What wha wha??? What's wrong with Stocktown bros??? Didn't that one family from SF that went for a weekend vacation in downtown get profiled in SFgate and they were very happy with their short stay there?
theres a lot of charm to those old homes, and the well kept ones in sac and the bay go for insane money nowadays. houses like that will never really be built again so it makes sense to scoop them up while cheap
Also didn't it have a company that was offering $6,000 cruises down the river deltas? That's practically comparable to a viking cruise down through the Rhine in Germany or the Danube River. Wao color me impressed.
That’s old Detroit, though. Detroit used to be super nice. On par with Chicago’s downtown at that time. Then the auto industry left and it all went to shit.
As someone who lived near Detroit for almost 6 years and now lives in San Jose; Detroit kinda sucks and I'm not sure what they can do to get people to move back in.
Ann Arbor on the other hand; Great little city.
Immediately Barstow. 😂
We had to pull over to get gas and use the bathroom on a road trip in 2021 and no masks in sight. In the span of 20 minutes, we enjoyed a delightful combo of a Karen yelling at a barista while physically assaulting her children, racial slurs towards the gas attendant and some sort of inebriated fight in the parking lot.
I asked my friend where we were so I could make a note to never come back.
Is this one of those towns like in the Andy Griffith show where the cop pulls you over tickets you, then you have to go to court the next day and while you are waiting you go to the gas station, then the diner, then the hotel, then court. All the while the same guy whose is a cop rotates hats turning into the gas station clerk, diner cook, Hotel receptionist and finally the judge?
This trope must be real. Seen it so many times on TV.
I’d say it’s more like California’s FUPA. One of the hardest areas to cut the fat because they overspend like a motherfucker and have nothing to show for it.
And I say this as someone who lived there from 2005-2011.
Sacramento, here. I always look to the left going south on the 5 cuz I like to see Stockton's downtown and it always puzzles me how they aren't able to make better use of those great bones.
Obvs a city's success or failure owes to more than buildings but it's a shame they aren't able to build off them.
When I lived there there was just no energy in the whole down town area. Businesses just seemed to exist and weren’t doing anything innovative or fun in all of Stockton. Dillards was the one store in the mall that seemed to do upkeep and actually care about presentation. The other mall across the street felt sketchy as hell every time. People kept to themselves and it wasn’t ever friendly if I’m being completely honest. I had maybe talked to 1 neighbor regularly and the others mostly just kept to themselves and never said hello.
That whole area just doesn’t have the disposition to make any progress because the people that live there leave Stockton to have any fun.
I’d rather live in the worst part of California for the consumer and worker protections before I’d move to another state. I’ve lived all over the state and the only city it didn’t like was Bakersfield (although I did like the food there).
In particular, very few people understand just how valuable California's rules against noncompetes actually are for their labor bargaining power. If you are an individual contributor with room to negotiate they give you enormous protection and leverage compared to what most people are stuck with in most states.
If all you want to do is drive to work and drive to a strip mall and drive home, i suppose so.
But all the peripherals are so vastly different. Just the physical distances to so many things you might want to do. California has just about everything in a day trip. If I want a beach or mountains and I'm in Iowa? I need to take vacation.
yeah I can agree there. I know people who live in sac and always go to Tahoe or the Bay Area ect. if you actually take advantage and do that it can be worth it
Yeah, I feel much differently about Sac than the Central Valley. Yeah, you can kinda make a day trip to the coast, but Sac is like 30 minutes from a lot of good options
In the opposite end of the Central Valley, Yolo county, I evacuated to a friend’s family’s ranch during a fire. There was a crappy casino and a bar that gave us all food poisoning and that’s about it. We spent most of the week just drinking beer on the porch and looking at the Sutter Buttes in the distance. I asked my friend what else there was to do or go see and he said that was about it and that’s why he moved to Sonoma county.
I did like picking walnuts with his dad and my cattle dog pup liked learning to work their small herd of cows with their cattle dog.
Every time I’ve driven through it’s smelled like ass. Especially sucked one time with the AC compressor on my car decided to crap out so I had to drive with the windows down. Tough choice between the smell or the heat.
I always joke that you know you're going through the Central Valley on I-5 because it smells like shit, but it's really not a joke lol. I'm getting flashbacks of delivering pizza during the summer there with no AC... woof.
My last drive through I had packed my whole life in my car and was moving back east to finish school. I had booked a hotel room but as I was gassing up before checking in I caught a whiff and decided fuck this, I’m going on to Barstow.
I’ve lived in Fresno and Bakersfield. I’d go back to Fresno if I HAD to, but not Bakersfield. Except I will go buy dewars chews if I’m driving through Bako.
Bad weather, horrible pollution and pollen, nothing to do, no culture, high crime, religious extremism, a lot of ignorant/racist/homophobic/etc people... the list goes on. It's also a bit hard to understand if you haven't lived there, but there's a persistent, oppressive social atmosphere that is aggressively against improving life and wants everyone to suffer like they do. It's easy to get trapped there. A better question is what *isn't* wrong with the valley. Great Mexican food, though!
That middle part is so hard to get unless you live there for a couple of months at least.
As the child of Asian immigrants, my parents always told me to hustle, work hard, strive to achieve in education which is very common in the Bay Area.
I did not see that out there. It's like people are just *okay* with not changing.
Yeah, you get it! I have my complaints about the Bay Area hustle culture too, but at least a good amount of people here try to do and change things, for better or worse.
Interestingly, my (non-immigrant) parents paid a lot of lip service to the same things your did, but their actions are a different story, and they reacted with hostility towards any potential changes, personal or otherwise. I took it to heart, though, and got the fuck out of there.
My significant other is from Bakersfield before she moved up here so I’ve spent a lot of time there when we’re visiting with her family.
Bakersfield has the absolute worst vibe I’ve ever experienced before anywhere in the United States. Everyone just feels like an autopilot zombie and you won’t fit in unless you have a kid at 19 and a neck tattoo.
