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Bakersfield is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the 2020 census was 403,455, making it the 48th-most populous city in the United States of America and the 9th-most populous city in California. The Bakersfield–Delano Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Kern County, had a 2020 census population of 909,235, making it the 62nd-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The more built-up portion of the metro area that includes Bakersfield and areas immediately around the city, such as East Bakersfield,
Oildale Oildale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Oildale is located north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 32,684 at the 2010 census, up from 27,885 at the 2000 censu ...
, and Rosedale, has a population of 523,994. Bakersfield is a significant hub for both agriculture and energy production. Kern County is the most productive oil-producing county in California and the fourth-most productive agricultural county (by value) in the United States. Industries in and around Bakersfield include natural gas and other energy extraction, mining, petroleum refining, distribution, food processing, and corporate regional offices. The city is the birthplace of the country music genre known as the Bakersfield sound.


History

Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of Native American settlements dating back thousands of years. Upon Spanish arrival, present-day Bakersfield was inhabited by the Yowlumne, a Yokuts people. Yowlumne accounts indicate that the village of Woilu was situated in the bounds of the present city. The Yokuts of the region lived in lodges along the branches of the Kern River delta and hunted antelope, tule elk, deer, bear, fish, and game birds. In 1776, Spanish missionary Francisco Garcés became the first European to explore the area. Recording his May 1 arrival to a Yokuts village along the Kern River, immediately northeast of present-Bakersfield, Garcés wrote, Given the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, the Yokuts remained largely isolated from further contact until after the Mexican War of Independence, when Mexican settlers began to migrate to the area. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, settlers flooded into the San Joaquin Valley. In 1851, gold was discovered along the Kern River in the southern
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
, and in 1865, oil was discovered in the valley. The Bakersfield area, once a tule reed-covered marshland, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers, who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to periodic flooding from the Kern River, which occupied what is now the downtown area, and experienced outbreaks of malaria. Bakersfield is the fifth-largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, with 53% of its population being Hispanic in 2020.


Founding

In 1861, disastrous floods swept away the original settlement founded in 1860 by the German-born Christian Bohna. Among those attracted to the area by the California gold rush was Thomas Baker, a lawyer and former colonel in the militia of Ohio, his home state. Baker moved to the banks of the Kern River in 1863, at what became known as Baker's Field, which became a stopover for travelers.Gavin, Camille. Leverett, Kathy. ''Kern's Movers & Shakers''. Jostens. Visalia, California: 1987. . Page 13. By 1870, with a population of 600, what is now known as Bakersfield was becoming the principal town in Kern County. In 1873, Bakersfield was officially incorporated as a city, and by 1874, it officially replaced the town of Havilah as the county seat. Alexander Mills was hired as the city marshal, a man one historian would describe as "... an old man by the time he became Marshal of Bakersfield, and he walked with a cane. But he was a Kentuckian, a handy man with a gun, and not lacking in initiative and resource when the mood moved him." Businessmen and others began to resent Mills, who was cantankerous and high-handed in his treatment of them. Wanting to fire him but fearing reprisals, they came up with a scheme to disincorporate, effectively leaving him without an employer. According to local historian Gilbert Gia the city was also failing to collect the taxes it needed for services. In 1876, the city voted to disincorporate. For the next 22 years, a citizen's council managed the community. By 1880, Bakersfield had a population of 801 with 250 of Chinese descent. By 1890, it had a population of 2,626. Migration from Texas, Louisiana,
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and Southern California brought new residents, who were mostly employed by the oil industry. The city reincorporated on January 11, 1898.


1952 earthquake

On July 21, 1952, an earthquake struck at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time. The earthquake, which measured 7.5 on the moment magnitude scale and was felt from San Francisco to the Mexican border, destroyed the nearby communities of Tehachapi and Arvin. The earthquake's destructive force bent cotton fields into U shapes, slid a shoulder of the Tehachapi Mountains across all four lanes of the Ridge Route, collapsed a water tower creating a flash flood, and destroyed the railroad tunnels in the mountain chain. Bakersfield was somewhat spared, experiencing minor architectural damage without loss of life. A large
aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...
occurred on July 29, and did minor architectural damage, but raised fears that the flow of the
Friant-Kern Canal The Friant-Kern Canal is a aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central California to convey water to augment irrigation capacity in Fresno County, California, Fresno, Tulare County, California, ...
could be dangerously altered, potentially flooding the city and surrounding areas. Aftershocks continued for the next month, and on August 22 at 3:42 pm, another earthquake, measured at 5.8, struck directly under the city's center in the most densely populated area of the southern San Joaquin Valley. Four people died in the aftershock, and many of the town's historic structures sustained heavy damage.


1970 to 2010

Between 1970 and 2010, Bakersfield grew 400% (from 70,000 to 347,483), making it one of the fastest-growing cities in California.Facts and Information
Bakersfield Visitor and Convention Bureau. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
Bakersfield's close proximity to
mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...
es, primarily the Tejon Pass on Interstate 5 between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Joaquin Valley, has made the city a regional transportation hub. In 1990, Bakersfield was one of 10 U.S. communities to receive the All-America City Award from the National Civic League. In 2010, the Bakersfield MSA had a gross metropolitan product of $29.466 billion, making it the 73rd-largest metropolitan economy in the United States.


Historic architecture and preservation

Bakersfield has a number of buildings and locations that have been designated as historic sites at the national, state, and city levels. Five buildings have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), including the First Baptist Church (NRHP 1/2/79); Baker Street Library (NRHP 4/1/81) and
Bakersfield Californian Building The Bakersfield Californian Building, also known as the Bakersfield Californian Building, is a historic office building in Bakersfield, California. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 10, 1983. It w ...
(NRHP 3/10/83). Four sites have been designated as California Historical Landmarks, including Garces Memorial Circle (designated in 1937) and the Colonel Thomas Baker Memorial (designated in 1944). In addition, 16 sites have been locally designated on the Bakersfield Register of Historic Places, including the Fox Theater (designated 8/24/94) and Kern County Chamber of Commerce Building (designated 3/12/08). With only 16 sites on its local register (compared to more than 300 sites designated by the City of Fresno), Bakersfield has been criticized for its lack of focus on historic preservation.


