Talk:Bakersfield, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
This article, or a portion of it, was copyedited by the League of Copyeditors in December 2006. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
This article is part of WikiProject California, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page to join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

Wondering how to edit this U.S. City Entry?
The WikiProject U.S. Cities standards might help.

Contents

[edit] Worst City Article

Aside from being home to the worst type of suburban sprawl in the state, I love Bakersfield. I spent alot of time there during my youth, but this article is atrocious. There are parts of the article where one sentence is stretched the length of a paragraph. It's OK to use commas, semi colons and periods, really. Parts of it read like a City of Commerce brochure, and other parts are filled with speculation and unverifiable claims. I like that it is full of information, but it needs alot of cleaning up. (Dcmcgov 02:48, 8 September 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Population

Califormia State Department of Finance estimates are at 295,893 people as of January 1, 2005.

Lzygenius 17:17, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Population for metro area

Hello everyone:

Do we have a source for the Bakersfield metro area population?

800,000 seems ridiculously high unless one is including far-flung areas like Tehachapi.

--Coolcaesar 02:04, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Kern County's population as of the 2003 estimate was 713,087 according to the US Census Bureau. Of that, 15,000 are in Rosamond, 11,000 are in California City, 24,000 are in Ridgecrest, and 3,000 are in Mojave totaling 53,000. This subtracted from 713,00 is 660,000. With an average of 7.8% increase (according to Census) in population in 3 years, this would add another 51,480 people by 2006 to the Bakersfield area of Kern County making a total of 711,567. However, southern Tulare County is also a part of the Bakersfield metro area, while northern Tulare County is part of the Visalia-Tulare-Porterville, MSA. Tulare County has a 2003 population estimate of 390,791 of which 360,000 live in the northern part of the county. The other 30,000, now presumably 35,000, live in the southern part of the county and are part of the Bakersfield, CA MSA. So therefore, as of 2005, I would estimate the Bakersfield Metropolitan Area at 747,358 persons.

  • OK, but where is the published reliable data for the above long statement? Nice reasoning, but no cigar. It's gonna get pulled. The figure as it stands currently might be good for the Mojave Desert and San Joaquin Valley portions that together make up Kern County, but not Bakersfield, or Bakersfield metro. Bakersfield metro, BTW, does not extend into places like Ridgecrest. So, in the absence of a published reliable figure from the US Census Bureau, it's simply gonna get deleted. It's not a verifiable fact. --avnative 23:35, August 25, 2005 (UTC)
As a former long-time resident of Bakersfield, who goes back yearly, I'd say the metro pop of Bakersfield is somewhere in the 400k range. I'm not going to change any numbers, but I have to say that there was this theme among Bakersfield natives to believe that the metro population was somehow near one million, despite reality. Bobak 20:38, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
What is Bakersfield Metro? Think Oildale, unincorporated island county areas, East Bakersfield/Old Town Kern, the Edison Highway/Niles area, Fruitvale, Rosedale, Greenfield. Add that to the current (2006) Bakersfield proper pop. of 311,000+ and you'll have a metro pop. of close to or over 400,000.

The Bakersfield metropolitan area population depends on what you consider to be part of the metropolitan area. Like some people consider Riverside and San Bernardino part of the Los Angeles metro area, some demographers (including the U.S. Census Bureau) consider all of Kern County, including the Mojave Desert Area, to be part of the Bakersfield Metropolitan Area. If you include all of Kern County, Bakersfield's metropolitan area has about 800,000 people. If you include only Western Kern County, the metropolitan area has a population of about 725,000-750,000. If you include just the local area (Bakersfield, much of East Bakersfield thats not in the city limits, Oildale, Rosedale, Green Acres, Edison, Greenfield, Pumpkin Center, and Rexland Acres) Bakersfield around 500,000. Mrsmith93309 05:38, 20 December 2006 (UTC)Mrsmith93309

[edit] Long History of Racism?

