| What
do you like about Greater Bakersfield?
What are our strengths? |
|
|
|
| Family oriented-Good place to
raise family/emphasis on children |
32 |
| Affordable housing |
31 |
| Location: close to oceans, mountains, urban, easy access to world,
central |
29 |
| Friendly, kind, caring
people, community spirit, volunteerism |
26 |
| Downtown
redevelopment/streetscape, revitalization |
19 |
| Good education-broad spectrum
of training |
17 |
| Cultural diversity (including
religions) |
14 |
| Cultural activities –
theatre, performing arts |
11 |
| Growing entertainment-arts.
Theatre, sports |
11 |
| Educational opportunities:
CSUB and Bakersfield College |
10 |
| Lots of opportunity for
outdoor recreation |
10 |
| Weather-moderate
temperatures/8 mos. Ideal weather/summer nights/no snow |
8 |
| Relatively
light traffic, uncongested, short commutes/no real L.A. jams |
8 |
| Small city-small town
character/atmosphere with lg. Town amenities/people work together |
8 |
| Kern River runs through
Greater Bakersfield |
7 |
| Community minded
people-charitable giving (compassionate community) |
7 |
| Good road conditions/wide
streets w/ curbs, gutters, sidewalks |
7 |
| Good medical facilities |
7 |
| Strong economic base |
10 |
| K-12 education great |
6 |
| Neighborhood collaboratives |
6 |
| Responsive government |
6 |
| Nice neighborhood
parks/accessible and clean |
5 |
| Accessible public officials/govt
mentality easy to work with |
5 |
| Good variety of youth
activities |
5 |
| Good Churches & variety |
5 |
| Long-lasting, family owned
businesses/economic climate supports small business |
4 |
| Community support |
4 |
| Good local TV stations |
4 |
| Law enforcement agencies
strong and do an excellent job, safe streets, & Fire Depts. |
4 |
| Good emergency response |
4 |
| Tree Foundation |
4 |
| Business opportunities |
4 |
| Generous to worthy projects |
4 |
| People pull together |
4 |
| Growing community |
4 |
| Low cost of living |
3 |
| Kern River Parkway |
3 |
| Social services support |
3 |
| Conservative culture |
3 |
| Fox Theater |
3 |
| Open community-accepting of
"outsiders" |
3 |
| Concerts-places to hear music
et. |
3 |
| Landscaping in the SW |
3 |
| Libraries |
3 |
| Access to housing |
3 |
| Open space/Ag land |
2 |
| Centennial Gardens |
2 |
| Exercising |
2 |
| Good, affordable, variety of
restaurants |
2 |
| Corporate volunteerism and
donation |
2 |
| Downtown nightlife-able to
walk around instead of driving |
2 |
| Collaboration between govt.,
business & non-profits |
2 |
| Retirement opportunities |
2 |
| Bakersfield Heart Hospital |
2 |
| Choice of media |
2 |
| Cleanliness of city |
2 |
| Lots of service organization |
2 |
| Community outreach |
2 |
| Bakersfield Business
Conference |
1 |
| Good airport |
1 |
| Great newspaper |
1 |
| History, pioneer spirit |
1 |
| Crystal Palace &
“Bakersfield“sign/"Nashville West" |
1 |
| Dewars |
1 |
| Accessible recycling centers |
1 |
| Chamber of Commerce |
1 |
| Low crime |
1 |
| Free parking |
1 |
| Good variety music stations |
0 |
| Good transportation: trains,
planes, buses |
0 |
| Great affordable golf courses |
0 |
| Bakersfield's Fun |
0 |
| Thematic housing |
0 |
| Blend of housing (apartments
& homes) |
0 |
| Cheap gasoline |
0 |
| High speed limits |
0 |
|
|
| What are
Greater Bakersfield’s key weaknesses?
What don’t you like? |
|
| Poor air quality, air
pollution |
40 |
| No long range plan/lack of
adequate planning for growth/planning process |
26 |
| Urban sprawl/uncontrolled
development/residential encroachment on ag land; |
24 |
|
lack of in-fill/ hopscotch development/old, incomplete dev.
