Phase III  

Visioning Meeting

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 the 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

�        Unified 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; 34^th & 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 34^th

�        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 transportation

�        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

�        Bake 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 empty 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