Results from Phase III Community Forums:

Bakersfield College - March 24, 2000

Our Slogan:
� The city with the Heart of a small town
� Te 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 eht 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
� Unitified 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; 34th & 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 34th
� NFL Stadium and Baeball 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'sfuture 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 transportaion
� 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 emply 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


[ Return to Phase III Community Input ]