Results from Phase III Community Forums:

California State University Bakersfield - April 26, 2000

Our Slogan:
� Where the action is!
� THE place to live!
� Fun..Sun..Safe..Place

Our Image:
� A literate populace
� High quality of life
� Calm and lovely
� Business and family friendly
� Tolerant: appreciative of diversity and novel ideas
� City life
� Is terrible to the "outside" But what they don't know is how terrific it really is

Our Reputation:
� The reputation we deserve as an interesting, diversified community of intelligent, helpful people
� Progressive and forward thinking
� Healthy, safe, and interactive community
� Concerned for all members, tolerant
� Values Family
� Values Higher Education
� Quality
� Service oriented
� Safe
� Clean
� A community based with mental health

Business Environment:
� Robust/environmentally safe business
� Family friendly jobs
� Collaboratives between businesses and schools (Jr. High-high school)
� Child care in work places
� Adequate parking
� Dynamic, hi-growth companies
� Downtown - Central Business - Cultural
� Surround services - one stop for working families

Arts & Culture:
� Visual arts education for all ages
� The New Art Museum
� A Natural History museum to reveal Kern Co's beautiful prehistoric past
� A multitude of music education foundations for children
� Operas, Musicals!
� Everything imaginable
� Impressionist exhibit
� Many diverse offerings

Education:
� Health, science education center at CSUB
� World class faculty also committed to students
� Another college (UC with Ph.D. programs)
� H.S. grads in top third statewide
� Vocational school for the deaf
� Quality schools
� Crime free High schools
� More teachers
� Cross cultural education with lots and lots of multi-lingual educators
� Great E.C. programs!
� Technology in schools
� Greater or closer relationship between the future economic development and the areas of emphasis in this University, e.g. School of Engineering

Heart of the City:
� Cultural acceptance and integration
� Destinations downtown
� Recreational destinations (bike/walking trails - family-focus)
� Natural History Museum
� Symphony/lecture hall
� Educated youth
� Care and concern for the elders of the community
� Cultural garden pavilian
� Green belts
� Water way incorporating Central Park and Kern River
� Interaction
� Respect for all generations including the elderly
� Friendliness - good interactions
� Equal access to resources
� Well-established restaurants

Our Values:
� Families, children, education
� Respect for all cultures - and ages
� Pro-marriage and education
� Non-violent conflict resolution practices
� Individualism
� A really "connected" community each caring for the other
� Healthy exercise options

Technology:
� Free internet access
� More public access to computers
� More start up companies
� E-commerce
� Technology savvy (familiarity with trends)

Transportation:
� Good air travel to many destinations
� Jet planes
� Very prominent high-speed rail
� Crosstown East-West Parkway
� Loop around city
� Park & ride lots with express buses
� Buses run 24 hours
� Monorail- people movers- efficient parking
� More bike lanes - dedicated and protected
� Fast train to LA, SLO, SAC, S.F.
� Walking paths - safe!
� Park and ride with express buses

Biggest Changes:
� Clean air and water
� No graffiti
� Big city amenities withsmall town flavor
� Recycling system in place for everyone - glass/paper etc.
� No areas of blight
� All of community - good housing - education
� City and county cooperate
� Got rid of KCCD bureaucracy - made BC independent
� Big industry (oil and ag) plus Govt (Fed & State) giving back to our area in proportion to the resources and taxes taken from here
� Majority of population speaks a minimum of 2 languages
� Air quality meets all standards including the maximum
� Leader in sustainable tech and Ag & industry

Break Thrus:
� Bank ofr volunteer hours
� Coordinated animal care shelter
� More and bigger parks
� 24 hour childcare centers, accessible, quality, local centers
� Advertise opportunities for volunteer work needed
� Sound abatement - activity buffers
� Tolerance of all (race, ethnicity, sex orientation)

Looking back I'm most proud of�
� Increase in higher education
� Continued community involvement with Vision 2020
� Majority of our high school graduates are going on to college, with local scholarship support!

What's our Vision for our Economy over the next 10-20 years?
� Increase in overall salary and economy
� Reasonable health care costs
� Increase in theatres, restaurants
� New Art Museum
� Well-educated, productive workforce
� Lower taxes
� Higher taxes
� Solar power plants - let's develop a solar power industry-encourage wind power industry
� Broad based concerned and centered in agriculture
� Clean industry - trend setting-sustainable
� More high tech attracted by low cost of living and dramatically improved air quality
� Value and pay for child development - pre-birth to adult

What kind of Economic Development Initiatives do we want to create?
� More jobs
� More jobs for deaf
� Tourism
� Inter-regionall and internationally connected
� High tech
� Intergenerational day care
� Venture capital
� New economy jobs
� $$ into K-12 education to bolster viability of workforce
� Economic development of the Kern River for recreation

What kind of jobs do we want to attract here over the next 10-20 years?
� Professional health care people
� Artists
� Engineers
� Cutting edge, high dollar
� Preserve farmland- ag
� Intellectual property - technology
� No dairies
� Attract bigger corporations
� Deaf teachers
� Bilingual educators
� Properly trained and paid caregivers for elderly and handicapped, young children - good pay and benefits
� Software (More like Edgemail, Mustang, etc.)
� Post-industrial (Tech)