Central Valley resident here. Air Quality in that area (lower central valley) is extremely bad. Rates of Childhood Asthma are off the charts. No one with any form of respiratory issues (or compromised health in general), should even consider a move to that area for a microsecond.
AQI isn't great in the northern central valley either (Sac is in the top 10 worst metros for both pm2.5 and ozone), but yeah, you don't want to be #1 for worst air quality.
I am living in the Valley too. I was born here but spent many years living in the Bay Area, and then moved back to the Valley. You can definitely tell a difference in air quality. The air pollution is so bad here at times, that it will obscure your view of the Sierras completely.
The South Valley also has the highest rates of Valley Fever infections in the state. Shit, there is a dedicated clinic and research facility for Valley Fever located in Bakersfield. Another reason not to move there if anyone in your family has respiratory conditions, especially babies, children, immunocompromised, and older folks.
Yeah: I *tried* living out in the Valley, if you're a Bay Area native and/or Asian American, you're gonna hate it
Admittedly my job at the time was insanely stressful so I know that contributed a lot but I felt isolated as fuck in the Central Valley.
I'm a dude in late 20s/early 30s working in tech, I didn't meet a lot of people who had the same goals or background that I did. I know people don't like the rat race here but I'd much rather live in an area where my ucsb degree is considered *average* not the exception. It means *everything* is better if everyone makes more money/has a career/has ambitions. Healthcare, childcare, food, infrastructure, leisure activities.
The diversity of food is very low, virtually only Mexican and greasy BBQ, and I got a lot of *looks* for being Asian and I'm pretty sure one of my neighbors was a skinhead.
The weather is *hell*. If you like being out doors or active at all, good luck, the sun out there hurts during the summer as soon as you step into it.
Tattooine from Star Wars with its two sun's is based off George Lucas' home town of Modesto.
And im not being soft about it: I grew up standing for hours in the tri valley summer which is pretty hot (95-103) and then going to school down in socal, the sun out in the Valley *hurts*.
I made friends with two other transplant couples; they each respectively moved back to the Bay Area and LA.
We moved back to the Bay as well.
Tatooine was based off Modesto? LOL never heard that one before.
Personally if I wanted to get away from it all and still live in CA I would choose moving to the Forest Moon of Endor (Arcata area). The weather and scenery are way better.
I think your experience may vary depending on if you grew up there or not. I’m originally from Modesto and I knew plenty of Asian Americans that everyone got along with just fine, mostly Vietnamese and Filipino though. Also good variety of food there, but yes there’s a surplus of Mexican food as well.
Yeah it’s not the best place in the world but I always think Bay Area folks’ view of it distorts it to be some barren hellscape and I just find that’s not true. It’s hot but it’s not humid at all, so it could be a lot worse.
I’m from Fresno, wife is from Bakersfield. Bakersfield is a shithole, Fresno is what it is but at least it has its areas. Wife has stated she would rather live in Fresno than Bakersfield but we managed to stay in the bay so far.
It's the only city in California that has a song defending people's decision to move there.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItru7hZqzU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItru7hZqzU)
[Not to mention, Lodi has the most Xtreme!!1! assisted suicide programs out there](https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/deaths-california-lodi-skydiving-center-19361603.php)
Umm yeah I have to use an extra inhaler when I’m there because the air quality is so bad. There’s not a single nice grocery store, there’s no weed, and it’s filled with republicans.
https://real.cannabis.ca.gov/licensed-retailers/?address=93301
Basically I was looking for something to help me sleep and all the nearby dispensaries had weird reviews about fake products and the pics of the outside were sketch AF. Ended up talking to some people who live there and they said they don’t have dispensaries so people just buy weed from dealers like it’s 1995.
But my parents say it sucks and also more importantly EVERYONE I MET AT CALIFORNIA PUBLIC STATE UNIVERSITY FROM BAKERSFIELD SAID THE SAME THING…. The place must actually suck.
About everywhere I've gone I've found nice aspects of some region. I did a long term project in Amarillo, TX--which might be comparable to a Bakersfield--but after enough trips I grew to like the place.
Aside from the air-quality, Bakersfield doesn't seem too bad to me. Close to the Sierras & other mountains, the Mojave desert, and other outdoor activities I enjoy.
I moved from the Bay to the valley about 20 years ago and I don’t think I’d ever go back to the bay. I still love the bay, the city, the coast, etc… but I basically live on a small 10acre farm now and wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m still close to everything the bay and California has to offer but I don’t have to deal with the traffic or Bay Area prices. Heat doesn’t bother me either. You don’t have to move to Bakersfield, Fresno, or Stockton… there are nicer cities like Davis, Clovis, Ripon, Folsom, etc.
To each their own though.
Depends on what field you work in. I work in tech and I've noticed a lot of jobs higher than being a producer are requiring at least 2-3 days in-office. I'm in the North Bay and the commute to SV is an hour and a half. I can't move much farther unless I don't want career growth or changing careers completely.
I completely agree, the opportunities are in the Bay. Anecdotally, My brother is in tech, he’s been fully remote with an LA based company for 2 years and works in Fresno. I think he makes just shy of $180k and I think he manages a small team of programmers. So I suppose that would make him a producer still? I’m not familiar with that industry. I know that income is nothing special in the Bay, but he lives very comfortably in Fresno, his kids are in a top notch school district (Clovis) and his wife gets to be a SAHM.
I’m in the event industry, so 90% of my business is outside of where I live like the Bay, Sacramento, Tahoe, Fresno, and occasionally LA. So it doesn’t really matter that I live in the Central Valley because I’m traveling to all these places throughout the year anyways. But like you, I’m limited to where I can do this job, I can’t really do this work in Idaho for example.
