What makes CSU Bakersfield so special? ex. is it close to the forest?etc..?

Question

What makes CSU Bakersfield so special? ex. is it close to the forest?etc..?

Answer 1

Don't know about academics, cause I didn't go there.  But I have lived in Bakersfield my whole life.  Bako is in the central valley of California & in the middle of a lot of farmland and oil fields.  A couple hours or less from just about everything... Los Angeles/Hollywood, the beach, the desert, mountains/forest, Yosemite, etc.  Just up the Kern River Canyon is a pretty good stretch of white water that people like to go river rafting on and there's a skydiving school just outside of town.  While we don't get snow here, we're fairly close to a few decent ski areas.  So for a big town in the middle of nowhere, there's still access to plenty of things to do and places to go.  Fair weather most of the year, but it does get incredibly hot during the summer... like in the 100s.

EDIT... To answer the things brought up by the other person posting... we used to have a lot of tule fog a few years back, but that's become a thing of the past now that so much new development has gone on.  Very few school fog delays, only in the outlying areas.  Most of the city water is now claimed from the Kern River, which comes directly from the mountains, so nowhere near as bad to drink as it once was.  If you're in the southwest you might be drinking from the aquafir, but not most of town anymore.  As for the craniofacial team getting most of their referrals from the Bako area, I wouldn't doubt it.  I work in that area too, and there just isn't a decent practitioner to go to in this area, so of course our cases get referred out to LA.  That happens with almost every major medical issue in this area.

Overall, if you have a better choice that Bako, go for it.  But Bako is a pretty affordable choice.  And you weren't asking for all of the problems in the world.  It sounded to me like you wanted to know what was in the area, so that's what I told you to begin with... good luck with your choice!

Answer 2

And you heard that where?

Of just about all of California, Bakersfield is the LAST place I would ever live.

I worked on the craniofacial team at a large teaching hospital in LA. Most of our patients either came from Bakersfield itself or the surrounding area and had horrible birth defects with the worst cases of complete bilateral clefts of the lip and palate I ever saw in a 20-year career.

The aquifer is tainted by years of pesticide use and oil drilling. I wouldn't even shower in the water, let alone drink it. Heck, I won't even eat food grown anywhere in the San Joaquin Valley.

You have tule fog from November until at least April. It's thick and hugs the ground. Every winter I hear of massive pile-ups on I-5 or US 99 which include semis smashing into each other and cars that get in the way.

In the summer, it gets super hot. Day after day of 100F plus temperatures.

The only thing to recommend it is its proximity to the Sierras and the Tehachapi Mountains. Also, if you like Basque food, Bakersfield is the place to find it-- all over the place.

My recommendation; find another CSU to go to.