Bakersfield Reimagined

Engrassia, Hunter

Bakersfield Reimagined

2022

New York Institute of Technology

Urban renewal-- California-- Bakersfield-- Planning
Air quality management-- California-- Bakersfield
Bakersfield (Calif.)-- Planning
Bakersfield (Calif.)-- Design and construction

English

PDF

Text

Architecture

Bakersfield, California is located about an hour and a half North of Los Angeles and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert, and Sierra Nevada Mountains. The location of the city offers a wide variety of completely different landscapes in each direction. It is a perfect place for communities to grow and families to flourish, that is, if you enjoy breathing in toxic pollution. Unfortunately, the beautiful landscapes surrounding Bakersfield are covered by many, many oil drills. The oil fields surrounding Bakersfield are so large that they have turned the city into one of the most polluted cities in the United States. My Thesis explores a version of Bakersfield where the surrounding oil fields are replaced with renewable energy. As a way to reduce the number of renewable energy needed per community, I also studied walkable communities with Earth-Sheltered Homes. 

The purpose of this work is to acknowledge the issue of burning fossil fuels and how it directly relates to a community and it’s culture. Since Bakersfield is known for it’s road culture, my goal throughout my Thesis has been to introduce the residents of Bakersfield to this new, clean, and healthier way of living while protecting their culture and preserving the key elements of it’s past.