This can only be good news for the Padre.  If only there were a supermarket downtown.

Doesn't the Albertsons at Brundage and Chester count?  Its only a mile from the courthouse.

I think condos in The Padre would be great.  I would get one myself if I didn't have kids.  I hear they're including the roaches for free.

The number of people who work or even travel to downtown Bakersfield has got to be a tiny fraction of the people who live in the NW. Why would anyone want to live near downtown anyway? Cheaper crack? A yearning to be closer to used furniture stores? Desire to live amongst the homeless?

I'll take my chances with the crazies in the NW.

If Bakersfield's downtown evolves... the loft idea will explode. I'd say it's possible.. maybe a decade from now.

Lots of people work downtown, witbee.  Check out the parking lots behind the courthouses and the Taj Mahal, not to mention the County Public Works building and the Social Security office on Union and the child support office.  Then there's the BPD headquarters, the attorneys up and down Truxtun, the records office, etc.

I also would love a loft if I didn't have kids....I saw the ones under construction at the Hay Building and it looks like they'll be way cool when they're done.  I'm still surprised they're not called the Haylofts, but I guess that wouldn't be a selling point. 

Haylofts!  LOL

Still, who would WANT to live downtown?

Us artsy folk....

I have lived in the Northwest all of my 52 years.  While I'm not thrilled with sacrificing fertile farm land for progress' sake, I find I rarely have to leave the area now.  Other than concerts and movies, there's not much I can't find in my own backyard. 

I think it would be fun to be able to walk a couple of blocks to a restaurant for dinner.  In the burbs you have to get in your car to do ANYTHING.

I would LOVE to live downtown, just not downtown Bakersfield. Seattle is my number one choice. Great for families. What's your #1 downtown city choice?

Jaded, downtown Seattle is iffy. I'd rather live on Capitol Hill. Maybe Belltown, but I'm not sure since the Croc closed. I always get lost in Fremont and don't trust Ballard, so yeah, Cap Hill.

Portland's downtown, I think, is more residence-friendly than Seattle's, but I don't know it nearly as well.

For those who can afford it, I think nothing can beat Manhattan. Except maybe a 1,000-year-old apartment a few blocks off Las Ramblas in Barcelona. As long as we're dreaming, you know.

#1 downtown city?  I don't know.  Not Seattle, though.  It rains there too much for me.  I'm one of those people that get the winter blues when there's not enough light.  That said, I choose downtown Kailua-Kona.  It's not much, but I'll take it.  : ) 

If you go far enough to the outskirts of town, we become increasingly self-sufficient.  Where I live, we hunt, fish, grow, and trap our own food.  I won't even mention how we get our women.  We don't need cars.  We ride horses when our trucks run out of gas. 

I live in the wild west section of the Northwest of town.  Of course, today, I'm a little prone to exaggeration, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't sound believable. 

Angel in London..South of Market( gotta have a garage) S.F..Up above the Casino in Rhodes..Mainstreet  Randsburg.

Brookings says Washington DC is the best downtown for "walkability."  Boston disputes it but only on their say-so.

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Apparently Major League Baseball says Indianapolis.  That's good enough for me.

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Though if I were moving, I'd take a close look at Eugene, Oregon.

Too much rain in Seattle, too much snow in Ft. Collins and Flagstaff. Beside the fact I don't want to move again...I'll remain in the eastern edge of town and bitch about gas prices.

I lived in WA..loved the rain. Some think that the rain is depressing. I think that day 100 of over 100 degrees is depressing. Hey, but at least its dry heat.

No, Phoenix, Blythe, Parker, Yuma...that's dry heat. Like a blast furnace!

spam code: GO YUG. I have no idea what it's trying to tell me

Bakersfield needs to clean up downtown. Get cops walking a beat to make the area safe for shopping and walking for people who have a little means. The place today is every bit the same pit it was five years ago. Vacancy after vacancy as the back drop to vagrant after vagrant meandering through the district. On the occasions when I go out to eat in that area with my wife there is always groups of layabouts with nothing going on hanging out in various styles of depression poverty angst looking for spare change. Downtown is creepy, and the city refuses to do one thing about it, unless some big shot like Ah-nold comes to town, and all of a sudden vagrant enforcement kicks into gear. It is obvious only one council person even cares about the disaster that is downtown. Until local government changes drastically I wouldn't take a place downtown as a gift.