"Bakersfield has a long history of racism and discrimination."

Is there any evidence to support this assertion? One third of the population is latino. Are they rascist too? Citing Grapes of Wrath and Chavez as a long history is wrong. I'd like to know who put this in and for what purpose. It doesn't serve any purpose other than offending Bakersfield residents of all stripes. Should we add that to Los Angeles as well? What about Hollywood's shameful propagation of race theory before WWII?

You know what I'm gonna take it out until someone can explain why it should be included.

--Dsquared 01:40, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

"Population: 296,000" is on the city limit size in Rosedale, the on-ramp from Oildale to the CA-99S, and the city limits size on the CA-99N at the south end of town. Sounds official to me.

  • Yup. City limit signs are almost as good as US Census Bureau figures, IMHO. I've seen the signs you mention firsthand - I'm an eyewitness to your statement above. --avnative 23:37, August 25, 2005 (UTC)
    • Bakersfield does have a long history of racism. I remember when Cottonwood Road aka Lakeview Avenue was strictly black and far from the white part of the city. The key word here is "long". It may be heavily populated by latinos, but that wasn't always the case.

Music is what began to break down the barriers, with popular bands of the 50's performing at Rainbow or Harmony Gardens and the kids who loved the music went there to see the bands live, breaking color barriers. Then there were groups that began playing white venues, I can't recall the name of the band Charlie Weldon had, but it was the beginning of changing race relations.

    • I just remembered the name of Charlie Weldon's band - The Paradons. Maluka 08:42, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm surprised Cousin Herb Henson isn't mentioned -- he gave so many their start and had all the top country performers of the early 50's as guests.

Country music wasn't popular at all during that time with the youth who tuned into Relaxin' With Jaxon, a DJ in Taft who played nothing but rhytmn and blues (now called oldies but goodies) ugh.

There's a lot of history missing. Maluka 05:16, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Country Capital of California

I always thought it was just "Nashville West." Why isn't Red Simpson mentioned in this entry? Or that the "Streets of Bakersfield" was a #1 hit? Or that it was in a Bakersfield courthouse that Spade Cooley was convicted for beating his wife to death in front of his daughter? Where's the Blackboard? Where's Don Rich? This country segment is LACKING.

It should also be noted that Merle was born in Bakersfield, and that Buck, in contrast, is a Texas native who now owns the entire town.

  • It should be noted Buck died in Bakersfield. Maluka 08:43, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know if Dwight Yoakam ever actually lived in Bakersfield? The article on him doesn't mention that he did... --Kfreeland 04:01, 24 June 2006 (UTC)


Dwight Yoakam was born in Kentucky and raised in Ohio. He is not, nor has been a Bakersfield resident. He is, however,consodered an honorary Bakersfield citizen.

[edit] 8000 years ago?

The Yokut Indians were the first people to settle in the San Joaquin Valley, some 8000 years ago.

Is this correct? I would of thought maybe 800 but 8000? Iwish 05:37, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

I think so. Last time I checked, the consensus among scientists was that Native Americans walked over to North America more than 10,000 or even 20,000 years ago. That would give them more than enough time to work their way down to the San Joaquin Valley. --Coolcaesar 06:52, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Rollback

I reverted this back to the Revision as of 20:39, 29 October 2005. As near as I can tell, there was substantial damage done by Lotsofissues, but when the vandalism was reverted, I think it was a cut and paste job, and all the links were lost. I checked the subsequent edits, and most were wiki work, with 24.24.162.248 also converting imperial to metric. --Bookandcoffee 21:27, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Culture

"Recently, the white nationalist girl duo Prussian Blue, which was formed in Bakersfield, gained fame for its mixture of Nazi ideology and adolescent cuteness."