Geography

Bakersfield lies near the southern "horseshoe" end of the San Joaquin Valley, with the southern tip of the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
just to the east. The city limits extend to the Sequoia National Forest, at the foot of the Greenhorn Mountain Range and at the entrance to the Kern Canyon. To the south, the Tehachapi Mountains, rising more than a vertical mile, feature the historic Tejon Ranch. To the west is the Temblor Range, behind which is the
Carrizo Plain National Monument The Carrizo Plain ( Obispeño: ''tšɨłkukunɨtš'', "Place of the rabbits") is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately long and up to across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about northwest of Los Angeles. It co ...
and the San Andreas Fault. The Temblor Range is about from Bakersfield across the valley floor. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land (98.99%) and are covered by water (1.01%). At the 2000 census, the city had a total area of , of which were land (98.86%) and were water-covered (1.14%). Bakersfield lies around north of Los Angeles (about a 2-hour drive on I-5 and State Route 99) and about southeast of the state capital, Sacramento (about a 4-hour drive on State Route 99). Hart Memorial Park is located in northeast Bakersfield along Alfred Harrell Highway.


Communities and neighborhoods

Bakersfield has historically referred to its regions by directional names. They include: North Bakersfield, Northeast, Southeast, South Bakersfield, Southwest, and Northwest. East Bakersfield generally refers to the former town of Sumner (later renamed East Bakersfield). As a result, the Northeast wraps around East Bakersfield.


Climate

Bakersfield has a
hot arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
( Köppen ''BWh''), with very hot, dry summers, and winters that consist of mild days with chilly/cold nights. Rainfall is low in the city, averaging only annually, with most of it falling in the winter. Bakersfield averages about 191 clear days a year. Bakersfield's climate makes the region suitable for growing crops ranging from carrots to citrus and almonds. Bakersfield summers are very hot with extended stretches of hot weather and 112 days per year with high temperatures of + (on average between April 18 and October 13); in addition, there are 36 days with highs of + (on average between June 2 and September 19), and 0.9 days with highs of +. Some years can see wide fluctuations in temperatures throughout seasons, with triple digit temperature readings in May (rarely April) and October in addition to occasional highs below in June not being uncommon. Except for occasional monsoons which may bring light rain, typically no rain or almost no rain will fall from May to September. Winters feature mild daytime temperatures and chilly/cold nights. Frost and/or dense fog usually occurs in winter with accompanying low visibility, causing many schools to have fog delays. Winters will usually produce a very dense layer of fog from time to time. Due to years of prolonged drought and rapid development of many new neighborhoods around Bakersfield, the density of the fog and number of "fog days" has been steadily decreasing, while areas outside the city still experience thick fog. The official time frame for tule fog to form is about 5 months long – various days from November 1 to March 31. Most noticeable in summer and winter, the urban heat island phenomenon can be observed throughout various neighborhoods in Bakersfield. Areas closer to downtown and along the 99 freeway corridor can experience warmer temperatures at night than neighborhoods on the edge of the city limits and rural Kern County areas, with temperature differences up to between these areas at any given time. On average, 10 mornings have freezing lows (on average between December 14 and January 24) annually, and the coldest night of the year typically bottoms out below . Snow is rare on the valley floor although frost may occur. The last snow fell on January 25, 1999, when the city received up to , with at the airport. The record maximum temperature was on July 28, 1908, and the record minimum temperature was on January 3, 1908. The most rainfall in one month was in December 2010, and the maximum 24-hour rainfall was on February 9, 1978. The wettest "rain year" has been from July 1997 to June 1998 with and the driest from July 1933 to June 1934 with .


Air quality

Air quality is generally at its worst in fall and winter, due to the California wildfire season and colder temperatures forming an inversion layer, respectively. It is common for an inversion layer to form in the valley in the winter, in which temperatures can be warmer in the foothills above the valley with the valley itself being cooler. This can trap air pollution in Bakersfield and the surrounding valley areas for days, or even weeks at a time. This can typically be mediated by rain or strong winds. Emissions from agriculture, industry, rail freight and road traffic together create significant concentrations of air pollution. The extraction of oil and gas, a historic industry in the area, contributes to the poor air quality. Returning flowing water to the Kern River and along with trees is promoted as a way to improve air quality and enhance recreation in the city. In 2015, Bakersfield had 28 days of "Unhealthy" and 1 day of "Very Unhealthy" air quality according to the EPA. This ranked 6th in the United States. In 2016, Bakersfield had 14 days with "Unhealthy" air quality according to the EPA. This ranked 9th in the United States. In 2017, Bakersfield had 23 days with "Unhealthy" air quality according to the EPA. Fourteen of those days were caused by the Thomas Fire located in adjacent Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. During that fire, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties experienced "Very Unhealthy" and "Hazardous" air quality. In 2018, Bakersfield had 27 days with "Unhealthy" air quality according to the EPA. Most of these days were due to the second deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record in California, behind the 2020 fire season. This ranked 6th in the United States. In 2019, Bakersfield had only 6 days with "Unhealthy" air quality and 2 days with "Very Unhealthy" according to the EPA. In 2020, Bakersfield had 31 days with "Unhealthy" air quality and 2 days with "Very Unhealthy" according to the EPA. This was largely caused by the record-breaking 2020 fire season. In 2021, Bakersfield has recorded 28 days with "Unhealthy" air quality and 1 day with "Very Unhealthy" according to the EPA.


