There is a question I am commonly asked when talking about my home in Bakersfield, California. Variations include "Isn't that the capital? and "Bakersfield? I've never heard of it." Over these past few months I've come up with an informative, accurate, and short answer to this question.
"Bakersfield is in Central California, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, in the agriculture sector of the state. It's a very residential city with close to no tourist value, which explains why you've never heard of it."
And when asked more about it I usually spit out these statistics:
- The city has over a half million population and like 20 high schools.
- Yes, only have one mall (East Hills doesn't warrant the title), but we like outdoor shopping centers better (The Marketplace, Northwest Promenade, etc.)
- We're within five driving hours of everywhere you would possibly want to go in California AND Nevada (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Las Vegas to name a few)
Poor Bakersfield, it seems like the only time it gets attention is when someone kills their whole family. And I'm okay with that.