While I appreciate the delicate attempt at diplomatic language, this claim is fundamentally nonsensical. The other musical figures noted in the article have indisputably gained fame. In contrast, this duo apparently got some exposure on ABC news and got a short article on the front page of Bakersfield's newspaper when they were summarily cut from the county fair's list of performers. This events are not sufficient to warrant mention in an encyclopedia listing for a city of this size. I myself was once featured in an article in Bakersfield's paper. The article was even longer than the one devoted to this duo. However, this in no way means that I have "gained fame" in the community. Bottom line: this section of the article is devoted to the culture of Bakersfield. This duo has absolutely zero significance in that area. Bakersfieldteacher 02:08, 8 November 2005 (UTC)bakersfieldteacher

I agree completely with the earlier statement and the section should be removed, its a small trivial note that made headlines for one day and then everybody remembered they don't represent Kern county and are just ignorant rascists. -- Patman2648

[edit] George W. Bush

I have doubts about the accuracy of the claim that George W. Bush lived in Bakersfield. This is stated under the trivia section of the main article. Could this please be verified? --BorisFromStockdale 02:39, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

This is true. George Bush Sr. once worked for the oil companies and lived in both Bakersfield, CA and Compton (yes, that Compton) for brief periods during his time as middle-man on the move for the oil industry. At the time, Dubya was in tow as a young man. It was strange the first time I heard it (particularly Compton), so I looked it up and voila:
* Link: Seattle Times
* Link: San Diego Union-Tribune
I added a link at the end of that trivia piece. This moment of clarity provided by Bobak 20:43, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

It says, "President George W. Bush and President George H.W. Bush lived in Bakersfield while George H.W. Bush was working in the oil business in 1941." But the younger Bush wasn't born until 1946.

[edit] Titan gay porno movie "Bakersfield station"

There is a high-quality gay porno movie (running time about 3 hours):

Mens Room: Bakersfield Station - Titan Media. 2004. Written and directed by Joe Gage. Executive producer: Bruce Cam. Produced by Brian Mills and Harold Creg.

Would anyone care to put it into the trivia section? Erkabo 08:30, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

What the hell has happened to this page? Someone obviously vandalised it, but it happened several edits ago, so it can't be reverted without ruining the edits that have been done since then. Dude, isn't anyone watching this page? Eixo 23:08, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

By the way, the vandal was 69.19.139.248 at 02:02, 13 April 2006. There have been 10 edits since then. Seriously, you guys have been sleeping in class... Eixo 23:17, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Not sure if it was still traces of vandalism, but just made a few minor edits, and moved a couple of the 'people from bakersfield' out of the trivia... - Gomez 02:43, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Clean up?

The article as a whole is wordy and in need of copyediting (I'll add it to my list of articles to copyedit someday), but something really needs to be done about the geography section. While it provides an interesting look into the future of Bakersfield's development, it needs a lot of fact-checking, sourcing, and POV-removal. I'll add a couple of tags to the section.

Related to this: this article speculates that Highway 99 may become Interstate 7, but the Fresno article says that 99 may turn into I-9.

66.230.119.67 01:22, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Er, oops, I got logged out. That was posted by me. cluth 01:23, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] False traffic data

In the 2nd to last paragraph, under the Geography section of this article, it is stated that CA Route 99 is at its busiest in Bakersfield. This is simply not true.

According to CalTrans (2005 data), the busiest stretch of freeway along Highway 99 is located south of the U.S. 50/Business 80/CA 51 interchange in Sacramento, with an average daily traffic count of 235,000 vehicles a day.

The busiest stretch of the 99 freeway in Bakersfield is south of the 58 West interchange, with an average daily traffic count of 153,000 vehicles a day. This is a far cry from the traffic levels experienced in the Sacramento area.

The source can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/saferesr/trafdata/2005all/r099i.htm

Based on a lack of referrences and sources, I would deem much of this article to be unreliable, and certainly not accurate.

[edit] clean up attempt 1 - geography

Interesting to note:

  • how a pretty neutral topic such as geography can be drawn into local politics.
  • how a definition (interstate highways vs state highways) can make so much difference; it sounds like a movie script.
  • the need for central valley to have direct access to San Luis Obispo.