Demographics


2010

The
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
reported that Bakersfield had a population of 347,483. The population density was . The ethnic makeup of Bakersfield was 197,389 (56.8%) White, 28,238 (8.1%) African American, 5,102 (1.5%) Native American, 21,432 (6.2%) Asian (2.1% Indian, 2.0% Filipino, 0.5% Chinese, 0.4% Korean, 0.2% Japanese, 478 (0.1%) Pacific Islander), 77,686 (22.4%) from other races, and 17,068 (4.9%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 158,205 persons (45.5%). Among the general population, 39.5% are
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
, 1.3% Salvadoran, 0.5% Guatemalan, and 0.10% Colombian. Non-Hispanic Whites were 37.8% of the population in 2010, compared to 71% in 1980. The census reported 344,088 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 2,094 (0.6%) lived in noninstitutionalized group quarters, and 1,301 (0.4%) were institutionalized. Of the 111,132 households, 51,995 (46.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 57,276 (51.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 18,049 (16.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 7,829 (7.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 8,159 (7.3%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnerships POSSLQ ( , plural POSSLQs) is an abbreviation (or acronym) for "Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters", a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of ...
, and 845 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. About 21,800 households (19.6%) were made up of individuals, and 7,354 (6.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.10. There were 83,154 families (74.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.56. The population was distributed as 109,479 people (31.5%) under the age of 18, 37,368 (10.8%) aged 18 to 24, 97,024 (27.9%) aged 25 to 44, 74,276 (21.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 29,336 (8.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The 120,725 housing units averaged 840.6 per square mile (324.6/km2), of which 66,323 (59.7%) were owner-occupied, and 44,809 (40.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%. About 206,492 people (59.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units, and 137,596 people (39.6%) lived in rental housing units. Bakersfield has consistently ranked as one of the least educated metropolitan areas in the United States.Joshua Zumbrun
America's Best- And Worst-Educated Cities
''Forbes'', November 28, 2008, Retrieved July 20, 2010.

The Huffington Post, July 19, 2010, Retrieved July 20, 2010.
A study by the Brookings Institution using 2008 data found that the proportion of Bakersfield metro adults age 25 and over with a bachelor's degree was the lowest (14.7%) of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States; that 100th-place finish was down from being ranked 95th in 1990.Educational Attainment
, The State of Metropolitan America, The Brookings Institution, Retrieved May 19, 2011.
According to a
Gallup Gallup may refer to: *Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll *Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States **Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New Me ...
-Healthways Well-Being Index, Bakersfield ranks as one of the ten most obese metro areas in America. Of its residents, 33.6% were found to be obese, compared to the national average of 26.5%.Elizabeth Mendes
What America's Most Obese Metro Areas Have in Common
Gallup, March 2, 2010, Retrieved May 19, 2011.
The same study found that 21.2% were smokers, 12.7% had diabetes, 27.9% had
high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
, 22.8% had high cholesterol, 3.3% have suffered a heart attack, 75.2% felt they had enough money to buy food and 75.5% had health insurance.


Housing and development

Bakersfield saw its population grow from about 105,000 in 1980 to 347,000 in 2010. Although the city is still growing, its growth rate has slowed in recent years due to the economic recession and high home foreclosure rates. However, in October 2013, Bakersfield was found to be the number two city in the nation for the rental market. Apartment vacancies have become a large issue with only one percent of potential apartments being open to new renters as of April 2021. Th
average cost of rent and housing
have dramatically increased in the last few years, with some apartments having their monthly rent nearly double in cost. Most new apartments being built are catering to commuting workers from Southern California and the Bay Area, with local residents being priced out. The city of Shafter, a small farming town north of Bakersfield, previously filed a suit to attempt to limit the northern expansion of Bakersfield's city limits. Shafter has also annexed large pieces of farmland to its east and south to ensure that Bakersfield does not annex this area. Bakersfield, in addition, filed a lawsuit against Shafter in 2007 regarding water rights Shafter planned to use but Bakersfield stated it had purchased in 1976. As a result, the city of Bakersfield threatened to annex the city of Shafter. The large bluff and plateau which lie east of Bakersfield—toward the Rio Bravo and Kern Canyon area—have been under development for the last 60 years. Because the steep, north-facing edge of the bluff provides a view of the foothills, mountains, oil fields, and Kern River, the city government has attempted to balance development and preservation in this area.


Economy

Bakersfield's historic and primary industries have related to Kern County's two main industries, oil and agriculture. Kern County in 2013 was the most oil productive county in the US.About Bakersfield
. City of Bakersfield Economic & Community Development. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
Kern County is a part of the highly productive San Joaquin Valley, and ranks in the top five most productive agricultural counties in the nation. Major crops for Kern County include: grapes, citrus, almonds, carrots, alfalfa, cotton, and roses. The city serves as the home for both corporate and regional headquarters of companies engaged in these industries. Bakersfield has a growing manufacturing and distribution sector. Several companies have moved to Bakersfield because of its inexpensive land, as well as proximity to international ports in both Los Angeles and
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. Other companies have opened regional offices and non-oil/agricultural businesses because of Bakersfield's and Kern County's business friendly policies, such as having no local utility or inventory taxes. Products manufactured in the city include: ice cream (world's largest ice cream plant), central vacuums, highway paint, and stock racing cars. Bakersfield is the largest city to have the lowest sales tax in California at the state minimum of 7.25%.


Top employers

According to the Greater Bakersfield
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
, the top employers in the county based in Bakersfield are:


Arts and culture

Many of Bakersfield's oldest and most historic restaurants are Basque, including Wool Growers, Noriega's, Pyrenees, Benji's, and Narducci's. The Kern County Museum, located on Chester Avenue just north of downtown Bakersfield holds a collection of regional artifacts. Permanent exhibits include: "Black Gold: The Oil Experience", a hands-on modern approach at showing how oil is extracted; and "The Lori Brock Children's Discovery Museum", a hands-on children's museum and a display on the influential " Bakersfield Sound" style of country music. Bakersfield is also home to the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History, which has a collection of Miocene era marine fossils collected from the region as well as other displays. The city gained fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s for the Bakersfield Sound, an electric guitar-driven subgenre of country music that commercially dominated the industry for more than a decade. Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakam, and Merle Haggard were its best-known stars.


