Results from Phase III Community Forums:

Highland High School - March 28, 2000

Our Slogan:
� Bakersfield where the vision never stops!!
� Be all you can be
� It just keeps getting better
� Welcome to Bakersfield
� The light of California
� City of Creativity
� Bakerfield-the valley's best kept secret
� We all can get along
� Best in the West
� Don't hate, congratulate "East Side"
� The minds of the future

Our Image:
� A nice town to raise kids
� Civic Pride
� Somewhere people actually want to go
� Big city with a small town atmosphere
� Lots of Trees - more trees
� Clean streets -sidewalks everywhere
� Determined to succeed
� Caring
� Exciting
� The best "Clean"
� Pretty
� Kind
� Sweet
� Happy
� Joyful
� Clean streets! No bums!
� Good clean community
� Helpful when needed
� Fun
� A growing small town
� Safe and down to earth
� Not country hicks
� More parks
� Taller buildings
� Bigger Roads
� Use of canals
� Landscape Oildale
� Community entertainment
� Family oriented
� Tourist entertainment
� Come visit Buck!
� Dance clubs for under 18
� Calm
� Non-violence
� Less traffic
� Good place to live and have fun
� More lights
� Professional people
� Smarter, Nice, caring

Our Reputation:
� Clean city
� Low crime
� Business Conference
� Family values
� More than just cows & farms
� Good people
� Beautiful place to live
� Clean
� Diversity
� Trees
� Have lots of money
� Live parties
� Fun
� Smart kids
� Diversity
� Tolerance (we shouldn't be worse than Alabama)
� Bigger city
� Less people
� Party city
� Better air quality
� Tourist friendly
� Not hot year round
� Buck Owens' Crystal Palace
� Agricultural area
� Education
� To be known for something!
� To be known to have family values
� Everyone is friendly
� To have lots of activities for youth - safe
� Environmentally conscious
� Less conservative-more accepting of all races and backgrounds
� Better shopping
� Smart
� Artistic
� Giving more of a hand for others
� More volunteering
� Fun, not boring
� Shadow of Los Angeles

Civic Culture:
� Even bigger libraries
� Museums - cultural/original
� More historical museums
� Involvement of community

Business Environment:
� More independently owned stores downtown
� More technology
� Give more to charity
� Clean up the streets
� Factory outlet
� Move toward technology in industries
� Better and more universities
� Better technical aid for schooling
� Internships for students
� Plant more trees
� More of a variety of restaurants
� More business on Eastside of B-town
� 24 hour activity/park
� More pay for jobs and better ways for high school students to get a job.
� Many different types of jobs
� Family oriented activities
� Job Shadowing
� Theme parks
� Zoos
� Water Park
� Painball Fields
� Game shows
� High paying jobs
� Better jobs for teens
� Starbuck's and Barnes & Noble - Eastside
� More business hiring Deaf
� More business in East: hardware store, In-n-Out. We don't need any more Taco Bells outhere. We have too many empty business buildings here. Save the East Hills Mall. Why don't we have any fancy theaters on this side?
� City cleanup
� More jobs
� Leader in agriculture
� Huge Farmer's Market
� More classy hotels (no more motels)
� Outlet mall
� More technological jobs
� More varieties of jobs
� Job opportunities(or program) for homeless, welfare, WICK
� Equal job opportunities
� Bigger & better
� More companies
� Minimum wages must go up - better benefits

Arts & Culture:
� Opera house
� More art galleries
� Dance Theatres
� More venues for local bands
� School Music programs
� Local, community Theatre
� More city plays
� More musical acts (concerts)
� Talks with important positive role models
� Free outdoor concerts for the public
� More events at parks with music
� More popular plays at the Civic such as The Phontom of the Operat
� More symphony and orchestras
� More famous artist and musicians coming to the Cent. Garden
� Cultural festivals
� We need a decent concert hall
� We need foreign films, not a buch of screens all showing the same thing
� Decent fine arts center to educate in the fine arts
� More concerts
� Botanical Garden and large Zoo
� Museums
� Bigger parades
� Large music store outlets
� Blues or jazz club
� Strengthen the support the community gives agriculture and music school programs
� More plays & concerts
� Musicals!
� Showcases of amateur talent
� More foreign language opportunities
� Hall (Music)
� New museum's (arts amd culture)
� More music
� More International focus (International music)
� Broadway to Bakersfield

