I have an interesting offer to do some contract design work in Bakersfield, California and I'm needing some information on the area. Looked through Craigslist to get an idea on rental property and, from what I can tell, the prices are not too much different than here on the northeast side of Houston. If anyone is familiar with the Bakersfield area could you let me know about the area, shopping, people, cost of living, recreational activities, etc, etc, etc. Contract is for 6-8 months so it won't be a long term deal but I do like to enjoy my time off when I get it.

Thanks!!!

dont live in bakersfield heard its trashy.

Well i live in fresno which is a little bit away from bakersfild but ive gone there for vball games in highschool and its okay but like any town it depends on what part of it your living in...

it is a distance to anywhere else

at least it was when i was driving for a living

other than that you probably have good and bad just as anywhere else

try googling it and getting the chamber of commerce propaganda

While it HAS gone through a bit of a resurgence as of late, there are still some parts of town that are a little "rough", especially the "downtown" area.

The biggest problem with Bakersfield is that there just isn't a whole lot to do there. There IS the "Cow Palace", which is the big music venue out there, as well as the Buck Owens Museum (he was from there, and many consider it "the town that Buck Owens built"), but that's about it.

That is unless you like hanging out at truck stop restaurants that are off the 99 Freeway.

I lived in california for awhile, and I have a friend that lives in Bakersfield. She does contract work too. The pay is good but to go anywhere nice you have to do some driving. 3- 4 hours to San Francisco(thats where the cow palace is). But if you like weekend excursions your close to a lot of stuff.
Yosemite is one of a kind. The huge redwoods! Mountains to climb, Rivers to raft. Depends on what you like to do! Your pretty close to the grand canyon. The desert is really pretty in the spring. Any direction from there and you can have a different kind of experience. Do it!

The vast majority of my free time will be spent at a dragstrip so I should be ok. Famoso is very close and my sponsor's shop is in Oxnard which looks to be a two hour drive. I've spotted some nice apartments with garages for under $800 on the northeast side of town. From all indications that is the "better" side of town anyway. As long as there is a gym close by I should be alright.

Thanks for the input! Y'all have been a great help.