Events

Bakersfield hosts horse shows all year round, including local,
4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
and breed shows. Every spring, Bakersfield hosts one of California's Scottish Games and Clan Gatherings. In the late summer, St. George's Greek Orthodox Church hosts an annual Greek Festival. Every year during the summer, Bakersfield hosts the Lowrider National at the Kern County Fairgrounds. Memorial Day weekend features the Kern County
Basque Festival Basque festivals, also known as ''Euskal jaiak'', are festivals celebrating Basque culture, including Basque dance, Basque cuisine, Basque sports, and elements of Basque folklore. Basque festivals are organized in the United States of America in t ...
, sponsored by the Kern County Basque Club. This three-day festival features food, music, dance, and handball games. In March,
Famoso Raceway The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. The strip, loc ...
holds the annual
March Meet The March Meet is an independent drag race held at Famoso Raceway, a dragstrip located approximately ten miles north of Bakersfield, California. It began in 1959 under the sanction of the "Smokers Car Club" and was initially known as the "US Fuel & ...
nostalgia drag racing event. The event dates back to the U.S. Fuel and Gas Finals held in March 1959. Twice a year, the CSUB Indigenous Native American Club hosts a Native Gathering on the California State University Bakersfield campus at Runner Park. In mid to late September, Bakersfield holds the annual Kern County Fair, which showcases the area's agricultural produce and animal husbandry, along with a rodeo, concerts, and a traditional carnival. Previously every year and now every five years, Bakersfield hosts a political conference known as the Bakersfield Business Conference. Since 1985, this conference has grown in attendance and as of 2007, the attendance numbered over 9,000. The Conference has had several notable political speakers to include
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, Jimmy Carter,
Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
,
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, Margaret Thatcher,
Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...
, Norman Schwarzkopf,
Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Rush Limbaugh,
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
and Paul Harvey. Writers of Kern hosts their Spring Writers Conference in March or April each year. Edgar Award winner and internationally bestselling author, Anne Perry, was a notable speaker at one of these writer's conferences.


Entertainment

Bakersfield has five movie multi-screen theaters: Edwards Bakersfield Stadium 14, Reading Cinemas Valley Plaza 16, Maya Cinemas Bakersfield 16, AMC Bakersfield 6, and a
Studio Movie Grill Studio Movie Grill is an American dine-in movie theater chain based in Dallas, Texas. The company's theaters feature a bar and lounge area, with meals that are served in the lounge area or at the theater seat before and during the movie. History ...
. The historic downtown Fox Theater has been renovated and is now a venue for concerts, musicians, comedians, and movies. The
Bakersfield Community Theatre Bakersfield Community Theatre (BCT) in Bakersfield, California is the oldest continuing community theatre in California; and the second oldest amateur community theatre in the Western United States: the Tacoma Little Theatre, est. 1918 in Tacoma ...
is the oldest "live" community theater in California. There are others, including "The Empty Space" (which offers some free performances).


Music

Due to the Dust Bowl, Buck Owens and his family migrated west where they would travel from Phoenix to the San Joaquin Valley to pick crops, including cotton. At 16, Owens moved to Bakersfield in 1951 where he and other musicians began to create what is now known as the Bakersfield sound. In 1996, Buck Owens opened the Crystal Palace, a music hall, nightclub, bar, restaurant, and museum, in Bakersfield. Musician Merle Haggard was born and raised in
Oildale Oildale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Oildale is located north-northwest of downtown Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 32,684 at the 2010 census, up from 27,885 at the 2000 censu ...
. In 1962, Haggard completed his first single, "Skid Row", on Bakersfield's Tally label. In 1965, he went on to sign with
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. Most of Haggard's early songs reflect his time spent in prison, farming, and working blue collar jobs in Southern California, including Bakersfield. Bakersfield is often considered to be the birthplace of a unique strand of country music that has inspired many country artists, such as Dwight Yoakam and
The Strangers Strangers are people who are unknown to another person or group. Strangers or The Strangers may also refer to: History * Elizabethan Strangers or Strangers, a name applied to French and Belgian immigrants to Norwich, East Anglia, England, during ...
. Yoakam, alongside Owens, paid tribute to Owens by covering his 1973 recording of "
Streets of Bakersfield "Streets of Bakersfield" is a 1973 song written by Homer Joy and popularized by Buck Owens. In 1988, Owens recorded a duet version with country singer Dwight Yoakam, which became one of Yoakam's first No. 1 Hot Country Singles hits. The song, ...
". The cover reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1988.


Classical

The
Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra The Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Bakersfield, California. Founded in 1932, BSO plays its concerts at the Mechanics Bank Theater and Convention Center. On October 8, 2022, BSO opened it's 91st season. St ...
has been performing since 1932.


Country

Bakersfield is known for the Bakersfield sound, "a twangy style of Fender Telecaster and
pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
music made popular by hometown country crooners Buck Owens and Merle Haggard" as well as The Strangers.Tracie Cone," Associated Press, "Bakersfield Enjoys Economic Vitality," ''Fresno Bee,'' January 1, 2013
/ref>


Doowop

Bakersfield is also known for
Doowop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
music dating back from the early-to-mid 1950s to the early-to-late 1960s, consisting of Doowop vocal groups such as
The Paradons The Paradons are an American doo wop vocal group from Bakersfield, California, United States, that formed in 1959. The group began by singing locally at school dances and clubs. Within a few months they secured a recording session with Milesto ...
,
The Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
, The Rev-Lons, and more.


Rock

In 1972,
Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...
released the song "
Mexicali Blues Mexicali Blues may refer to: * Mexicali Blues (company), an American company founded in 1988 * "Mexicali Blues" (song), a 1972 song by Grateful Dead {{Disambiguation ...
" on his first solo album, '' Ace''. Not only does the sound of the song pay tribute to the Bakersfield sound, but the name of the city is referenced in the lyrics. In 1978, The Rolling Stones released the song "
Far Away Eyes "Far Away Eyes" is the sixth track from the English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1978 album, ''Some Girls.'' It was released, as the B-side of the single " Miss You", on Rolling Stones Records, on 9 June 1978. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine made it ...
" on the album '' Some Girls''. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards collaborated on writing the song and it was recorded in late 1977. The Rolling Stones, longtime country music fans, incorporated many aspects of "Bakersfield sound" country music into this song. Bakersfield is mentioned in the song.