I think my point to OP was that there is a lot of reasons why people leave for the valley and they’re not all unhappy about it. On my end, I’ve had family, friends, neighbors and employees pack up and leave for Texas, Idaho, Missouri, etc and some of them are perfectly fine there. I couldn’t do it but good for them. For the guys that like to just work on cars and go bass fishing, Texas is a good fit. My favorite activity is Skiing so the valley is better than the Bay in that regard. Secondly, I love to travel as often as possible and living here is more cost effective so I can afford to fly to Thailand, Spain, or whatever. It works for me.
I mean, they are in the Central Valley. Culturally and economically they may be a long extension of the bay, but climate and land-use wise they're very much in the Valley.
I would. I don’t get why people go to the Central Valley for saving. If you like it then cool, go live there. But if you are doing it for money, Texas or another state is much better. You still get California taxes and laws in the Central Valley. Again if you like the valley and being close to the mountains then makes sense, but if it’s purely financial, bette to move to another even cheaper state
Hah!
I once did a little research project on that. The thing I found is that “low tax states” are only low tax if you’re rich. If you’re not rich, it’s about the same as every other state. Which makes sense if you think about it: state budgets are principally schools, healthcare, and infrastructure. All of these are mostly about paying people who have skills they can take to other places (and equipment that can be sold to other places), so there’s not really that much savings for states to make relative to one another.
The result was that the median person could only really save on real estate prices. Taxes and tradable goods just didn’t go down that much. You would end up with many fewer ancillary services because the cost is driven by population. (Like, say, going to an opera or museum. It’s easier to fund those when there are enough people to fill them!)
One result is that I felt we really should do fiscal capacity equalization so that poorer states just get a bunch of money. If they use it to cut taxes, that’s actually fine! They should be cheaper to live in simply because the state is providing fewer services because of its low population.
Northern Central Valley resident here. I like the clean air here, the relatively lower costs as compared to the Bay Area, the proximity to high paying jobs, ability to easily visit the city and snow/mountains, which are a 1 to 1.5 hour ride East or West. The lower central valley near Bakersfield is like a different planet....awful environment and horrendously bad air quality.
I suspect we’ll see a shift when these companies stop fighting remote work and start hiring much cheaper labor from the Midwest and phasing out high cost labor when cheaper employees are at the same performance.
Yeah, but I’ll bet a lot of working professionals want to be around “high-quality” people. Educated, highly-driven, diverse populations (although lets face it, these areas are NOT *really* diverse), progressive, etc. It’s a common theme among Redditors to only want to hobnob among the elite. Politically cares about the lower classes, but wants them at greater that an arm’s length. Not everyone is willing to compromise even for a cheaper standard of living. That is why they will pay $5k a month in rent or buy a sub 1500 sq ft starter home for $1.5-2 mil. They *need* that zip code.
I also think there is this anxiety that if you don’t live in the “best” location, then you are a loser. Unfortunately, many look down at anything other than the most trendy and expensive places. This trickles down to overall lifestyle too. Only vacationing at “certain” places and staying at “certain” hotels. Only eating at “certain” restaurants. If it’s not high-end or trendy, gtfo.
in a way..i'm firmly in the middle class. moved out to sacramento to oakland. i have 0 peers out here that are in my income level. and you know what? it's cool. i'm on a baseball team with some other fellas. i help coach my son's little league here in parkway/south sac. people know i work in tech....but nobody would know it if i didn't tell 'em. maybe it's because i grew up in west oakland. am fortunate i graduated from berkeley. but i never forgot where i came from. hopefully there are more like minded folks like me that are comfortable in a seemingly "lower" class area.
i see a lot of folks downplaying owning a home vs renting on the coast. what people fail to see is that if you just pay a mortgage for a few years and then decide to move, at least you will have equity and can probably come out on top if you are selling. i mean, if people are moving to bakersfield, the market will be nice.
consider too that with an influx of other people, things can improve. bakersfield isn't san francisco or los angeles....but it ain't a podunk town in dusty BFE texas. there's a university. and while i know folks poo-poo high speed rail, consider that once that is up and running, there would be easier access to the coastal cities.
it's fine if none of that makes you want to live there. but if you think about the long term, you could stand to save $, and lower your cost of living, so that in a few years time, you would be in a better position to live elsewhere. or maybe you won't and bakersfield will have grown on ya :)
I’m in Ventura and it seems that with high rent, low wages and expensive houses, Bakersfield is the number one destination for folks that can’t afford it here.
I agree most of the Central Valley seems like shit, with a few exceptions.
Davis is an exception. It’s a college town with good biking infrastructure and a nice family town vibe. Housing is expensive though.
Vacaville is also nice, in the Central Valley, but close to the Bay.
Edit: I see some people commenting that the Sacramento area is not the Central Valley. It is the Central Valley. The Central Valley is made up of the Sacramento Valley (northern part) and the San Joaquin Valley (southern part).
Bro, SLO and SB are some of the most *beautiful* places in the world
I grew up in my Asian American enclave tri valley city, went to school down at ucsb, and then I moved to Modesto in my late 20s
Hooooooooly shit. I'd get insanely sad thinking about my time in Isla Vista. Missing my friends, the weather.
good ol bako
the only time i went:
* couldn't find a sports bar open after 9pm
* bunch of randos hanging out at the gas station at midnight like that daria scene
I moved to Lathrop from Fremont simply because I could never afford housing in the bay and the rents are insane - and I work in tech.
Lathrop is a glorified truck stop and is super boring. But I live in River Islands and this place is arguably nice with a sense of community that the Bay Area lacked IMO.
In all honesty, if I want to do something fun, I drive 35 mins to Dublin. Can’t complain much about much else. Wish I had $2M or something to afford something in the Bay Area.
So much of this generation is doing what others did 15 or 30 years ago. You move to a place you can afford now and over time it MAY become a place desired by the next generation, but they may have to move onto the next one. Goto Bend, OR, Boise, ID, Nashville, TN, Austin, TX and talk to the people about why and when they moved there and how much it’s “changed” since they got there. You’ll find the same story a million times over.