Heart of the City:
� The people
� Downtown
� Water park
� Stadium
� Grand Canal
� Downtown improvement
� Bakersfield Heart Hospital East Side
� Centennial Gardens
� Parks (some)
� Kern River
� Better police
� More child care programs
� Restaurants (healthy)
� Clubs
� Kid fun
� Friendliness for eveyone
� Togetherness
� Safe town
� Oil industry
� Downtown old-fashioned
� Somewhere to shop downtown
� Something like downtown Sacramento! (outdoor makets, nice landscaping, etc/)
� Shopping!
� Safe place for kids to hang out
� More restaurants on the NE
� Better parks
� More teenage activities (concerts, clubs, etc.)
� Pride
� City Hall
� Diversity
� Small independent companies - encourage small businesses
� Move "Bakersfield" sign back
� Theme park
� Youth Rec. Center (24 Hours)
� Ice skating rink
� Water slides
� More concerts (better people)
� Agriculture
� Love
� Not judging people on their outward appearance
� Caring

Technology:
� Greater technology in schools
� Art work technology training
� More tech. Oriented companies
� Access for everyone
� Computer Factory
� Laptops for students
� More computers in schools and libraries
� T3 Connections for schoolf for (free)
� Battery powered cars
� Colleges and lower prices on computers so it will be affordable for those who really need them
� Public computer labs
� Faster Internet connections
� Computers in the schools that work at least some of the time
� Brain chip - no more school
� Computer cafes - Cyber/Internet Cafe
� Intercall system al all schools
� News media (broaden coverage to not just local news)
� Computers that work, for the schools
� Advanced recylcing program
� Solar power
� Computerized homes
� More ways to get to a computer

Transportation:
� Fix railroad downtown
� Bus station needs improvement
� Mini-rail
� Bullet Train
� More bike paths
� Better transportation to schools and colleges
� Trolley
� Encouragement of the use of bikes, skates, etc.
� Subway
� Airport bigger
� Buses
� Cabs, trollies, horsedrawn carriages, hayrides
� Hover crafts
� Anything that doesn't use gas
� Transportation machine
� 24x7 all day and night rides
� Buses that run on the actual schedule
� Better mass transit
� Light rail on Chester Ave.
� Metro
� Monorail
� Belt route
� Constant conversion to electric cars
� Rapid transit to L.A.
� Safe for farm workers
� Better freeways (less pot holes)
� Car pool lanes
� Amtrak to take us: L.A., Oakland, across town

Our Values:
� Family
� Community
� Stay faithful to family
� Less divorces!!
� Religious tolerance
� Pride in our history
� Education
� Younger politicians
� Acceptance of diversity
� Respect authority figures
� Importance of family
� Safer neighborhoods
� Freedom
� Less teen pregnancy
� Safe sex
� Marriage for everyone
� Work ethic
� Conservative
� Family friendly
� Friendly people
� Family values
� Equality
� Teachers
� UC Bakersfield
� Pride in our city
� Children first
� More attention to Education!
� Good morals
� Responsible
� Respectful

Biggest Changes:
� Cleaner environment
� We want a better overall reputation for Bakersfield.
� Less pollution!
� Clean up Union
� Eclectic mix of people living in neighborhoods ( no more division)
� Low unemployment - 2 out of 3 employed
� Nonexistent poverty
� Expand East side neighborhoods
� Northeast Mall-fixer upper
� Clean up neighborhoods
� Fix the streets around our neighborhoods
� Reparation of old buildings
� More streert lights
� Clubs
� More restaurants
� N.E. side of town needs improvement!
� IMAX
� Cheap gas
� More tourists
� Intro. Of amusement park
� Better freeways
� School facilities (pool, etc.)
� Public restrooms
� More trees & plants
� High schools making sure students can read before they're graduated
� Cute downtown - safe
� Better parks -more of them and cleanliness-with lots of tees
� City-wide beautification
� Rename Buck Owens Blvd back to Pierce Road
� No Oildale - or totally rebuild
� Centennial Garden
� Lori Brock Museum
� Pioneer Village
� Sam Lynn Ballpark
� Stadium
� Amusement park
� Improve growth on East side of city
� Some kind of funky architectural structure (Eiffel Tower)
� Make downtown taller
� More grass, trees, flowers, etc.
� Bullet train
� More help for homeless
� Quality air
� Pay more attention to agriculture
� Stop expanding housing projects - its eliminating agriculture
� Schools

