Bakersfield !!! It doesn't even snow in Bakersfield.
It is a diversified town. With lots of good and bad parts. Lots of oil there making good jobs around smelly OILDALE. Mucho agriculture. The best independent job is blacksmith/welder for oil and farm equipment plus lots of construction.
I would say if your in retail you should learn spanish.
There was an assessment of a potential flood impact from Lake Isabella so property values in "flood zone" areas have dropped like a rock.
"The Corps of Engineers has new concerns about the dam and lists it as their most at-risk in the nation."
http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/investigations/3765302.html
Just north of Bakersfield was /is a potential "duty free zone" pending approval by the feds to relieve the congestion of the city owned entry ports of Los Angeles. Area is Rosedale.
Just north is Wasco , rose bush and nut growing capital of the USA.
Lots of prisons around Bakersfield paying really good wages.
Largest undeground aquafer in California maybe USA is in east Bakersfield.
Alegedly best fly fishing in southern part of state is Kern River near Kernville.
Local snowmobile club is
www.sugarloafers.com see website for riding areas. Great bunch of guys, majority is family oriented with cabins in the Sequoia National Forest. Around Glennville HWY 155. Only a handful of hardcore riders but they are really awesome guys.
Hwy 99 runs south to Los Angeles (no snowmobiling allowed) and north up the 99 are many good places to sled. Most sledding is done above 7000 feet in the Sequoias. Better sledding as you go north. Best sledding in the state is suppose to be just off HWY 80 to the north around Truckee.
BUT those riders up near Mt. Shasta tell me they have no snow.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/08/state/n130432D99.DTL
Was talking to the guys in Chester and they ride out of the yard at 4500 feet.
Just one Polaris shop in Bakersfield, and they don't sell sleds anymore.
Couple hours to the West ... San Luis Obispo, largest one college town in USA ... and the Pacific Ocean to !! Los Angeles 2-3 hours to the south.
To the east an hour is snowmobiling and poor rich man town of Tahachapi.
Nobody likes to admit they are from Bakersfield but there is lots of money there.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Bakersfield-California.html
Schools .... ????
http://www.greatschools.net/schools.page?district=1103&state=CA I think the best school districts in California are Sacramento and Ventura but the best schools depend on the pricipal, teachers, parents and community. Stay away from schools with large migration since the kids rotate in and out of school to work in the farming community.
Most all year round road access with most recorded average snowfall is suppose to the Arnold CA / Bear Valley off of HWY 4. zip 95223
Do you have this map?
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1233
On this forum your not gonna get any real love until you look at Fresno and more north east.