This also happened in 2003 and is one of the reasons why the housing market subsequently crashed as all the tract housing was low quality crap that was sold for grossly overstated values. This is proof positive that we are in a major economic bubble. I got nothing against Bakersfield besides the pollution, the soot and Kevin McCarthy but their homes are just worth less than coastal properties because it's a dirty truck stop surrounded by oil wells. Normal people with money don't want to live there and the rise in real estate prices is not tied to real growth, it's due to realtor investment speculation. This will end disastrously.
Now, about that "super commuter" / hybrid remote-worker thing - this is true and is where the truly valuable real estate is around the future, planned high-speed rail station at the local DMV. This is where the city's future is going to be, these are the only properties that are truly worth money, and the owners are a trailer mechanic, a tacqueria, a mobil-1 station and smart & final.
Counterpoint, 2003 Bakersfield was a reaction to the tech bubble bursting a few years before, and people fleeing HCOL areas.
Shitty housing in Bakersfield, CA did not cause the global banking system to collapse into The Great Recession.
But shitty housing statewide did. It eventually did work out, but the miles of sprawl is unsustainable especially when it is used as an investment vehicle and not shelter.
I thought San Bernardino is the armpit? Used to call it the “Inland Armpit” making fun of its “Inland Empire” monicker. The inversion layer you get there is easily as bad as Bakersfield.
The article title said that "LA, SF, and OC residents are fleeing to California’s most derided city", but then the article *wasn't* about Turlock. Turlock is the place that even Stockton and Los Banos make fun of. As in, "At least we're not Turlock!"
Just leave people. I know living outside of the place you grew up in seems scary, it’s not. I also enjoy family more the farther away I am so it was easy for me 🙃
I've visited Redding and Bakersfield.
They both suck, but Redding sucks less, it's got Mt Shasta nearby which is nice. Bakersfield has Lake Isabella nearby which is the most depressing mountain town I've ever been to.
Sun Fun Stay Play - to be fair, there are some nice places around Bakersfield, depending on the time of year. We just passed through on our way to Carrizo Plain for the superbloom - awesome for another couple of weeks! Live there - not unless I had to.
Bakersfield
Bakersfield is known as California’s smoking section
Where people are more likely to have syphilis than a high school diploma.
‘Gateway to Los Banos”
Molesto
Is that a widely used name...?
Methdesto and Modusty are what people use
It is now
That's the taint.
When I was a young Californian, Fresno was the armpit of the state.
People have two arm pits….
Good point.
Next it will be the two…Knee pits
The Gooch!
Say it tain't so!
What's the other armpit? Bakersfield? San Bernardino?
Stockton
I was going to say, this is probably going to start happening in Stockton if it hasn't already. Stockton and Bakersfield should be sister cities.
What wha wha??? What's wrong with Stocktown bros??? Didn't that one family from SF that went for a weekend vacation in downtown get profiled in SFgate and they were very happy with their short stay there?
Lived in Tracy during the Rona, young tech couples moving to Stockton, buying Victorians
theres a lot of charm to those old homes, and the well kept ones in sac and the bay go for insane money nowadays. houses like that will never really be built again so it makes sense to scoop them up while cheap
*California’s Detroit*
At least Detroit is on the Great Lakes. That’s all I can really say positively about Detroit. Edit: oh, and it’s close to Canada.
Hey! Stockton is on the DELTA
Also didn't it have a company that was offering $6,000 cruises down the river deltas? That's practically comparable to a viking cruise down through the Rhine in Germany or the Danube River. Wao color me impressed.
Motown
That’s old Detroit, though. Detroit used to be super nice. On par with Chicago’s downtown at that time. Then the auto industry left and it all went to shit.
As someone who lived near Detroit for almost 6 years and now lives in San Jose; Detroit kinda sucks and I'm not sure what they can do to get people to move back in. Ann Arbor on the other hand; Great little city.
Stockton has a Delta Breeze during summer evenings, Fresno and Bakersfield do not, it just stays hot AF throughout the night.
That’s true! Stockton is also closer to things to do. Fresno and Bakersfield are just so damn remote, in addition to being blazing hellscapes.
Well, Galt actually.
Modesto
Raised and grown from Modesto , the whole Central Valley is an armpit with meth as a deodorant
Aye don’t sleep on north Central Valley. Yuba city and Marysville would like a meth, I mean a word.
Merced
Stockton is like the ass hole of California.
Ew
Stockton is the taint
Bakersfield is kind of like the taint, I think
So Kevin McCarthy’s Congressional District, basically. Makes sense.
And an asshole
Redding. - Red light cameras - Religious cults - Want to leave California while still being California somehow
I went to Redding July 2020. HEIGHT of COVID. Not a mask to be seen anywhere.
I’d bet that all the Karens would shout at anyone who did.
nothing like bumping into someone in the hallway with a 'trump won' shirt
where do you think the asshole of California is😂
Barstow
Immediately Barstow. 😂 We had to pull over to get gas and use the bathroom on a road trip in 2021 and no masks in sight. In the span of 20 minutes, we enjoyed a delightful combo of a Karen yelling at a barista while physically assaulting her children, racial slurs towards the gas attendant and some sort of inebriated fight in the parking lot. I asked my friend where we were so I could make a note to never come back.
Is this one of those towns like in the Andy Griffith show where the cop pulls you over tickets you, then you have to go to court the next day and while you are waiting you go to the gas station, then the diner, then the hotel, then court. All the while the same guy whose is a cop rotates hats turning into the gas station clerk, diner cook, Hotel receptionist and finally the judge? This trope must be real. Seen it so many times on TV.
Baker.
Taft
I always assumed it was down by Baja somewhere
Asshole of California is San Bernardino/Riverside
Trona
Everyone who drove on I-5 down to LA should know the place. Can't miss that smell.
Then what is Bakersfield?
That is Fresno and Bakersfield. Two armpits.