Here is my take. Welcome to anybody to put it in. Dilane 18:12, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Geography

Location of Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is located at 35°21′26″N, 119°1′54″W (35.357276, -119.031661)GR1, at 120 m (400 ft) in elevation. It lies near the southern "horseshoe" end of the San Joaquin Valley.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 296.3 km² (114.4 mi²). 292.9 km² (113.1 mi²) of it is land and 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²) of it (1.14%) is water.

Bakersfield is surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides:

  • On the Southern side are the Tehachapi Mountains (feature: the historic Tejon Ranch).
  • On the Western side is the Temblor Range (feature: the Carizzo Plain National Monument). The San Andreas Fault lies approximately 35 miles across the valley floor.

Currently the hop-scotch pattern of housing developments is pushing the city limits and zones of future annexation towards I-5 and the base of the Temblor Range.

On this side, Bakersfield is dominated by a large bluff and plateau that used to be the delta to the Kern River. 20,000 years ago the Kern River flowed atop this bluff until a large earthquake changed its course to the north of this delta. Currently this bluff has been developed for the last 60 years with houses moving to the east towards the Rio Bravo and Kern Canyon area. The steep north facing edge of the bluff provides spectacular views of the foothills, mountains, and Kern River.

[edit] Community fears

Bakersfield desperately wants to keep its identity and not be similar to the crammed housing developments that are typical of the Santa Clarita Valley in Los Angeles County along I-5. The general fear among residents is having Bakersfield become a bedroom community to Los Angeles and become a rubber stamp community controlled by Los Angeles like so many other cities and towns in and around Los Angeles have become.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Another town being overrun by the barbarian cultures below the USA southern border. Expect B'field to become more akin to a 2nd-world city due to the influx and very high birthrate of the invading barbarians. Comprende?68.13.191.153 20:59, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sister cities

The official Bakersfield web site only lists 3. Should the 4th one be removed from here? See: Bakersfield sister cities.

If you remove it from here, please also remove it from that other city's page. Skumarla 06:38, 12 October 2006 (UTC)


"Sister city." I just KNOW if the term "brother city" was used the feminists would whine and moan and demand that a gender-neutral term be used. I propose that "cousin city" be used since a cousin can be male or female. Hey!!!!! It's only fair, right? Or, is male bashing the latest trend and acceptable to the masses? Obbop mumbled this in a moment of semi-rage at what I, the Mighty Obbop, believes to be an era of anti-maleness within the general USA society.Obbop 15:45, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The League of Copyeditors

This page is receiving the attention of The Copyeditor's League. Rintrah 15:57, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Demographics

There is too much information in this section, and it is very boring to read. Quoting statistic after statistic does not make good prose. The reader does not need to know all of this. I suggest the section be moved to another article, while the most important information remain. Rintrah 06:21, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

The Politics and Society section has too much political rhetoric. Can someone make the information objective or cut out the rhetoric? Rintrah 06:32, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Consider deleting some of the content from Media references onwards. Imagine what the article New York City would look like if there were proportionate detail in relation to its size. Rintrah 08:58, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

This section mentions that Bakersfield is influenced by the Chinese community. As a long time resident, I have not met many Chinese people in Bakersfield and the bulk of the Asian population in Bakersfield is mostly Asian Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese.Mrsmith93309 05:48, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Media references (now called "In media and pop culture") and Notable residents

I have cut a lot from the film and TV section in the interest of brevity. I'm sorry if someone's favorite something got deleted, but the list was simply much too long and undifferentiated. It should contain significant references only. IrisWings 01:59, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Same deal with notable residents--I cut out several people who had no articles of their own, and I left out Justin Berry (the web-cam porn kid) because I doubt the controversy surrounding him will be of note to later readers of this article.

