The Central Valley town is one of California's poorest. A face peers out from an unliveable back-alley shack. The downtown shops go begging for customers while four men hold court at a nearby park, hopelessly unemployed. Farmworkers line up at a local church, which doubles as a Salvation Army center, for their monthly food hand-out. The world outside may be enjoying the healthiest economy in 30 years, but in the Valley it's business as usual.
Unemployment is still high, and so are poverty and welfare dependence.
Personal income is lower than the rest of California. Unemployment averaged 12.4 percent last year, nearly twice as high as West Virginia's. As for poverty, only West Virginia, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., have higher rates. Moreover, the economic distance between the Valley and the rest of California is widening. Thirty years ago the average Bakersfield resident earned only 25 percent less than the average San Franciscan.