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BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA - USA
Bakersfield is the county seat of Kern County, California, in the United
States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 247,057.
The city's economy thrives on agriculture, and petroleum extraction and
refining.
Geography
Bakersfield is located at 35°21'26" North, 119°1'54" West (35.357276,
-119.031661)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
296.3 km˛ (114.4 mi˛). 292.9 km˛ (113.1 mi˛) of it is land and 3.4 km˛ (1.3
mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 1.14% water.
Bakersfield lies approximately 120 miles
north of Los Angeles (about a 2 hour drive) and about 300 miles southeast of
the state capital, Sacramento (about a 5 hour drive).
Bakersfield is one of the largest cities in the United States that is not
directly linked to an Interstate highway (although Interstate 5 runs just
west of it).
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 247,057 people, 83,441 households, and
60,995 families residing in the city. The population density is 843.4/km˛
(2,184.4/mi˛). There are 88,262 housing units at an average density of
301.3/km˛ (780.4/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 61.87% White, 9.16%
African American, 1.40% Native American, 4.33% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander,
18.68% from other races, and 4.43% from two or more races. 32.45% of the
population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 83,441 households out of which 42.5% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 52.1% are married couples living together, 15.5%
have a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% are non-families.
21.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.2% have someone
living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is
2.92 and the average family size is 3.41.
In the city the population is spread out with 32.7% under the age of 18,
10.1% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who
are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100
females there are 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
are 90.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $39,982, and the median
income for a family is $45,556. Males have a median income of $38,834 versus
$27,148 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,678. 18.0% of
the population and 14.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the
total people living in poverty, 24.4% are under the age of 18 and 8.4% are
65 or older.
Local Amenities
Bakersfield's main airport is Meadows Field Airport. It is home to a
California State University, a community college, a civic center/arena
hosting a symphony orchestra and an ECHL hockey team; and an increasing
number of metropolitan amenities as the city grows and grows.
Culture
As with many cities in the Central Valley of California, many Bakersfield
residents have ancestors who migrated to the area from the Midwest during
the Dust Bowl. In John Steinbeck's historical novel The Grapes of Wrath,
Bakersfield is one of the locations that the protagonists pass through.
In the 1950s, local country musicians such as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and
Wynn Stewart helped invent a rock and roll-influenced country music style
called the Bakersfield sound. Their influence was so great that Bakersfield
is second only to Nashville, Tennessee, in country music fame. Rock groups
Korn, Adema, and Orgy were also formed in Bakersfield.
Trivia
The movie The Running Man opens with the Bakersfield Food Riots, where
Arnold Schwarzenegger's character is framed as "The Butcher of Bakersfield."
Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks, has a porta-potty outhouse wall that says
Bakersfield on the side.
Any reference to Bakersfield by the writer Stephen King usually does not end
up in a positive light.
The rock artist Henry Rollins mentions Bakersfield in one of his spoken word
pieces, titled "The Virtues of Black Sabbath"
Bakersfield is notorious for some of the worst fog throughout the entire
West Coast region, with visibility sometimes dropping to ten feet.
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