It's not that it's hard to leave. It's that people don't plan out enough to leave and not have to come back when everything fails. I've got friends that left and are doing fine elsewhere and only visit their families during holiday but most come back within a year b/c they left without a plan.

All in all, Bakersfield isn't as miserable as it's made out to be but if you're a miserable person it's easy to point fingers. For $1395/month I have a nice home with 3br/2bath/office/pool and room extra for the dogs to run around in. Sure, if I wanted to live in the "Better" parts of town it'd be 1600 for 2br/2bth and a small lot in the back but that's gonna be the same everywhere.

Being 2hrs removed from larger cities isn't awful and works out pretty well for weekend trips to the beach, sport events, etc. I don't have to drive 30 minutes in stop/go traffic to get somewhere, I prefer the hole in the wall dive bars(Plenty of those in bakersfield) over clubs, and the mexican food is just as good as you'll get there. Only real draw back is if you're wanting a finer meal, which I don't go for too often.