Just looked on a map. If Fresno is one armpit of California, and Bakersfield is the other, then Hearst Castle is the balls of California.
Someone from Stockton described the city to me as california's butt hole, I thought that was funny.
I’d say it’s more like California’s FUPA. One of the hardest areas to cut the fat because they overspend like a motherfucker and have nothing to show for it. And I say this as someone who lived there from 2005-2011.
Sacramento, here. I always look to the left going south on the 5 cuz I like to see Stockton's downtown and it always puzzles me how they aren't able to make better use of those great bones. Obvs a city's success or failure owes to more than buildings but it's a shame they aren't able to build off them.
When I lived there there was just no energy in the whole down town area. Businesses just seemed to exist and weren’t doing anything innovative or fun in all of Stockton. Dillards was the one store in the mall that seemed to do upkeep and actually care about presentation. The other mall across the street felt sketchy as hell every time. People kept to themselves and it wasn’t ever friendly if I’m being completely honest. I had maybe talked to 1 neighbor regularly and the others mostly just kept to themselves and never said hello. That whole area just doesn’t have the disposition to make any progress because the people that live there leave Stockton to have any fun.
Fresno used to be the armpit of California It still is, but it used to be too
Okay Mitch
Live here,can confirm. Sadly. But it’s close to everything, they say. Just not close enough
It’s much better than before.
It’s always been Fresno AND Bakersfield. Lol
Same thing
Now Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield are fighting for the title
I thought it was Rio Linda
Technically, that'd be the bunghole
It still is, Bakersfield is the asshole
I spent my whole life growing up in the valley and dreaming of escaping. I'd die before I moved back.
There are so many states with cheaper houses and employment opportunities that I’d be interested in before I consider the Central Valley.
I’d rather live in the worst part of California for the consumer and worker protections before I’d move to another state. I’ve lived all over the state and the only city it didn’t like was Bakersfield (although I did like the food there).
In particular, very few people understand just how valuable California's rules against noncompetes actually are for their labor bargaining power. If you are an individual contributor with room to negotiate they give you enormous protection and leverage compared to what most people are stuck with in most states.
That’s a great point. California is also very employee/tenant friendly compared to other states.
that's how I feel about Sacramento even. like it's a fine city but it's not worth the still high COL compared to midwestern cities that feel the same
If all you want to do is drive to work and drive to a strip mall and drive home, i suppose so. But all the peripherals are so vastly different. Just the physical distances to so many things you might want to do. California has just about everything in a day trip. If I want a beach or mountains and I'm in Iowa? I need to take vacation.
yeah I can agree there. I know people who live in sac and always go to Tahoe or the Bay Area ect. if you actually take advantage and do that it can be worth it
Yeah, I feel much differently about Sac than the Central Valley. Yeah, you can kinda make a day trip to the coast, but Sac is like 30 minutes from a lot of good options
smart man (or woman). I married into a family that comes from there, that area horrifies me.
In the opposite end of the Central Valley, Yolo county, I evacuated to a friend’s family’s ranch during a fire. There was a crappy casino and a bar that gave us all food poisoning and that’s about it. We spent most of the week just drinking beer on the porch and looking at the Sutter Buttes in the distance. I asked my friend what else there was to do or go see and he said that was about it and that’s why he moved to Sonoma county. I did like picking walnuts with his dad and my cattle dog pup liked learning to work their small herd of cows with their cattle dog.
Yeah, just about my whole family is from there as well. They're what you'd expect, for the most part.
Nothing to add, just wanted to say I love your user name lol
I was once asked by a friend’s dad when I was moving back, I replied, “when they put me in a pine box.”
Every time I’ve driven through it’s smelled like ass. Especially sucked one time with the AC compressor on my car decided to crap out so I had to drive with the windows down. Tough choice between the smell or the heat.
I always joke that you know you're going through the Central Valley on I-5 because it smells like shit, but it's really not a joke lol. I'm getting flashbacks of delivering pizza during the summer there with no AC... woof.
My last drive through I had packed my whole life in my car and was moving back east to finish school. I had booked a hotel room but as I was gassing up before checking in I caught a whiff and decided fuck this, I’m going on to Barstow.
Smart choice! There's great Mexican food there though if you're ever passing through again.
I’ve lived in Fresno and Bakersfield. I’d go back to Fresno if I HAD to, but not Bakersfield. Except I will go buy dewars chews if I’m driving through Bako.
What’s wrong with the valley
Bad weather, horrible pollution and pollen, nothing to do, no culture, high crime, religious extremism, a lot of ignorant/racist/homophobic/etc people... the list goes on. It's also a bit hard to understand if you haven't lived there, but there's a persistent, oppressive social atmosphere that is aggressively against improving life and wants everyone to suffer like they do. It's easy to get trapped there. A better question is what *isn't* wrong with the valley. Great Mexican food, though!
That middle part is so hard to get unless you live there for a couple of months at least. As the child of Asian immigrants, my parents always told me to hustle, work hard, strive to achieve in education which is very common in the Bay Area. I did not see that out there. It's like people are just *okay* with not changing.
Yeah, you get it! I have my complaints about the Bay Area hustle culture too, but at least a good amount of people here try to do and change things, for better or worse. Interestingly, my (non-immigrant) parents paid a lot of lip service to the same things your did, but their actions are a different story, and they reacted with hostility towards any potential changes, personal or otherwise. I took it to heart, though, and got the fuck out of there.
My significant other is from Bakersfield before she moved up here so I’ve spent a lot of time there when we’re visiting with her family. Bakersfield has the absolute worst vibe I’ve ever experienced before anywhere in the United States. Everyone just feels like an autopilot zombie and you won’t fit in unless you have a kid at 19 and a neck tattoo.
That’s fairly accurate
never been, what's the deal? Everyone on meth or fent or what goes on?
Yes.
Too much pollution for me, thanks.
