Fight the Blight

Sounds like the look and feel of downtown Bakersfield might really change. A plan to buy up the industrial area around Central Park and turn it into a quaint little neighborhood is going to be unveiled tonight. According to an article in the paper, Lennar Homes wants to team up with the city to build some 700 town houses, shops, and restaurants in “the largest redevelopment initiative that has ever been undertaken in Bakersfield.” Sounds good to me. I always thought it was strange that bums sleeping in the park surrounded the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Plus, having an area described as “tree lined,” “hip,” and “overlooking an attractive little creek,” sounds pretty good to me.

Of course the businesses being threatened by the city buy out aren’t too happy about the idea. Mostly because they wouldn’t pay them what the property is actually worth. That is pretty crappy. For now the project is just in the idea stage, so I’m sure it’ll be YEARS before anything happens.

Maybe they will have decided to talk about a new freeway by then.