Our Vision for Downtown:
� Put water in river!!
� Green belts through city
� Park along river
� A little green place to sit S of California E of Chester and W of Chester and along Kern River
� Bike lane to connect to the West downtown to the bike path
� Gid rid of Garces circle
� Babyboomer center @ Union and 178
� Central downtown: retail, bookstores, movie, caffee bar plus jobs and living spaces
� Entertainment and retail and recreation complex between Truxtun and California
� Parks with planned recreation W of Lakeview
� Bike lanes on California Ave.
� Attractive "Riverwalk" through Central Park
� Canals : Columbus S to Beale, W thru Central Park, back N (W of Chester). Another canal through the center of that square
� Trees on Brundage, California, 24th St., 34th St. Columbus
� Tree-lined Parkway with rapid transit along Union Avenue
� High speed rail depot in E. Bakersfield
� New dance/hall facilities on East side
� Lots of restaurants downtown
� Ballpark S of Truxtun
� Recreational center for Greater Bakersfield children S of California, W of Chester
� Art Gallery on Union and California
� Lakeview area totally rejuvenated houses with a branch of the University E of Lakeview
� Improve interchange at Brundage and 58
� High medical specialist near 343th St.
� Major medical center E of Beale

In our Community's Future We Wanted and We Got�
� Thriving after-school programs and high achieving youth
� A university with high academic standards
� More recycling systems
� Parenting classes
� More visual arts
� Water in river and canals before taking it out for Ag all year
� Dance club for under 18s
� Promote ethnic/cultural diversity
� Better funded schools
� More safe activities for youth (H.S.)
� Trees - big ones!
� Agriculture and dairies protected
� Support for family caregivers fo the elderly
� More and better movies - w/captions
� A better sports complex (nationally recognized)
� Mass transportation
� Clean air and water
� Charter schools
� Bike paths
� More attractive architecture
� Planned development
� Water slide park!
� Theme parks with race cars, mini golf, etc.
� Expanded water bank
� Stimulating small child care that facilitates intellectual physical and emotional development
� Lots of small green places to sit and read
� Symphony Hall
� Support and building for our Natural History Museum
� Whitewater Slalom Kayak Park on the Kern River by Hart Park
� Business and service activities for the Jr. High and High Schools. Get them into the business world early
� Waterway in downtown as in Dallas
� A better mall, better cable
� Bullet train/more bus service
� Clean up backyard
� Green belts
� More cultural activities and events
� Education for all
� Affordable mental health
� Adequate children's mental health services

In our Community' Future We Didn't Want and We Didn't Get�
� Unplanned development
� Gridlock
� Elders to be hidden in nursing homes or isolated in their old houses
� Dairies
� "Oildale" image
� Urban sprawl
� "Garbage" dumping in Metro Bakersfield
� Digital divide
� Ugly freeways
� Local government and businesses which will prevent much of these dreams
� People who don't have health care options
� Drugs
� Rosedale Hwy (a major entrance and 1st exposure to Bakersfield) needs a face lift. The businesses should be fined for non-compliance to aesthetic standards.
� Development without water resource and air quality considerations
� Air pollution - water pollution
� Water Park in the middle of a residential community
� Unplanned growth
� Change in samll town atmosphere
� Overcrowded/overdeveloped residential and business areas
� Freeways without landscaping

Metropolitan Bakersfield - 2010 General Planning Area
� Ecological/recreation zone around entire river course
� Whate water Slalom Kayak Park
� River Run for Kayakers
� Bike path from China Grade Loop to residential
� High speed rail serving entire community
� Put industry that might contaminate groundwater on West side where water qualty is poor
� Keep River way - water year round
� No freeway over water banks area
� Clean up Rosedale
� No WaterPark on river
� Downtown: Nordstroms, Cheesecake Factory
� Southern freeway to bypass city
� We need to route traffic on a circular route around Greater Bakersfield using 7th Standard Road on the North and Panama Road on the South. Roads coming into the city would be like the spokes of a wheel for local trafic
� A 7th Standard Road route connecting Hwy 99 and I-5 would be an expensive way to solve the cross-town traffic problem
� Keep hospitals dispursed for emergency access
� Vocational schools for the deaf (old Stier's lot)
� Signal at White Lane and Hwy 99
� A big park on undeveloped portion of River
� Increase green belt along the river all the way out to I-5 on River
� Freeway N of river to connect with I-5
� Freeway beltway looping the city
� Airport - no stacking
� Stop light - 4way on Old River and 7th Standard
� Connect Akers between Harris and Planz

Common Themes:
� Recreation
� Tolerance
� Green space
� Education
� Clean industry
� Transportation
� Cultural amenities
� Fun safe affordable activities
� Beautification of Bakersfield
� Sense of community
� Need for "cross-town' freeways
� Technology in business & schools - Bakersfield = "Silicon Valley"

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