Heavy Metal

In the early 1990s, a group of friends from the lower and middle-class parts of Northeast and East Bakersfield formed the
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
band
Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...
. The members of the band attended Highland High School ( Jonathan Davis and Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu), East High School (
James "Munky" Shaffer James Christian Shaffer (born June 6, 1970), also known by his stage name "Munky", is an American musician best known as co-founder and guitarist of the nu metal band Korn. He has cited Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, and Randy Rhoads as some of h ...
and lead guitarist Brian "Head" Welch) and South High School ( David Silveria). Korn has sold over 34 million albums worldwide and were given the keys to the city. Bakersfield is also the home of fellow metal groups
Cradle of Thorns Cradle of Thorns was an American rock band. Formed in 1988 in Bakersfield, California by singer Ty Elam, the band was initially defined by their gothic rock style. After releasing their debut album, ''Remember It Day'', independently in 1990, ...
(formed in 1988 by Ty Elam as Videodrone) and Adema (The band formed in 2000 with members vocalist Mark Chavez, guitarist Tim Fluckey, guitarist Mike Ransom, bassist Dave DeRoo, and drummer Kris Kohls). On February 24, 2006, Bakersfield mayor Harvey Hall declared February 24 "Korn Day". On the same day, the back road to the Rabobank Arena was named Korn Row. Bakersfield is also the home of
Deathrock Death rock (or deathrock) is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk ge ...
group
Burning Image Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation ''1983-1987'' i ...
, one of the original bands of the early 80's Californian Deathrock scene.


Sports

Bakersfield is not represented in any of the five major sports leagues:
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, MLB,
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
, NHL, or MLS. The closest major sports teams are in Los Angeles and they have many fans in Bakersfield. The city is home to two minor league professional sports teams: the Bakersfield Condors ( American Hockey League) and the Bakersfield Train Robbers baseball club ( Pecos League). It was previously home to the
California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...
's Bakersfield Blaze baseball team which ceased operations after the 2016 season. A third minor league team, the Bakersfield Jam of the
D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...
(basketball), was relocated to Prescott Valley, Arizona, in 2016. The Bakersfield Magic are an expansion team in The Basketball League that will begin play in 2022. In addition, Bakersfield has two colleges with strong athletics programs. The
Bakersfield Renegades The Bakersfield College Renegades (referred to as BC Renegades or Gades) represent Bakersfield College in 20 sports. The college competes in the Western State Conference, which is affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Associati ...
represent Bakersfield College, a community college with 19 varsity sports, the most notable being football. It competes in the Western State Conference, which is a part of the California Community College Athletic Association. The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners represent California State University, Bakersfield and sponsor 15 varsity sports, the most notable being basketball. It competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big West Conference Bakersfield is home to Colby Lewis from the MLB team, the Texas Rangers, Stephen Neal from the Super Bowl Champions, New England Patriots. NFL players Joey Porter, David and Derek Carr also have called Bakersfield home, and still have some connection to Bakersfield. Bakersfield is also located near a variety of motor racing venues. Current racing sports include: drag strip (at
Famoso Raceway The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. The strip, loc ...
), dirt (at Bakersfield Speedway), road course (at
Buttonwillow Raceway Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a motorsports park in Kern County, California, north of the town of Buttonwillow and northwest of Bakersfield. Opened in 1995, it is owned and operated by the California Sports Car Club, a region of SCCA, Button ...
), and a paved 1/2 mile oval (at Kern County Raceway Park), which replaced Mesa Marin Raceway, a NASCAR associated oval track, that was demolished in 2004. A 1/3 mile dirt track has also opened on the Kern County Raceway Park property. The national jet boat association holds drag boat races at Lake Ming. Bakersfield is also the home town of four time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears, as well as the
2007 Daytona 500 The 2007 Daytona 500, the 49th running of the event, was the first race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, taking place on February 18, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kevin Harvick won the race by 0 ...
winner, and 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick. Bakersfield has many venues for a variety of different sports. One of the most notable and versatile is the
Mechanics Bank Arena Mechanics Bank Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Bakersfield, California. Located downtown at the corner of Truxtun Avenue and N Street, it was built in 1998, and was originally known as Centennial Garden, a name submitted by local resident Brian ...
(formerly the Centennial Garden) which hosts concerts, shows, and sporting events. In addition, Bakersfield has facilities that can host tournament games. The Kern County Soccer Field has 24 full-size light soccer fields. Also, currently under construction is the Bakersfield Sports Village. When completed, it will have 16 baseball fields, 6 football fields, and 16 soccer fields.


Government and politics


Local government

Bakersfield uses the Council-Manager form of government, in which the City Council is the primary governing authority. The City Council consists of seven members, elected from seven wards (or districts). The Mayor is elected at large, and is the presiding member of the City Council, although she does not cast a vote except in a few instances.''Bakersfield City Charter''. Article III, Section 14. The City Council appoints and confirms (which the mayor does cast a vote) both the City Attorney and the
City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...
. The City Manager, in turn, appoints (does not require confirmation from the City Council) the Finance Director,
City Clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...
, and Deputy City Clerk. In addition to these positions, Bakersfield also has several departments, used to provide the services necessary to the city. They are: Department of Development Services, Department of Economic and Community Development,
Fire Department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
,
Police Department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...
, Department of Public Works, Department of Recreation and Parks, and Department of Water Resources. The framework for the city government is defined in the City Charter. As of 2011, it contained 11 articles and 4 addendums. The current version was adopted on January 23, 1915. Little information is known about the City Charter adopted in 1873, or in 1898, when the city was incorporated. The City Charter has been amended several times since it was adopted. One of the more definitive amendments was to change the Mayor from an appointed position (by the City Council) to an elected position in 1956, which was done as a result of the
1952 Kern County earthquake The 1952 Kern County earthquake occurred on July 21 in the southern San Joaquin Valley and measured 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale. The main shock occurred at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time (11:52 UTC), killed 12 people, injured hundreds mor ...
. The City Manager of Bakersfield is the appointed head of the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...
. The position was created after 1957, when the role of mayor (which was the previous head) was split into two new positions. Under the council-manager form of government, the City Manager is responsible for executing ordinances passed by the city council and running the departments that make up the city. His office is currently located in City Hall North. The city manager is appointed by the city council. His service can end in one of two ways. Either he: resigns, or by a vote of removal by the city council. The vote to appoint and remove is one of the few votes the mayor can cast. For a list of past and present mayors, see List of mayors of Bakersfield.


