In ancient times the San Joaquin Valley was home to a vast inland sea. But while that sea is long gone, islands of a different sort remain. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley Roots, the story of county islands in our major cities.
Look at a map of Fresno or Bakersfield, and you’ll see something odd: the map looks like Swiss cheese. Within the outer boundary of the city limits, you’ll find many unincorporated areas that aren’t a part of the city. These are known as "county islands."
Some are affluent neighborhoods like Old Fig Garden in Fresno or the Bakersfield Country Club in Kern County. Others are more modest areas like Bakersfield’s Rexland Acres or Mayfair in Fresno. These are neighborhoods surrounded the city, but they remain under the sole jurisdiction of the county. That means in most cases, residents get county services don’t vote in city elections.
But why? Some of these areas were developed decades ago when they were on the urban fringe, only to be enveloped by urban development. In other cases, these areas were developed intentionally outside of the city boundaries to skirt city taxes, or development requirements like sidewalks and streetlights.
Sometimes county islands are annexed after the fact. But some residents prefer their outsider status, citing more permissive county regulations, or a preference for county public safety services. However, critics point out these islands often result in considerable inefficacies.
