Arvin, CA

Arvin is a small Kern County city about 15 miles southeast of Bakersfield, set in the agricultural southern San Joaquin Valley. Its economy is strongly tied to farming, which gives local employment a seasonal pattern and keeps the surrounding fields central to the town's identity. Arvin began selling town lots in the early 1900s, and it also has an unusual aviation footnote: notable soaring flights near Bear Mountain were later recognized by the National Soaring Museum. The result is workaday and rural, close to Bakersfield without feeling absorbed by it.