State and federal

Federally, Bakersfield is split between California's 23rd congressional district, which is represented by Republican Kevin McCarthy and California's 21st congressional district, which is represented by Republican
David Valadao David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A mem ...
.


Political makeup

An August 2005 article in the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' listed Bakersfield as the eighth-most-conservative city in the United States and the most conservative city in California. In the 2008 Presidential election, Republican
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
received 55.6% of the city's votes to Democrat Barack Obama's 42.9%. The same year, Bakersfield cast 75.2% of its votes in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the
California Constitution The Constitution of California ( es, Constitución de California) is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's original co ...
to ban same-sex marriage. In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump received 50.4% of the vote compared to Hillary Clinton's 44.0%. Large influxes of people moving to Bakersfield from Southern California and the Bay Area have been changing the political makeup of Bakersfield, while Kern County as a whole still remains strongly Republican.


Public safety

Law enforcement within the city limits is provided by the Bakersfield Police Department. Fire protection within the city is provided jointly by the
Bakersfield Fire Department Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
and by the Kern County Fire Department, which protects the county as a whole. Bakersfield is traditionally acknowledged as the frontier delineating Sureño and Norteño gang territories.


Police

The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) is the agency responsible for law enforcement. It has over 363 officers and 100 professional staff, covering an area of serving an urban population of more than 800,000. The current
chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...
of the department is Greg Terry. The department protects the city, split between two areas: West area and East area, with police headquarters in the east and the west substation serving west Bakersfield. The department administration is made up of the chief of police, one assistant chief, four captains and eleven lieutenants. The department headquarters are located at 1601 Truxtun Avenue. The West Substation is located at 1301 Buena Vista Road. Satellite offices are located on E. 11th Street and on E. White Lane. The department pistol range is located on Truxtun Avenue, with the K-9 training grounds next door to the range. The department training academy is located on Norris Road in conjunction with the Kern County Sheriff's Department. The 2015 Mapping Police Violence study calculated that Bakersfield police killed civilians at the highest rate in the U.S., logging 13.6 killings per million people, compared to the U.S. average of 3.6. In all, 13 people were killed in 2015 by BPD Officers and 27 people were killed by law enforcement officers in Kern County, which has a population of approximately 900,000. The Guardian reported that law enforcement officers in Kern County, California, killed more people per capita than in any other American county in 2015.


Fire

The Bakersfield Fire Department has 14 stations spread across the city. The Bakersfield Fire Department's communications division, known as ECC (Emergency Communications Center), is located in the Whiting Communications Center in Northeast Bakersfield. ECC is a joint dispatch center for the Kern County, Bakersfield City, and California City Fire Departments. Built in 1988, ECC is responsible for dispatching resources over an area of approximately that includes 65 fire stations. ECC's approximate call volume is 82,000 calls a year and processes Emergency and Non-Emergency Fire and Medical 911 calls for the entire County of Kern. The Kern County Fire Department (KCFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the county of Kern, California, USA. With over 625 permanent employees and 100 extra help employees protecting an area which spans over . KCFD provides fire protection services for over 500,000 citizens living in the unincorporated areas of Kern County and the cities of Arvin, Delano, Maricopa, McFarland, Ridgecrest, Shafter, Taft, Tehachapi and Wasco. This agency is contracted to provide dispatch services for the California City Fire Department, Kern Ambulance based in Wasco, and Care Ambulance based in Lake Isabella. Over 546 uniformed firefighters are stationed in 46 fire stations throughout the county. Due to a vast number of county islands and jagged city limit lines in the south part of Bakersfield, the closest fire station is dispatched to incidents. This often results in city resources being dispatched to county locations, and vice versa.


Crime

The number of violent crimes recorded by the Bakersfield Police Department in its 2008 Crime Reports was 5,961. 27 of those were murders and homicides. Data collected by Bakersfield Police Department, an anti-gang program under the city of Bakersfield, shows that the city of Bakersfield has experienced an increase in gang membership and gang activity since the early 2000s.


Jails

The Bakersfield Police Department has a holding area, but inmates are transported to the Kern County Central Receiving Facility in Bakersfield. Sentenced criminals are held at the Lerdo Detention Facility, just outside the city's limits. The Kern County Sheriff's Office, Detentions Bureau has an average daily inmate population of approximately 2,500 inmates. The primary facility for receiving inmates arrested in the Bakersfield area is the Central Receiving Facility. In addition, there is the Lerdo Complex, which consists of three facilities: # The Lerdo Minimum Security Facility holds inmates of lower security levels. #The Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility holds inmates of higher security levels. #The Lerdo Max/Med Security Facility holds overflow inmates from the Pre-Trial Facility.


Education

Two of the earliest schools founded in Kern County were Mrs. Thomas Baker's school, opened in 1863 at the Baker home (near present-day 19th and N streets); and a Catholic parochial school opened by Reverend Father Daniel Dade in 1865 in Havilah (then the county seat). In 1880, Norris School was established. The land for this school was donated by William Norris, a local farmer. Thirteen to twenty students were taught in its one classroom during the 1880s. Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) is the state's largest elementary school district. The first high school in Bakersfield, Kern County Union High School, opened in 1893. It was renamed Bakersfield High School after World War II. The site at California Avenue and F Street is the location of the first campus of Bakersfield College, which was established in 1913 and relocated in 1956 to its current location overlooking the Panorama Bluffs in northeast Bakersfield. Bakersfield College has an enrollment of 16,000 students. To serve a growing baby-boomer population after World War II, the Kern High School District has steadily expanded to nineteen campuses and more than 35,000 students, making it the largest high school district in the state. In 1965, a university in the California State University system was founded in Bakersfield. California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) has approximately 10,000 students. It was an NCAA Division II sports powerhouse in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with some sports, including wrestling (Pac-10), competing in Division I. CSUB has become a Division I athletic school and will join the Big West Conference in 2020. In 1982, the Bakersfield campus for Santa Barbara Business College was founded.


