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TOP 32
 

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In our attempt to determine the greatest thing about Bakersfield, the field has been narrowed to 32 and we were absolutely shocked at the amount of votes that came in. We knew that Bakersfield Life has the most readers of any local magazine by a long shot, but your response to our first “The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield” bracket was astounding.

Some of these first-round match-ups were incredibly close. In fact, three of these were decided by less than 10 votes. In a high-profile match-up, Merle Haggard edged Valley Plaza by just six votes, as did downtown nightlife over local golf. And local eatery Jake’s Tex-Mex edged local airport Meadows Field by just eight votes.

This sets the scene for the next round of voting, which will narrow the field once again from 32 down to the Sweet 16. Look at some of these second-round match-ups that you will be voting on this month: Mexicali vs. Kern County Museum, Hart Park vs. Kern County Fair, Bakersfield College Football vs. Lake Ming, Smith’s Bakery vs. Trout’s, and the Bakersfield sign vs. Kevin Harvick. How will you decide?

Voting is open now at www.BakersfieldLife.com for three weeks and will close on Sept. 6.
Most of the numerous comments left after voting said that there weren’t too many difficult choices. But a small percentage – 30 individuals to be exact – seemed to have a problem with the way the pairings were put together. Even though it was a small percentage of comments, it seemed like enough to address here.

The typical comment went something like this: “I found it difficult on several as I don’t know why I’m choosing between such unrelated subjects.” Or like this: “Who paired these things up? Most of them have nothing to do with each other.”

The key to remember here is that we’re figuring out what is the greatest thing about Bakersfield. We actually thought of placing like items with like items for the first round, such as Dewar’s vs. Rosemary’s and Condors Hockey vs. CSUB Basketball, but in the end, we decided against it. The reason was simple: We knew the second round would still have a match-up like Dewar’s vs. CSUB Basketball – which are unrelated – and it would be interesting to see what the people of Bakersfield find more interesting from the start.

We compare apples to oranges every day. Think of it this way: What is your favorite thing about Las Vegas? The gambling? The lavish architecture of the Wynn Resort and Casino? The gondola rides at The Venetian? The shows? The Fremont Street Experience? These are apples and oranges, but it is something that people who love Las Vegas might debate in order to decide their favorite thing.

Of course, for every one comment left arguing that the items had nothing to do with each other, we had dozens of comments saying things like, “Very inventive pairings – great work!” and “I haven’t lived in Bako for a while, but miss it a lot … the choices to make were funny and brought back memories … that was FUN!”

One thing that was clear is that Bakersfield likes things that are local. Places like Starbucks didn’t stand a chance in round one despite its popularity. But Trader Joe’s still remains as the only top thing about Bakersfield that is not exclusively local. We’ll see how it farea this month against the Fox Theater.

Head to www.BakersfieldLife.com to vote and we’ll see you next month with the Sweet 16 on the way to deciding The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield.

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The field has been narrowed to 32 and we were absolutely surprised at the amount of votes that came in the first round. We knew that Bakersfield Life has the most readers of any local magazine by a long shot, but your response to our first “The Greatest Thing About Bakersfield bracket’ was astounding.
 
Some of these first-round match-ups were incredibly close. In fact, three of these were decided by less than 10 votes. This sets the scene for the next round of voting, which will narrow the field once again from 32 down to the Sweet 16. Look at some of these second-round match-ups that you will be voting on this month: Mexicali vs. Kern County Museum, Hart Park vs. Kern County Fair, Bakersfield College Football vs. Lake Ming, Smith’s Bakery vs. Trout’s, and the Bakersfield sign vs. Kevin Harvick. How will you decide?
 
The Park at River Walk
Local Bands
 
Kern County Museum
Mexicali
 
The Weather
Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace
 
Close to everything
Rosemary’s
 
Downtown nightlife
Wool Growers
 
Kern County Fair
Hart Park
 
Kern River
Buck Owens
 
Rabobank Arena
Bakersfield Museum of Art
 
Jake’s Tex-Mex
Dewar’s
 
Lake Ming
Bakersfield College Football
 
Trout’s
Smith’s Bakery
 
Relay for Life
Northwest Promenade
 
Brews in the Village
Luigi’s
 
Kevin Harvick
Bakersfield Sign
 
Merle Haggard
Condors Hockey
 
Fox Theater
Trader Joe’s

 Click Here to Vote!