| What
do you like about Greater Bakersfield?
What are our strengths? |
|
|
|
| Parks and
outdoor recreation |
20 |
| Cultural
diversity/Multicultural activities |
20 |
| Geographic
accessibility to whole state/close to everything |
19 |
| Affordable
housing |
18 |
| Small town
atmosphere/big city convenience |
18 |
| Bringing back
Downtown/beautification |
15 |
| Kind, friendly
people |
14 |
| Two good
colleges |
13 |
| Accessible
government/politicians |
11 |
| Good volunteer
base |
11 |
| Lower cost of
living |
11 |
| Family
activities/family oriented |
9 |
| Easy to get
around town |
9 |
| General
safety/safe, quiet neighborhoods |
8 |
| Good Restaurants |
8 |
| Centennial
Gardens |
8 |
| CSUB-university |
7 |
| Boys & Girls
Club |
7 |
| The weather |
7 |
| Pioneer Village |
6 |
| Economic base
(oil and ag) good variety of jobs |
6 |
| The river |
5 |
| Not too big |
5 |
| Wide streets |
5 |
| Local
collaboratives /neighborhood partnerships-grassroots |
5 |
| CALM |
5 |
| Library system |
5 |
| Good
schools/high schools and colleges |
5 |
| Local TV
stations - participation in community |
5 |
| Excellent
entertainment/abundance of activities |
5 |
| Organized sports
programs for youth (AYSO, PAL, B &G Club) |
4 |
| Good corporate
citizens |
4 |
| Churches and
synagogues/religious diversity |
4 |
| Good sporting
events |
4 |
| Agriculture |
4 |
| Strong work
ethic |
4 |
| Hospitals/healthcare |
3 |
| Soccer Park |
3 |
| Bike path |
3 |
| Good airport
& good connections |
3 |
| Growth/bigger
markets |
3 |
| Homes |
3 |
| AMTRACK/transportation
hub |
3 |
| Availability of
labor |
3 |
| Theatre groups |
2 |
| Commercial &
retail opportunities |
2 |
| Golf courses |
2 |
| Decent
jobs/decent pay |
2 |
| Kids' activities |
2 |
| Buck Owens |
2 |
| Many people care
about the environment |
2 |
| Local banks help
small business |
2 |
| Hart Park |
2 |
| Fishing &
canoeing |
2 |
| County Fair |
2 |
| Lack of racism |
2 |
| Low crime rate |
2 |
| Available
land-cheap |
2 |
| Opportunities
for success |
2 |
| Bakersfield
Business Conference |
2 |
| Tourism |
2 |
| Commitment of
people to the community |
2 |
| People can make
a difference |
2 |
| Oil |
2 |
| Art galleries |
1 |
| Condors hockey |
1 |
| Hotels |
1 |
| Good shopping |
1 |
| Active Chamber
of Commerce |
1 |
| Starbucks |
1 |
| Lots of farming |
1 |
| Teenagers more
centered in what they want |
1 |
| Public education
leadership |
1 |
| Motor sports |
1 |
| Quality &
development of fine arts |
1 |
| Lots of cinemas |
1 |
| Crystal Palace |
1 |
| Family based
businesses |
1 |
| Collaboration of
major organizations |
1 |
| Traffic &
parking |
0 |
| Dewars Chews |
0 |
| Fresh Produce |
0 |
| Good freeways |
0 |
| 2 good business
schools |
0 |
| Landscaped
streets |
0 |
| Skate park |
0 |
| Fox Theater |
0 |
|
|
| What
are Bakersfield's key weaknesses?