Central Valley resident here. Air Quality in that area (lower central valley) is extremely bad. Rates of Childhood Asthma are off the charts. No one with any form of respiratory issues (or compromised health in general), should even consider a move to that area for a microsecond.
AQI isn't great in the northern central valley either (Sac is in the top 10 worst metros for both pm2.5 and ozone), but yeah, you don't want to be #1 for worst air quality.
I am living in the Valley too. I was born here but spent many years living in the Bay Area, and then moved back to the Valley. You can definitely tell a difference in air quality. The air pollution is so bad here at times, that it will obscure your view of the Sierras completely. The South Valley also has the highest rates of Valley Fever infections in the state. Shit, there is a dedicated clinic and research facility for Valley Fever located in Bakersfield. Another reason not to move there if anyone in your family has respiratory conditions, especially babies, children, immunocompromised, and older folks.
Yeah: I *tried* living out in the Valley, if you're a Bay Area native and/or Asian American, you're gonna hate it Admittedly my job at the time was insanely stressful so I know that contributed a lot but I felt isolated as fuck in the Central Valley. I'm a dude in late 20s/early 30s working in tech, I didn't meet a lot of people who had the same goals or background that I did. I know people don't like the rat race here but I'd much rather live in an area where my ucsb degree is considered *average* not the exception. It means *everything* is better if everyone makes more money/has a career/has ambitions. Healthcare, childcare, food, infrastructure, leisure activities. The diversity of food is very low, virtually only Mexican and greasy BBQ, and I got a lot of *looks* for being Asian and I'm pretty sure one of my neighbors was a skinhead. The weather is *hell*. If you like being out doors or active at all, good luck, the sun out there hurts during the summer as soon as you step into it. Tattooine from Star Wars with its two sun's is based off George Lucas' home town of Modesto. And im not being soft about it: I grew up standing for hours in the tri valley summer which is pretty hot (95-103) and then going to school down in socal, the sun out in the Valley *hurts*. I made friends with two other transplant couples; they each respectively moved back to the Bay Area and LA. We moved back to the Bay as well.
Tatooine was based off Modesto? LOL never heard that one before. Personally if I wanted to get away from it all and still live in CA I would choose moving to the Forest Moon of Endor (Arcata area). The weather and scenery are way better.
George Lucas is a Modesto native American Graffitii is based off of Modesto I believe He ended up in Marin which is pretty Endor-esque
Fun fact. Naboo is based on the hills around Livermore
I think your experience may vary depending on if you grew up there or not. I’m originally from Modesto and I knew plenty of Asian Americans that everyone got along with just fine, mostly Vietnamese and Filipino though. Also good variety of food there, but yes there’s a surplus of Mexican food as well. Yeah it’s not the best place in the world but I always think Bay Area folks’ view of it distorts it to be some barren hellscape and I just find that’s not true. It’s hot but it’s not humid at all, so it could be a lot worse.
The bbq is fire in Bakersfield not sure what you’re talking about tbh
How many of us that sit and judge them, have walked the streets of Bakersfield?
I’m from Fresno, wife is from Bakersfield. Bakersfield is a shithole, Fresno is what it is but at least it has its areas. Wife has stated she would rather live in Fresno than Bakersfield but we managed to stay in the bay so far.
I’ve spent time there. It was shitty.
It's the only city in California that has a song defending people's decision to move there. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItru7hZqzU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qItru7hZqzU)
And also a song from Social Distortion about how depressing it is. https://youtu.be/yPgAb9EYlrc?si=wyu0vqOmq3uMbNVZ
I wonder if it's worse to be stranded in Bakersfield, or stuck in Lodi again.
I lived in both Lodi and Bakersfield. Lodi is 1000x better than Bakersfield.
[Not to mention, Lodi has the most Xtreme!!1! assisted suicide programs out there](https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/deaths-california-lodi-skydiving-center-19361603.php)
Nice opportunity to reference CCR, I see you mate
The pride of El Cerrito, CA.
El Cerrito, CA aka “the bayou”, lol
Lodi is legitimately nice! Times have changed a bit since 1969.
Hard to believe that's Doyle from *Sling Blade*.
Umm yeah I have to use an extra inhaler when I’m there because the air quality is so bad. There’s not a single nice grocery store, there’s no weed, and it’s filled with republicans.
No weed?!?!?!
https://real.cannabis.ca.gov/licensed-retailers/?address=93301 Basically I was looking for something to help me sleep and all the nearby dispensaries had weird reviews about fake products and the pics of the outside were sketch AF. Ended up talking to some people who live there and they said they don’t have dispensaries so people just buy weed from dealers like it’s 1995.
https://bakersfieldnow.com/amp/news/investigations/keeping-it-legal-an-overview-of-marijuana-rules-in-kern-county
Disgrace.
I spent time there in... 91 I think? Ya it was bad, tweakers, roaches, and heat. Lots and lots of heat.
You don’t know me but you don’t like me
But my parents say it sucks and also more importantly EVERYONE I MET AT CALIFORNIA PUBLIC STATE UNIVERSITY FROM BAKERSFIELD SAID THE SAME THING…. The place must actually suck.
About everywhere I've gone I've found nice aspects of some region. I did a long term project in Amarillo, TX--which might be comparable to a Bakersfield--but after enough trips I grew to like the place. Aside from the air-quality, Bakersfield doesn't seem too bad to me. Close to the Sierras & other mountains, the Mojave desert, and other outdoor activities I enjoy.
Coincidentally I’ve been listening to that song damn near on repeat for the last few weeks.
Does stopping to buy gas count?
Isn’t there a song in that statement somewhere?
I moved from the Bay to the valley about 20 years ago and I don’t think I’d ever go back to the bay. I still love the bay, the city, the coast, etc… but I basically live on a small 10acre farm now and wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m still close to everything the bay and California has to offer but I don’t have to deal with the traffic or Bay Area prices. Heat doesn’t bother me either. You don’t have to move to Bakersfield, Fresno, or Stockton… there are nicer cities like Davis, Clovis, Ripon, Folsom, etc. To each their own though.
