Latin Quarter
· Residence downtown
· More trees
· Businesses, Education Center, Art Center along canal Lake
· Exhibition Hall & Baseball stadium @ California & Union
· Lakeview: Trees; safe housing; Playgrounds; Parks, Retail - just like downtown
· A freeway with a new, landscaped look to reflect our great town
· Welcome to Bakersfield sign on 99
· 7th Standard/Golden State turns into a new loop around the city
· Run down hotel on Golden State now a major business center
· Arts District
· Lots of flowers and green ways
· No traffic or stoplight waiting on 24th. Not a defacto freeway
· Freeway doesn't end
· Housing downtown
· Tree lined side streets
· Senior housing
· Water along Truxtun
· Child care center and retail South of California
· Entertainment theme downtown from beginning California & throughout
· Lakeview: Industrial park
· No drug trafficking
· Mini-downtown
· Senior housing
· 34th Street: Pedestrian-oriented commercial center; Mass transit concentrated parking
· Canal looks like San Antonio
· Lake Boats
· River Walk
· Theatre District
· Thriving businesses
· Lots of people walking(all hours of day and night)
· Fun nightlife for residents and visitors
· Historic District a la Old Sacramento
· No panhandlers
· Big cool water park - East side
· Stadium South of Truxtun
What we Wanted and we got:
· Excellent medical care available
· International airport
· Neighborhoods (planned)
· Water park
· Trees - serenity
· Well maintained community parks
· Stadium, baseball
· A river that flows
· Good water quality
· More churches, temples, mosques, etc.
· Mountain views 365 days a year!
· Hillls & less productive (Ag) land used for community development
· Positive image
· Better transportation (infrastructure)
· Coordinated economic development
· Highest achieving students in the world
· Higher quality teachers with better pay!
· More cultural amenities, museums
· Better planning - land & water
· No children living in substandard homes
· Baseball stadium
· Lots of shade trees - good pruning
· Excellent, affordable child care for every need
· Concentric urban development with lots of parks & trees to shade us in the summer
· Available health care to ALL - not just emergency services
· Water theme park
· Ice rink
· Respect for each other
· Open spaces
· Identifiable, diverse neighborhoods
· More sports contest and leagues
· Lots of agriculture on this fertile land
· Attractive entrances to the city
· Higher education centers-CSU-UC, etc. that attract research-related companies, Tech-related
· More go-kart tracks
· High speed rail
· Business relating well to education
· CSUB relating well to buusiness
· A first class zoo!
· Open citizen participation in gov't/issues that affect citizens
· Community gardens
· Higher grade average to play sport (in high school)
· More adult volunteers for youth activities. Seniors/youth partners
· More games
· Clean air!
· Cooler cars!
· River walk running through the city with water
· Capitalize on the Kern River & "green up" the town
· Brighter paint & murals on buildings
· Clean streets, benches
· Much cleaners schools, and smaller classes
· Educational opportunities for working adults (e.g. evenings-weekend)
· Clean air- see the mountains every day!
· Indoor surfing park
· Safe highways East/West
· Senior centers/activities/housing
· Open space/natural areas nearby
· Better signage on streets
· Larger numbers to view from cars
What we didn't want, and we didn't get:
· Gangs
· Grafitti
· No longer "meth" capital
· School dropouts
· Air polluting businesses
· Ag burn - dust
· "Hich image"
· Child abuse
· More "adult" businesses
· Poorly maintaining Hwy 99
· Abandoned buildings
· Sprawl
· Pot holes
· Red light runners - macho driers
· Dry river bed
· Good ag land paved over
· Weakened moral values
· Intolerance
· Traffic/gridlock
· Gang violence
· No more leaf-blowers
· No moe leap frog development
· No L.A. gridlock
· No more cities buying land and using our city or county as their dump
· Kids who can't read
· Sprawl
· Contaminated water
· Major roads that are ugly
· Neighbors who don't have hope
· Unskilled substitute teachers
· High gas prices
· No more kids jumping in the river & dieing
· No more beggers & homeless people
· Automatic graduations for failing students
· A lot of dirt & dust
Common Themes:
· Trees
· Beautification
· River development
· Technology
· Historical value
· Transportation
· Arts & Culture
· Education
· Image
· Social environment
· Diversified
· Senior housing
· Traffic safety and efficiency
· Pedestrian friendly
· Investment in children and youth
· Family values
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