Break Thrus:
� Grand Canal
� Clubs!!!
� Waterpark
� Theme Park
� Garment District
� Outlet Stores
� Growth in schools (less disparity
� More Lakes
� More security in parks
� Cultural diversity in the SW 7 Oaks area
� Better parks
� Less teenage pregnancies
� More opportunity for cheaper entertainment for people under 21
� More medical facilities
� Cultural barriers
� Miniature golf
� Baseball stadium
� Cleaner water
� Zoo
� Cure for A.I.D.S.
� Music studio

Looking back I'm most proud of�
� Enforced voluntary Community Service
� To be an American
� The way everyone had a say in the future
� Being close to everything
� Growth

In our Community's Future We Wanted and We Got�
� New roads
� East side economic development
� Water Parks
� Shopping outlets
� Legalize Weed
� New baseball field
� Indoor football team
� Better malls
� More stuff that stays open 24 hours/day
� More clubs
� All night dance clubs
� Legalized gambling
� More entertainment for youths
� Attract more stores to East Hills - expand property
� Bhigger or more skatepark(s)
� Another, bigger mall
� Less traffic problems
� Better paying mobs
� More recreation for young adults
� Landscaped freeways like L.A.
� Amusement Park
� More concerts
� Another crosstown highway, or connect 178 to 99
� Trauma & ICU hospital
� Cap the population
� Cap housing projects
� Arcades
� Bigger better music store
� Cleaner air - Strong government
� Highways
� Healthier restaurants
� City wide mist system
� Trees
� Guitar center
� Faster growth
� Rehersal studios
� Hip Hop Caf�
� Cruising Lane
� Public racing spot
� Bigger gyms
� More family activities on the Eastside
� More theaters
� Discovery zone
� Lower drinking age
� Downtown restored
� More public transportation
� Support Mesa Marin
� Clean up SouthEast
� Clean up Union Ave.
� More variety of job opportunities
� Themeing in each district of city
� 18+ over Dance Clubs
� Indoor ski/snowboard park
� Renovation of Highland campus (more grass)
� More businesses on the Northeast side
� More agricultural opportunities
� Skate parks Free
� Eastside needs help! Stop Southwest!
� More rec. parks
� Fun restaurants
� We want parks fixed
� More jobs
� More opportunities for teens
� North to South Freeway on East side past Fairfax
� Smaller class sizes
� Development on Northeast side of town
� Clean up downtown
� More community organized activities
� Better recycle program
� Small businesses
� More housing developments on the East where you can't grow anything anyway
� Do something about Union Ave. Invest some money into this neighborhood turning into a ghetto
� Public pools and parks open and accessable later, and more months out of the year
� More Ag classes
� Bigger school farm on Mt. Vernon
� More teachers
� Plant lots more trees!
� More jobs for teens, like internships
� All year round Fair
� More women's sports
� Football team for Bakersfield
� Overpass @ 178 and Fairfax
� More Latino programs
� Basketball team
� Preserve our farmland
� Pro-sports teams: NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, WNBA
� Major league sports arena
� Less discrimination
� Equal restoration for more run-down parts
� Homeless shelters
� Fix roads
� More recreation
� Better air quality
� More free clinics
� Green grass
� Higher paying jobs
� Bigger, better high schools
� More high school field trips
� Bowling alleys
� Marketplace & Edwards on Northeast (not Oildale)
� More scenic views
� Amusement partk 24/7 at Hart Park
� Camelot Park
� UC Bakersfield
� After school programs
� Higher education for teachers
� Safe place to live
� Secured homes
� Better computer programs at school
� Clean/safe parks
� More developed downtown
� Golf courses
� More money for teachers
� IMAX Theater
� Zoo
� Clean lakes
� Cheap recreation ie mini golf
� More funding for schools (equal)
� Massive block parties - without police shutting it down