High schools

Bakersfield is part of the Kern High School District (KHSD), California's largest high school district, comprising 28 schools and educating about 35,000 students. There are 17 high schools within the KHSD in Bakersfield: *
Arvin High School Arvin High School is located in Arvin, California, United States and is part of the Kern High School District. Arvin High School was established in 1949, and is located in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley. Arvin High serves approxima ...
* Bakersfield High School * Centennial High School *
East Bakersfield High School East Bakersfield High School is a 9-12 high school located in Bakersfield, CA. Built in 1938, EBHS, commonly called "East" or "EB", is the second oldest high school in Bakersfield after Bakersfield High School. Athletics EBHS sports teams are ca ...
* Foothill High School * Frontier High School * Golden Valley High School * Highland High School * Independence High School * Liberty High School *
Mira Monte High School Mira Monte High School is a high school located at 1800 South Fairfax Road in southeast Bakersfield, California. It opened for the school year of 2008–2009. It is in the Kern High School District.http://www.kernhigh.org/ Kern High School Dist ...
*
North High School North High School may refer to: * North High School (Phoenix, Arizona) * North Pulaski High School, Jacksonville, Arkansas * North High School (Bakersfield, California) * John W. North High School, Riverside, California * North High School (Torranc ...
* Ridgeview High School * Shafter High School * South High School * Stockdale High School * West High School Private high schools include Garces Memorial High School, Bakersfield Christian High School, and Bakersfield Adventist Academy.


Accredited colleges and universities


California State University, Bakersfield

California State University, Bakersfield ("CSUB", "CSU Bakersfield", or "Cal State Bakersfield") is a public university founded in Bakersfield in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a campus of , becoming the 19th school in the California State University system. The university offers 31 bachelor's and 22 master's degree programs. As of fall 2017, over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students attended CSUB, at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the satellite campus, Antelope Valley Center in Lancaster, California.


Bakersfield College

Bakersfield College ("BC") is a public community college located in Bakersfield, California. Its main campus is on a campus in northeast Bakersfield, with two satellite campuses: the Weill Institute in downtown Bakersfield, and at the Delano Center in Delano, California, approximately north of Bakersfield. BC serves more than 18,000 students each semester and is part of the Kern Community College District. Currently, there are a total of 184 Associate's degree and certificate programs for students to choose from. BC is a part of the
California Community Colleges system The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 sectio ...
.


Other colleges and universities

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...
and University of Phoenix maintains a campus in Bakersfield, while the
University of LaVerne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...
, Fresno Pacific University, and Point Loma Nazarene University all have branch campuses located in Bakersfield.
San Joaquin Valley College San Joaquin Valley College (SJVC) is a private for-profit college with locations in California and an online division. SJVC was founded in 1977 by Robert and Shirley Perry. The college offers certificates, Associate of Science degrees, and cont ...
and Santa Barbara Business College also have campuses in Bakersfield.


Media

Bakersfield is served by several media outlets. The primary newspaper is '' The Bakersfield Californian'', which is a direct descendant of the first paper published in the region, ''The Daily Courier'' in 1866. The city has a number of television stations and network affiliates, including KERO-TV ( ABC), KBAK-TV ( CBS), KGET-TV ( NBC), KBFX-CD (
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...
), KABE-CD ( Univision), KKEY-LP ( Telemundo),
KNXT-LD KNXT-LD (channel 53) is a low-power television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by My Central Valley, LLC. KNXT-LD's transmitter is located on Mount Adelaide. History The ...
( MyNetworkTV), KGET-DT2 ( CW+) and is served by Fresno's PBS affiliate, KVPT. Bakersfield is also home to Spanish-language broadcaster Univision's only English-language station, KUVI-DT.


Transportation


Highways

Bakersfield is serviced by an extensive highway network which includes three freeways.
State Route 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) I ...
bisects Bakersfield from north to south, while
State Route 58 The following highways are numbered 58: International * European route E58 Australia * Riverina Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 58 * Highway 58 (Ontario) * Saskatchewan Highway 58 Finland * Finnish national road 58 India * National Highw ...
exists as a freeway east of SR 99, servicing the southeast part of the city and extending over the Tehachapi mountains to Tehachapi, Mojave, and Barstow.
State Route 178 The following highways are numbered 178: Canada *Prince Edward Island Route 178 Japan * Japan National Route 178 United States * Interstate 178 (former proposal) * U.S. Route 178 * Alabama State Route 178 * Arkansas Highway 178 * California ...
consists of a short segment of freeway that runs from a point near downtown to the northeastern part of the city, although there is currently no direct freeway connection between SR 99 and SR 178. Interstate 5 bypasses the city several miles to the west. Bakersfield is also served by a short, unsigned, four-lane freeway called Alfred Harrell Highway. It was constructed between 1956 and 1958 and extends from China Grade Loop to Hart Park (a large recreation park in northeast Bakersfield). There is also a two-lane expressway to the east of the park. This section was originally reserved to be converted to a four-lane freeway similar to the constructed western portion. If it were ever constructed, it would have two interchanges (at Morning Drive and Lake Ming Road) and would terminate at the SR 178 adopted alignment (not constructed). Both SR 58 and SR 178 have planned future extensions. The western extension of SR 58 is known as the
Centennial Corridor State Route 58 (SR 58) is a major east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the Coast Ranges, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains, which border the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Deser ...
, which will extend the freeway west to I-5. Included in the Centennial Corridor is the
Westside Parkway State Route 58 (SR 58) is a major east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the Coast Ranges, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains, which border the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Deser ...
(sometimes referred to by its formal name, the Kern River Freeway). This is a newer freeway which runs through western Bakersfield, on a route parallel to the Kern River and Stockdale Highway. The western extension of SR 178 is known as the Crosstown Freeway/SR 178 Connection, although it was formerly known as the Centennial Corridor before that name was moved to SR 58. It is planned to connect SR 178 to the Westside Parkway. In addition to these freeway extensions, there is also a proposed network of beltways. Currently, there are two beltways being considered in Bakersfield. The West Beltway would run north–south from Seventh Standard Road to Taft Highway. It will run parallel to Heath Road to the north and parallel to South Allen Road to the south. A future extension would connect the West Beltway to SR 99 and I-5, providing a bypass to Bakersfield. The South Beltway would run east–west from SR 58 to I-5. From SR 58, it would run south, parallel to Comanche Drive until Taft Highway. From there, the freeway would turn west, and run parallel to Taft Highway until terminating at I-5. A future extension would extend the freeway north to SR 178 and terminate at Alfred Harrell Highway. Bakersfield also envisioned Caltrans building a North Beltway as the western extension of SR 58, but this has been withdrawn in favor of the Centennial Corridor. Most of Bakersfield's major streets are six-lane divided roads with bike lanes, with almost every street in the city having proper lane signage for bicycle traffic. Bicycles are a popular mode of transportation in Bakersfield, due to the city's relatively flat topography and grid-like street system. Newer neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, previously surrounded by two-lane farm roads, are prompting more large, divided roads to be built to help ease the increase in traffic that has resulted from the increase in population. Many developers choose to widen the roads that connect these neighborhoods at their own discretion, which can cause a major road to widen and narrow repeatedly over a short distance (Allen Road and Panama Lane are prime examples of this). Since the Bakersfield city limit boundaries are not uniform, this can cause Kern County "islands" to exist within Bakersfield. The county of Kern may choose not to upgrade a road while the city of Bakersfield does improve a road, which can cause traffic congestion to increase (Calloway Drive from the Westside Parkway north to Rosedale Highway best exemplifies this disparity). Bakersfield is currently one of the largest cities in the U.S. that is not directly linked to an
Interstate highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
. However, SR 99 and SR 58 have been considered for conversion to Interstates. SR 99 would be a new Interstate signed either as Interstate 7 or Interstate 9, while SR 58 would be an extension of I-40 which currently terminates in Barstow. In 2005, SR 99 was added to the FHWA list of high priority corridors as "California farm to market route" and designated a Future Interstate. Garces Memorial Traffic Circle, informally known as Garces Circle or just "the Circle", is a traffic circle in Bakersfield. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chester Avenue, Golden State Avenue ( State Route 204), and 30th Street. The Circle was built circa 1932 as a part of
US 99 U.S. Route 99 (US 99) was a main north–south United States Numbered Highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the US–Mexico border to Blaine, Washington, on the U.S.-Canada border ...
. A large sculpture of Francisco Garces was erected inside the circle in 1939.


