Talk:Bakersfield, California

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

Population

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

Lzygenius 17:17, 5 May 2005 (UTC)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)