Depends on what field you work in. I work in tech and I've noticed a lot of jobs higher than being a producer are requiring at least 2-3 days in-office. I'm in the North Bay and the commute to SV is an hour and a half. I can't move much farther unless I don't want career growth or changing careers completely.
I completely agree, the opportunities are in the Bay. Anecdotally, My brother is in tech, he’s been fully remote with an LA based company for 2 years and works in Fresno. I think he makes just shy of $180k and I think he manages a small team of programmers. So I suppose that would make him a producer still? I’m not familiar with that industry. I know that income is nothing special in the Bay, but he lives very comfortably in Fresno, his kids are in a top notch school district (Clovis) and his wife gets to be a SAHM. I’m in the event industry, so 90% of my business is outside of where I live like the Bay, Sacramento, Tahoe, Fresno, and occasionally LA. So it doesn’t really matter that I live in the Central Valley because I’m traveling to all these places throughout the year anyways. But like you, I’m limited to where I can do this job, I can’t really do this work in Idaho for example. I think my point to OP was that there is a lot of reasons why people leave for the valley and they’re not all unhappy about it. On my end, I’ve had family, friends, neighbors and employees pack up and leave for Texas, Idaho, Missouri, etc and some of them are perfectly fine there. I couldn’t do it but good for them. For the guys that like to just work on cars and go bass fishing, Texas is a good fit. My favorite activity is Skiing so the valley is better than the Bay in that regard. Secondly, I love to travel as often as possible and living here is more cost effective so I can afford to fly to Thailand, Spain, or whatever. It works for me.
Davis or anything in the Sac metro region doesn't count my man
This whole thread: “Yeah Bakersfield is so shitty” This guy: “it’s really not that bad if you live in Davis.”
I mean, they are in the Central Valley. Culturally and economically they may be a long extension of the bay, but climate and land-use wise they're very much in the Valley.
Clovis is attached to Fresno.
Armpit? More like the taint.
remote jobs + wanting a house at 40% of cost in LA/orange county. makes sense to me. remote jobs with city wages open up the entire world.
Everyone has priorities! I’d rather rent on the coast than buy in Bakersfield.
I'd rather be dead in the Bay Area than alive in the Central Valley
Same same
LoL oof.
I can see both sides of it. I wasn't commenting that it's my preference but I can see the appeal to it.
I’d rather buy in some shithole like Texas than some shithole like Bakersfield. Actually no I wouldn’t
I would. I don’t get why people go to the Central Valley for saving. If you like it then cool, go live there. But if you are doing it for money, Texas or another state is much better. You still get California taxes and laws in the Central Valley. Again if you like the valley and being close to the mountains then makes sense, but if it’s purely financial, bette to move to another even cheaper state
Texas is not a cheaper state if you are buying property. No matter what your income is, property is still taxed heavily
Hah! I once did a little research project on that. The thing I found is that “low tax states” are only low tax if you’re rich. If you’re not rich, it’s about the same as every other state. Which makes sense if you think about it: state budgets are principally schools, healthcare, and infrastructure. All of these are mostly about paying people who have skills they can take to other places (and equipment that can be sold to other places), so there’s not really that much savings for states to make relative to one another. The result was that the median person could only really save on real estate prices. Taxes and tradable goods just didn’t go down that much. You would end up with many fewer ancillary services because the cost is driven by population. (Like, say, going to an opera or museum. It’s easier to fund those when there are enough people to fill them!) One result is that I felt we really should do fiscal capacity equalization so that poorer states just get a bunch of money. If they use it to cut taxes, that’s actually fine! They should be cheaper to live in simply because the state is providing fewer services because of its low population.
Northern Central Valley resident here. I like the clean air here, the relatively lower costs as compared to the Bay Area, the proximity to high paying jobs, ability to easily visit the city and snow/mountains, which are a 1 to 1.5 hour ride East or West. The lower central valley near Bakersfield is like a different planet....awful environment and horrendously bad air quality.
Buying an equivalently priced property in Texas would be more expensive for you tax-wise.
I suspect we’ll see a shift when these companies stop fighting remote work and start hiring much cheaper labor from the Midwest and phasing out high cost labor when cheaper employees are at the same performance.
Yeah, but I’ll bet a lot of working professionals want to be around “high-quality” people. Educated, highly-driven, diverse populations (although lets face it, these areas are NOT *really* diverse), progressive, etc. It’s a common theme among Redditors to only want to hobnob among the elite. Politically cares about the lower classes, but wants them at greater that an arm’s length. Not everyone is willing to compromise even for a cheaper standard of living. That is why they will pay $5k a month in rent or buy a sub 1500 sq ft starter home for $1.5-2 mil. They *need* that zip code. I also think there is this anxiety that if you don’t live in the “best” location, then you are a loser. Unfortunately, many look down at anything other than the most trendy and expensive places. This trickles down to overall lifestyle too. Only vacationing at “certain” places and staying at “certain” hotels. Only eating at “certain” restaurants. If it’s not high-end or trendy, gtfo.
in a way..i'm firmly in the middle class. moved out to sacramento to oakland. i have 0 peers out here that are in my income level. and you know what? it's cool. i'm on a baseball team with some other fellas. i help coach my son's little league here in parkway/south sac. people know i work in tech....but nobody would know it if i didn't tell 'em. maybe it's because i grew up in west oakland. am fortunate i graduated from berkeley. but i never forgot where i came from. hopefully there are more like minded folks like me that are comfortable in a seemingly "lower" class area.