Bus

Bakersfield is served by Golden Empire Transit. Eighteen routes are operated, the majority of which serve the urbanized portion of the county which includes the city of
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
. Bakersfield is also served by
Kern Transit KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...
, which connects Bakersfield with other communities in Kern County. Intercity bus providers in Bakersfield include Amtrak Thruway, Greyhound, Flixbus,
Orange Belt Stages Orange Belt Stages was a bus company based in Visalia, California, affiliated with the Trailways Transportation System. The company was incorporated on November 30, 1935, and operated scheduled service in California as well as charter services. T ...
, National Charter Bus, Intercalifornias, TUFESA, and Fronteras del Norte. The privately owned Airport Valet Express used to offer daily service between Bakersfield and LAX via a connection at the
Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...
FlyAway bus station, however, they suspended service during the 2020 pandemic and have not yet announced a reopening date.


Rail

For freight, Bakersfield is served directly by two class-1 railroads, Union Pacific, and BNSF. North of the city, each railroad uses its own rail lines; south of the city, they share a line owned by Union Pacific. The route travels over Tehachapi Pass (and through the Tehachapi Loop). There are several spur lines in and around Bakersfield. The majority are operated by the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Passenger service is provided by the San Joaquin Route, operated by Amtrak California. The Bakersfield Amtrak Station is located
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...
, at the intersection of S Street and Truxtun Avenue. The city is the southern terminus of the route. There are five
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...
routes, which connect passengers to destinations west, south, and east.
Kern Transit KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...
also uses the station as one of its hubs, connecting passengers to regions throughout Kern County.
A station , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including ''Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and ''Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well kn ...
for Bakersfield is planned as part of the California High-Speed Rail system, now under construction.


Airport

Meadows Field Airport Meadows Field is a public airport in Kern County, California, United States, three miles northwest of Downtown Bakersfield. It is the main airport for the Bakersfield area, and one of two international airports in the San Joaquin Valley. Also kn ...
in Bakersfield was recently rebuilt and dedicated as the
William M. Thomas William M. Thomas () was an African-American Republican politician during the Reconstruction era. He was a minister affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He represented Colleton County in the 1868 South Carolina Constitutiona ...
Terminal. Also located at the Airport are the Hall Medivac Helicopter, International Flight Training Academy (a subsidiary of Japan's ANA Airlines), SRT Helicopter Flight School, and numerous other aviation mechanics and technicians. However, IFTA has suspended operations in March 2014.


Sites of interest

The following is a list of sites of interest in and around Bakersfield: * Bakersfield Sign (Central) *
Beale Memorial Clock Tower Beale Memorial Clock Tower is a clock tower located in Bakersfield, California. It was a gift to the city; built by Truxtun Beale in memory of his mother, Mary Edwards Beale. It was dedicated on April 4, 1904, and was built in the middle of the in ...
(Central) * Buck Owens Crystal Palace (Central) * Fox Theater (Downtown) * Kern County Museum (Central) * Kern Veterans Memorial (Downtown) * Padre Hotel (Downtown) * Mill Creek (Downtown) * The Park at River Walk (Southwest)


Notable people


Sister cities

*
Bucheon Bucheon () is a administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Bucheon is located away from Seoul, of which it is a satellite town, satellite city. It is located between Incheon and Seoul. Bucheon is the second ...
,
Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...
, South Korea * Minsk, Belarus (Inactive since June 1999) * Wakayama, Japan (July 14, 1961) * Cixi, Zhejiang, China * Santiago de Querétaro,
Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...
, Mexico *
Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...
, Punjab, India


See also


Notes


References


External links

*
Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau
* * {{Authority control Cities in Kern County, California San Joaquin Valley Incorporated cities and towns in California County seats in California Basque-American culture in California 1873 establishments in California Populated places established in 1860