Rebuilding neglected Bakersfield
For decades, Bakersfield has invested significant resources toward new development at the expense of existing neighborhoods, many of which lack vital services such as parks, sidewalks and street lighting. That is why KernTax has proposed that the city of Bakersfield invest $10 million of Measure N funds annually over the next decade for economic development in the city’s most disadvantaged communities. We believe a substantial commitment, with available grant funding, is needed to empower our disadvantaged communities to revitalize neighborhoods, create workforce opportunities and lift more Kern County residents into the middle class.
KernTax is excited to support proposed investments in the areas south of California Avenue and east of Union Avenue, including a South Mill Creek extension, revitalizing Union Avenue and streetscape and active transportation improvements along 4th and P streets to name a few.
Four years ago, the city had an opportunity to apply for $35 million of Cap and Trade funds through the Transformative Climate Communities ( TCC) program. Unexplainably, city staff did not apply for these desperately needed funds for disadvantaged communities.
During the second round of the TCC funding process, active community participation has garnered substantial support for extending the Mill Creek Linear Park to Brundage Lane. These amenities will provide a historically marginalized community with access to parks and active transportation that will be key in helping connect Lowell Park to jobs, education and essential services. Urban greening from the new linear park will provide new amenities and help sequester greenhouse gas emissions from Highway 58. In addition to these social, community and environmental benefits, studies have found that urban linear parks can create economic value.
An analysis of the San Antonio River Walk estimates that it attracted 11.5 million visitors, including 2.2 million residents and 9.3 million non-residents, during a one-year study. These visitors spend approximately $2.4 billion annually, supporting more than 31,000 jobs. San Antonio Riverwalk’s economic impact is $3.1 billion per year, generating roughly $173 million in local and state taxes annually.
Another study of Atlanta’s Belt Line — a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta being redeveloped into a multi-use trail — has contributed to 110 private investment projects valued at $2.4 billion, including more than 13,000 new residential units and nearly 2 million square feet of commercial space. The Belt Line has generated 30,000 permanent jobs and will increase the city’s tax base by $20 billion over 20 years — a 6:1 return on investment.
In addition to new investments in urban greening, we must also recognize that Union Avenue has long been overdue for revitalization and the time to act is now. What was once designed as US 99 and later SR 99, this corridor hasn’t served intercity travel in decades. Yet, for years, Bakersfield failed to respond to these macrotrends, allowing motels to be converted into single-room-occupancy lodging that all too frequently attracts illicit activity, such as crime, drugs and prostitution.
Without delay, not counting projects by the Housing Authority, Bakersfield must ban single-room-occupancy lodging and rezone Union Avenue. Today’s motels would become nonconforming uses setting the stage for future redevelopment. A nonconforming use was a former property use previously allowed under zoning regulations when the service was initially established but because subsequent changes are no longer permitted.
For years, Union Avenue has become one of the city’s most dangerous streets for pedestrians and cyclists. Bakersfield should work with Caltrans to decommission Union Avenue and turn it into a local road so that the city can make investments in streetscapes, bus-rapid transit and active transportation.
As we look east of Union Avenue, the city will face more complex projects. How will the city mitigate challenges presented by high-speed rail to Old Town Kern? How will the city address the formidable challenges facing the Martin Luther King and Cottonwood Road communities?
KernTax will ask the city to allocate part of the $10 million per year allocation for economic development to fund comprehensive planning and identify potential opportunities for these two troubled communities.
Together we can expand economic opportunity, enhance mobility and promote safety for all. Now is the time to reinvest in our city’s most disadvantaged communities, create ladders of opportunity and connect these neighborhoods to vital services.