What don't you like? |
|
|
|
| Urban
sprawl/lack of in-fill development/leapfrog dev. |
24 |
| Air
quality/pollution |
23 |
| Gangs - East
side |
18 |
| Low educational
achievement |
15 |
| Dichotomy
between East & West (socio-economic development) |
14 |
| Vacant strip
malls & office buildings/vacant property pockets |
14 |
| Blight in E and
SE/parts of city need urban renewal |
13 |
| Transportation -
bus system |
12 |
| County
"islands" |
11 |
| Distribution of
drugs - East side |
10 |
| Freeways to
nowhere/poor freeway system |
10 |
| Loss of prime
agricultural land |
9 |
| Not enough
activities for youth |
9 |
| Refuse
collection system/no universal collection |
7 |
| Substance abuse
not addressed enough/alcoholism |
7 |
| Emphasis on
new/lack of encouragement to existing business |
7 |
| Illegal dumping |
7 |
| Too many school
districts |
7 |
| Lack of trees |
6 |
| City &
County don't cooperate |
6 |
| Poverty-too much |
6 |
| Teen pregnancies |
5 |
| Not enough youth
facilities |
5 |
| City/County
policies are not uniform/county activities impact urban-septic etc |
5 |
| Lead paint in
old rental buildings |
5 |
| No downtown
supermarket |
5 |
| Graffiti |
5 |
| Increasing rate
of violent crime |
5 |
| Too much
"good 'ol boys" system-same people on everything |
5 |
| More Boys &
Girls clubs |
5 |
| No curbside
recycling |
4 |
| No county
ordinance against eyesore property |
4 |
| Air
transportation |
4 |
| Too much traffic
on Rosedale Hwy |
4 |
| Roadside trash |
4 |
| Not enough
services for homeless & mentally ill |
4 |
| Too many
financial incentives to big developers |
4 |
| Apathy |
4 |
| Limited high
income jobs |
3 |
| Lack of local
govt. effort to work with minority neighborhoods |
3 |
| How minorities
projected in media |
3 |
| Lack of high
tech industry development |
3 |
| Lack of
technical training schools |
3 |
| No Silver Creek
in East Bakersfield or Oildale |
3 |
| Not enough
Sheriffs to cover county |
3 |
| Poor local media |
3 |
| Not enough
supplies at school |
3 |
| Not enough
multicultural activities |
3 |
| Not enough jobs |
3 |
| Poor water
quality |
3 |
| Poor health
quality |
3 |
| Unstable
residential property values |
3 |
| Too much
reliance on freeways |
3 |
| Lack of curfew
enforcement |
3 |
| Public
perception of "East"side of town |
3 |
| Not enough malls |
3 |
| Politically
conservative |
3 |
| No follow
through with proposed plans |
3 |
| Too friendly -
Grand Canal project |
3 |
| Racial groups to
get together |
3 |
| Weather |
2 |
| Lack of
opportunity for ex-cons |
2 |
| Absentee
landlords |
2 |
| "White"
flight |
2 |
| High gas prices |
2 |
| Poor quality
elected officials |
2 |
| Inability to
balance quality of life and environment with econ. Dev. |
2 |
| Lack of county
code enforcement-housing/property, etc |
2 |
| Hwy 99 -
unattractive entrance to city |
2 |
| Hwy 99 divides
the community |
2 |
| Bureaucracy: Milton Miller syndrome |
2 |
| Lack of social
services for adults |
1 |
| Lack of
communication about social services |
1 |
| Spotty political
leadership |
1 |
| Methamphetamines |
1 |
| Low elementary
and high school test scores |
1 |
| Weeds in empty
lots |
1 |
| Few charter
schools |
1 |
| No Sunday
bus/bus doesn't run late enough |
1 |
| Prostitutes-East
side |
1 |
| Too few nurses |
1 |
| Not enough local
industry |
1 |
| Zoning for tax
dollars |
1 |
| Too many traffic
accidents |
1 |
| Lack of
employment opportunities for disabled |
1 |
| County too
large-bureaucracy & overpaid politicians |
1 |
| Poor medical
care |
1 |
| Abandoned houses |
1 |
| No advanced
hospitals (children's, burn center etc) |
1 |
| Too many guns |
1 |
| Too friendly -
Panatonni |
1 |
| Too much
hospital competition |
0 |
| Health care
accessibility |
0 |
| Not enough parks |
0 |
| Transient
businesses |
0 |
| Stinky dairies |
0 |
| Troubled trailer
parks |
0 |
| Good ol' boy
mentality in judicial system |
0 |
| ETR in Stockdale
area-move to East side? |
0 |
