Bakersfield has a nice big Park at the River Walk...Beautiful outdoor theater...miles of bike trails...water in the river ...several hundred water birds and small animals all around the SW and West Bakersfield area.
Low cost housing...Several restaurants and night life in Downtown area also in the SW near CSUB...great golf courses...also great frisbee golf courses...
There are jobs to be had if you want to work...oil industry and agriculture...my son just got out of the service and had a job within two days of returning to Bakersfield...You have to want to work though and not be an entitlement monger....
Bakersfield and the outlying areas have greta Junior Colleges and CSUB is a great campus...A large AYSO group...Babe Ruth baseball nearly year round...we also have a Hockey team and Pro Baseball...tons of activities year round short distance to the Coastal and Mountain areas...great hunting and fishing...all around good place to live and raise a family.