Southwest Bakersfield

Southwest Bakersfield is the southwest region of Bakersfield, California. It is roughly bounded by the Kern River to the north and Oak St/Wible Rd. to the east. The other boundaries are the city limits themselves.The Southwest contains major residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, as well as parks, shopping districts, and even a university.Most of the land that makes up the region was originally owned by the land giant, Kern County Land Company. That company later became Tenneco West, and is currently known as Castle and Cooke. Growth started in the early 1950s, but accelerated by the 1960s. Most of the growth in Bakersfield, between the 1960s and 1980s occurred in the southwest. In recent years, development in other regions has slowed the growth in the southwest.Neighborhoods and DistrictsLike other regions in Bakersfield, most districts and neighborhoods boundaries in the Southwest vary depending on who a person talks to. Below are some of the more commonly used neighborhood names.Financial DistrictCentered on the intersection and California Ave. and Mohawk St. is Bakersfield's Financial District. It is the location for many of the regional offices and corporate headquarters for companies that have assets in the county, and surrounding region. These include Wells Fargo bank, Bank of the West, and Berry Petroleum. It is also home to Stockdale Towers, the tallest building in the city. Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, as well as other companies were also located there, but have since moved to larger buildings farther to the southwest.The Financial District is located on the actively producing Fruitvale Oil Field. Oil well pumping units are scattered throughout the district, mainly in the parking lots. The units are fenced and landscaped. Some of the tanks for storing the pumped oil are located just east of the intersection of Truxtun Ave. and Mohawk St.