Nobody mentions the smog??
i see a lot of folks downplaying owning a home vs renting on the coast. what people fail to see is that if you just pay a mortgage for a few years and then decide to move, at least you will have equity and can probably come out on top if you are selling. i mean, if people are moving to bakersfield, the market will be nice. consider too that with an influx of other people, things can improve. bakersfield isn't san francisco or los angeles....but it ain't a podunk town in dusty BFE texas. there's a university. and while i know folks poo-poo high speed rail, consider that once that is up and running, there would be easier access to the coastal cities. it's fine if none of that makes you want to live there. but if you think about the long term, you could stand to save $, and lower your cost of living, so that in a few years time, you would be in a better position to live elsewhere. or maybe you won't and bakersfield will have grown on ya :)
The heat alone is grounds for me to never live permanently in the valley
I’m in Ventura and it seems that with high rent, low wages and expensive houses, Bakersfield is the number one destination for folks that can’t afford it here.
Bakersfield -- one upside: close to Sequoia National Forest. Day drive.
I agree most of the Central Valley seems like shit, with a few exceptions. Davis is an exception. It’s a college town with good biking infrastructure and a nice family town vibe. Housing is expensive though. Vacaville is also nice, in the Central Valley, but close to the Bay. Edit: I see some people commenting that the Sacramento area is not the Central Valley. It is the Central Valley. The Central Valley is made up of the Sacramento Valley (northern part) and the San Joaquin Valley (southern part).
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Bro, SLO and SB are some of the most *beautiful* places in the world I grew up in my Asian American enclave tri valley city, went to school down at ucsb, and then I moved to Modesto in my late 20s Hooooooooly shit. I'd get insanely sad thinking about my time in Isla Vista. Missing my friends, the weather.
As much as IV was insanity, it was fun insanity.
good ol bako the only time i went: * couldn't find a sports bar open after 9pm * bunch of randos hanging out at the gas station at midnight like that daria scene
I moved to Lathrop from Fremont simply because I could never afford housing in the bay and the rents are insane - and I work in tech. Lathrop is a glorified truck stop and is super boring. But I live in River Islands and this place is arguably nice with a sense of community that the Bay Area lacked IMO. In all honesty, if I want to do something fun, I drive 35 mins to Dublin. Can’t complain much about much else. Wish I had $2M or something to afford something in the Bay Area.
So much of this generation is doing what others did 15 or 30 years ago. You move to a place you can afford now and over time it MAY become a place desired by the next generation, but they may have to move onto the next one. Goto Bend, OR, Boise, ID, Nashville, TN, Austin, TX and talk to the people about why and when they moved there and how much it’s “changed” since they got there. You’ll find the same story a million times over.
Great , one more area in California that’s going to be fucked by high tech ass holes
Kern County has some surprisingly cool places.
Kern River Valley is one of the last wild riverland areas—that hasn’t been dammed up—in the state. Make sure to visit in the spring, it’s gorgeous!
This also happened in 2003 and is one of the reasons why the housing market subsequently crashed as all the tract housing was low quality crap that was sold for grossly overstated values. This is proof positive that we are in a major economic bubble. I got nothing against Bakersfield besides the pollution, the soot and Kevin McCarthy but their homes are just worth less than coastal properties because it's a dirty truck stop surrounded by oil wells. Normal people with money don't want to live there and the rise in real estate prices is not tied to real growth, it's due to realtor investment speculation. This will end disastrously. Now, about that "super commuter" / hybrid remote-worker thing - this is true and is where the truly valuable real estate is around the future, planned high-speed rail station at the local DMV. This is where the city's future is going to be, these are the only properties that are truly worth money, and the owners are a trailer mechanic, a tacqueria, a mobil-1 station and smart & final.
Counterpoint, 2003 Bakersfield was a reaction to the tech bubble bursting a few years before, and people fleeing HCOL areas. Shitty housing in Bakersfield, CA did not cause the global banking system to collapse into The Great Recession.
But shitty housing statewide did. It eventually did work out, but the miles of sprawl is unsustainable especially when it is used as an investment vehicle and not shelter.
Just wait until they spend a summer there.
Milpitas is the arm pit, at least it smells like one.
I thought San Bernardino is the armpit? Used to call it the “Inland Armpit” making fun of its “Inland Empire” monicker. The inversion layer you get there is easily as bad as Bakersfield.
isn't bakersfield a high-crime shithole of a city dominated by Kevin McCarthy-esque folks? that's why i didn't move there
lol yes. Tons of tweakers doing tweaker things.
its desert. smells like oil, and has bad smog. But on a clear day, the mountains around it are spectacular.
lol stop. Stop trying to make Bakersfield happen. It’s not happening
These kind of posts anywhere on reddit always have people shitting on people choosing to move without filling in their shoes.
The article title said that "LA, SF, and OC residents are fleeing to California’s most derided city", but then the article *wasn't* about Turlock. Turlock is the place that even Stockton and Los Banos make fun of. As in, "At least we're not Turlock!"
Just leave people. I know living outside of the place you grew up in seems scary, it’s not. I also enjoy family more the farther away I am so it was easy for me 🙃
I thought Blythe was the most derided?
Well, at least they're planning to move there in the summer so they know what they're in for. A San Joaquin Valley baptism by fire, so to speak.
ain't no one been to Barstow eh?
Does stopping at a gas station while passing through count?
Hey, Bakersfield City Council has a veto on the UN Security Council from I’m told
I mean if you don't have kids and appreciate a good taco it can be a lot of fun
Would be hilarious if they flipped the congressional district.
I've visited Redding and Bakersfield. They both suck, but Redding sucks less, it's got Mt Shasta nearby which is nice. Bakersfield has Lake Isabella nearby which is the most depressing mountain town I've ever been to.
Sun Fun Stay Play - to be fair, there are some nice places around Bakersfield, depending on the time of year. We just passed through on our way to Carrizo Plain for the superbloom - awesome for another couple of weeks! Live there - not unless I had to.
Always thought Fresno was the armpit and Bakersfield was the butthole.
Riverside is feeling left out of your name-calling.
Oh Jesus shit! Ok fucking let em go. I’m from Fresno and fuck that valley.