I also felt that both sections needed less summary, so I only included the most pertinent information. If readers want to know more about any of the items listed, they can click the helpful wikified links. :) IrisWings 05:47, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Here's a potential solution that could please all potential parties (I'm indifferent on the issue): some articles simply create a separate article when one section gets too long. Thus there could be a brief list of highlights with a top of section notice reading "Main article: Bakersfield in media and pop culture." For example, see how Los Angeles, California handles its history section. What do you think? --Bobak 20:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
I plan to readd Justin Berry to the notable people list. The references in the article on him validate his notability within the meaning of Wikipedia. I'd venture a guess that Justin Berry is more well-known than others who remain on the list. Not all notability is positive, unfortunately. I also endorse Bobak's comment, that the solution to one section growing too large is to plae it into its own article, linked from the main article. --Ssbohio 02:58, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unreliable edits to this article

This article is getting a lot of unreliable edits by anonymous IPs that are not citing sources. Users with this page on their watchlist should be on the look-out. Ronbo76 18:10, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bakersfield Fire Department

I recently came across Bakersfield Fire Department, which is currently an orphan article. Can anyone find a place to link to it from this article? Squids'and'Chips 22:33, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Added Literature Reference

I added Where the Heart Is as a literature reference as Bakersfield was mentioned in the narrative and although it's not a major plot-point, it does provide back-story and the catalyst for the changes in Novalee's life. Naysie 01:31, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notables added March 21, 2007 - request review by editor familar

Several names were added today. One incorrectly links to Cory Hall and James C. Wofford who appears to have lived most of his life east of California. Please review. Ronbo76 16:57, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

In addition, some of the edit summaries indicate "burke is my uncle" or inserted because this person "knows" this. These are unsourced edits that should be reviewed. In most articles on my watchlist, red wikilinks are not allowed unless the individual is well-known and allowed by consensus. Ronbo76 17:00, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Violence

This is the last time I will discuss Bakersfield and how it is MORE violent than the national average. I have lived in a few other states and been to the their worst cities and it's not as bad as Bakersfield. So, why then would Kern county also be building more prisons than anywhere else in U.S.? There is no way you can tell me we live in a safe city! I have taken many criminal justice classes and had to study more reports than I would like to recall. Believe me, parts of this city are said to be worse than even parts of Compton and South Central. Take a little trip out of your little world over in Haggin or Seven Oaks and go over to the South and East part of town. Actually, walk it alone in the evening. Bet you wouldn't! Or at least, how about you do this? Go the Bakersfield.com and start a discussion on how violent Bakersfield is on their message boards. State your opinions and see how many people disagree. All I did was try to contribute some correct information to help inform readers who want to know more about Bakersfield, but false information keeps being posted over my contributions. Your souse is accurate, but like I stated before, table 16 has other variables involved and the correct murder rate per capita is 5.6 in any city in the U.S. Bakersfield is the 59th largest city in the county, so why would the crime and murder rate be more or less depending on city size? Again demographics, race, and economic status plays the main roll in violence. Bakersfield is pretty much screwed in all three. Being a Black Male, I see so little respect for culture in this city. That is respect from one culture to the other. And truly, it's sad. And if the national murder rate were 14.1 per 1,000 people, that means that for every 100 people you see in a day, 1.4 of those people will be murdered by the end of year!!!!! That's ludacris. But as bad as Bakersfield has become over the years, there are still many good things about it and it's the place I call home. You have your information and the way you interprete it and I have mine. With all due respect, since we have been editing and changing what one another writes all the time, lets leave both and get some opinions from other people. I guess, if you see Bakersfield as a safe city, hit edit next to population and put a 1 a the end under "votes." If you see Bakersfield the the other way, as a rough, violent city put a 2.

Votes:

(posted by User talk:67.49.192.15 on the article page and moved to the talk page by Brien ClarkTalk 22:33, 23 March 2007 (UTC))

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/a/k/Talk%7EBakersfield%2C_California_0aff.html"