Surrounded by new |
|
| Poor
planning-Hwy 58/Freeways to nowhere; Poor downtown (East-West)
freeway |
20 |
| Antiquated airport (small)
& air service |
17 |
| Lack of economic
diversity/narrow economic base |
16 |
| Segregation East-West,
Brown-white |
11 |
| Not enough affordable child
care/especially off hours & emergency |
11 |
| Pockets of poverty |
9 |
| City-county cooperation/lack
of coordination in planning & permitting |
8 |
| Increasing gang activity |
8 |
| Lack of P.M. activities/lack
of activities for adolescents |
8 |
| Some congested roads; traffic
flow; lack of freeway |
8 |
| High unemployment rate |
8 |
| Lack of aesthetic
considerations in development:
trees, pruners butcher trees |
8 |
| Too many convenience stores |
8 |
| Number of blighted
neighborhoods (downtown & E.Brundage, Union Ave, Niles, Baker) |
7 |
| Crime rate & juvenile
crime |
7 |
| Low self esteem-we're our own
worst critic |
7 |
| Underperforming schools K-12;
educational achievement below state avg. |
7 |
| Children in
poverty-25%/children not ready to learn at school-arrive hungry |
7 |
| Not training workforce for
21st century employment |
7 |
| Poor image/Negative
perception by outsiders/reputation |
6 |
| Litter/filth |
6 |
| Farm land conversion/lack of
preservation of ag lands |
6 |
| Disposable attitude toward
consumer goods, also houses |
6 |
| Lack of trees |
5 |
| Infrastructure around city is
inconsistent- also doesn't keep up with development |
5 |
| Low expectations on
educational achievement |
5 |
| Underutilized river |
5 |
| Poor public transportation |
5 |
| Lack or recreation areas on
Eastside and/or access for disadvantaged |
4 |
| More musical venues-youth
entertainment |
4 |
| Drug traffic |
4 |
| Public facilities maintenance |
4 |
| Road maintenance |
4 |
| Need mandatory recycling |
4 |
| Southeast enhancement needed |
4 |
| Insular govt processes/lack
of open govt at all levels/unresponsive/govt agenda w/o public
input |
3 |
| High rate teen pregnancy |
3 |
| Water
contamination/environmental contamination |
3 |
| "Law and Order"
mentality-"Lock 'em up and throw away the key" |
3 |
| No PBS station |
3 |
| Too many streets that change
names |
3 |
| High illiteracy rate |
3 |
| Cheap architecture and
building materials |
3 |
| Downtown facilities |
3 |
| No recycling
program/containers |
3 |
| Poor enforcement of local
ordinances |
3 |
| High gas prices |
3 |
| Sectionalized growth |
3 |
| Need more community outreach
to parents regarding raising/values/morals |
3 |
| Choice of restaurants |
3 |
| Lack of quality shopping |
3 |
| High school dropout rate |
3 |
| Too many school districts |
3 |
| Youth facilities |
2 |
| Infant mortality |
2 |
| Need a Nordstrom's - for
starters |
2 |
| Some areas lack street
lighting, bright so you can see |
2 |
| Timing on stoplights/not
synchronized |
2 |
| Rosedale Hwy |
2 |
| Too many chemicals used on
golf courses and farmland |
2 |
| Not enough affordable
healthcare |
2 |
| E.Bakersfield needs aesthetic
improvement-better recruiting of businesses |
2 |
| Insufficient libraries |
2 |
| Lack of trained educational
workers |
2 |
| Lack of handicap
access/transportation/employment opportunities |
1 |
| Too conservative-need to be
open to ideas/diversity |
1 |
| Newspaper written at 6th
grade level |
1 |
| Too fast-not pedestrian
friendly |
1 |
| Big corporations take money
out and don't put money back |
1 |
| Not enough trade
school/vocational education-need school-industry cooperation |
1 |
| Too far from the ocean-no
freeway to the ocean/widen Hwy 46 |
1 |
| More and better activities:
cultural and fun |
1 |
| Difficult to recruit single,
professional employees |
1 |
| County pockets in the city |
1 |
| Athletic opportunities not
available to all |
1 |
| Unsafe parks |
1 |
| Lack of water in Kern River |
1 |
| Hot weather, fog |
0 |
| Nightime burning |
0 |
| Leaf blowers |
0 |
| Lack of movie diversity |
0 |
| More "married"
families |
0 |