In our Community's Future We Didn't Want and Didn't Get�
� Poverty
� Pollution
� East Hllls Mall
� Crime
� Mean Cops
� No more check points
� Discrimination
� 10pm curfew law
� Traffic problems
� High gas prices
� Racist comments
� Ghettos
� Fix up lower income parts of the city
� Housing projects
� Don't build on country farmland
� Kids tried as adults
� People to serve a lesser jail time
� Pollution, litter
� Illegal immigrants
� Crowded neighborhoods
� Old run down neighborhoods
� Crime
� Drugs
� Gangs
� Holes in the roads
� Racism
� To be like L.A.
� Overpopulation
� Anymore building on farm land
� Everything moved to the South side
� Housing out in fields near Hart Park
� Canal Mall
� Gangs or tagging on the walls
� Any more laws
� No homeless
� Oildale slum
� Crack houses
� Stop sexual harrassment
� Violence
� Southwest to be better than the East side of town
� Pot crops
� Discrimination
� Dirty air
� Class segregation by areas
� Any more building on the fabulous farmland in the Southwest
� Speeding laws (crack down on wreckless driving)
� Hungry people/homeless
� Less separation between Southwest and Northeast - more unity ranther than class comparisons - Need to Change!
� Run down sections of town
� Dairies
� Less involved customer service jobs
� Less school state testing
� Oildale ugliness
� Drug labs
� Bakersfield Police Dept.
� Pregnant teenagers
� Ugly Hwy 58 and 99
� Bums on Baker
� Anymore empty fields for lots in NE
� Ugly grass (yellow)
� Gangs, drugs, smog
� No more Walgreens or Rite Aids
� Mercado Latino
� Prostitutes
� Potholes
� Closed campus
� Fences at school
� Trashy neighborhoods
� Dilapidated buildings
� Dirty rivers
� Ugly parts of town
� Corrupt cops
� Rednecks
� Guns
� Welfare - less, much less
� Less country stuff
� Less police harrassing black people and Mexicans

Our Vision for Downtown:
� Bigger baseball field at Sam Lynn
� More business, restaurants & shopping downtow
� High speed train to L.A. & San Diego
� Better preservation of Old Town Kern
� Clubs for Teens along the So.Fork of River
� Better housing and renovtion of public facilities in SE
� Affordable recreational facilities - SE
� Tear down old abandoned buildings to create better ones - SE
� Programs to help the youth get involved in helping their community
� Forest by Kern river
� Mall of America
� Trees everywhere
� Finish sidewalks - lake - park between Oak & Chester S of 24th
� 3 story mall
� More freeways
� Theatre
� Restaurants
� Skate park and nice Mall S of California W of Union
� Outlet Center & trees near Lakeview
� Water Park N of 24th
� Boats and river side shops along S. Fork
� Better School Systems - NE
� University - college - 34th St
� Beale area: Lake, Mall - great, Cancer research hospital- pollution machine
� Cleaner water - plant lots of trees
� Water slide park by museum
� Zoo
� Free children's arcade
� Clubs for 17 and under
� Stadium in E. Bakersfield
� Bigger park - Central Park
� Miniature golf
� IMAX theater
� 2 story school
� Theme park
� Indoor ski/snowboard park @ museum
� Eastside Marketplace
� Plant world
� Mall-more things to do on this side of town - S of California, bet. Union and Chester
� Lakeview: skate park, cop station, more stores, parks, jobs, no dope
� More homes and jobs in E. Bakersfield
� Indoor paintball field W of Beale
� Skate Park
� Use empty buildings N of 34th
� Lakeview: Stop gangmembers and violence; better houses
� Museum on the E. side
� Library near museum
� Clean up Union Avenue
� More restaurants on California
� Hospital @ Chester & California
� Lakeview: soccer parks, super parks, 2nd Magic Mountain, more police at nights, less trouble & violence, more stores
� Place for rodeos E of Beale
� Relieve traffic at 24th and Oak
� More community functions E of Beale
� M.C.F. 3 on 3 tournaments
� More modern shops and stores Truxtun and Chester
� More business on Union
� A nice state-of-the-art park N of 34th, more trees, & restaurants
� Canal walkway
� S of California bet. Union & Chester: more trees, arcade, imprive this area - a park/community activity center - same @ Lakeview (really improve + more jobs)
� Close Chester: put light rail and make it old fashioned cute tourist attraction
� Get some parking complex building S of Truxtun - there's no more room
� Restore and clean up Old Town Kern - accent our historical aspects - be proud of our history
� Restore low income apartments N of Columbus
� Better roads everywhere
� Develoop Lake Ming area (campbrounds)
� Lakeview: Organizae Neighborhood watch - get minority cops in here; kids activities; movie theater; clean up roads; more development in general
� Public skate park S of California bet. Union & Chester
� Between Haley & Mt. Vernon: more place to hang out and stay out of trouble
� Around Beale: Better parks (cleaner); more street lights; clean up Old Town Kern (help homeless)
� Make off ramps nicer with grass strips
� NFL football stadium
� Build new shopping centers on NorthEast - get rid of empty lots

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