Frazier Park

Frazier Park is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of Lebec, at an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m) The population was 2,691 in the 2010 census, up from 2,348 in 2000. The community was established in 1925 by Harry McBain, who named it in 1926 for Frazier Mountain, on its southern flank. Mount Pinos is the highest peak in the area at 8,831 ft (2,692 m). The San Andreas fault transects the region, turning southeast on the west side of Interstate 5, just southwest of the Frazier Park exit. Frazier Park was used in filming for The Waltons television show. It was also the setting of the 2011 film The FP and 1974's The Black Six. The nearest large city is Santa Clarita, to the south on Interstate 5 (I-5), and Bakersfield is the largest city to the north of I-5. The region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C) According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Frazier Park has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. The 2010 United States Census reported that Frazier Park had a population of 2,690. The racial makeup of Frazier Park is 2,297 (85.4%) White, 16 (0.6%) African American, 31 (1.2%) Native American, 22 (0.,8%) Asian, 3 (0,1%) Pacific Islander, 212 (7.9%) from other races, and 110 (4.1%) from two or more races.

History

The community was established in 1925 by Harry McBain, who named it in 1926 for Frazier Mountain, on its southern flank. Its post office was established on September 14, 1927, with Charles B. Fife as the first postmaster. Frazier Park was used in filming for The Waltons television show. It is the setting of the 2011 film The FP and 1974's The Black Six. The park was also used for the filming of The Biggest Loser and The Little Engine That Could in the 1970s and 1980s. It was also the setting for the TV series The Little House on the Prairie in the 1990s and The Big Little Lies in the 2000s. The community was named after Frazier Mountain in 1926, which is located on the other side of the park. It has a population of about 2,000. The town's name is derived from Frazier Mountain and the word "frazier" which means "wood" or "forest" in English. The first record of the community dates back to 1854, when lumber was being produced there from the Frazier Mountain trees for use at the new Army post at nearby Fort Tejon. A Kitanemuk Indian referred to the site as Campo del Soldado (Soldier's Camp), "which was where the soldiers stayed when they cut timber from a mountain they called Pinery Mountain, today's Frazier Mountain," according to local historian Bonnie Ketterl Kane. The mill was "supposedly" at the southeast end of the present community.

Geography

Frazier Park lies within Cuddy Canyon in the San Emigdio Mountains, within the Los Padres National Forest. Mount Pinos is the highest peak in the area at 8,831 ft (2,692 m) The San Andreas fault transects the region, turning southeast on the west side of Interstate 5, just southwest of the Frazier Park exit. The Garlock Fault, California's second largest, intersects the San Andreas just east of town and heads northeast along the Tehachapi Mountains. This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C) According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Frazier Park has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. The nearest large city is Santa Clarita to the south on Interstate 5 (I-5), and Bakersfield is the largest city to the north of I-5. The main road through Frazier Park is Frazier Mountain Park Road, which runs east to Lebec and I- 5 and west to Lake of the Woods. It is also known as Frazier Mountain Road, and is the main road to Pine Mountain Club, Mettler, and other nearby communities. It was named after Frazier Park, California, where the town's first postmaster was buried in 1883. The town has a population of about 2,000 people, the majority of whom live in Frazier Park.

Population

Frazier Park had a population of 2,691 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The racial makeup of Frazier Park was 2,297 (85.4%) White, 16 (0.6%) African American, 31 (1.2%) Native American, 22 (0.8%) Asian, 3 (0,1%) Pacific Islander, 212 (7.9%) from other races, and 110 (4.1%) from two or more races. There were 1,354 housing units at an average density of 267.3 per square mile (103.2/km²), of which 673 (62.0%) were owner-occupied, and 413 (38.0) were occupied by renters. Frazier Park households had a lower median income than the nation as a whole $46,857, compared to $50,046. The median age for Frazier Park residents was 38 years compared with 35 for the nation. The average household size was 2.48, and there were 672 families (61.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.08. Almost a quarter of the town's 1,203 housing units (23%) were vacant when the census was taken in March 2000, much higher than the national rate of 9%. Property owners lived in about seven of every 10 units, nearly the same proportion as the remainder of the nation, and renters lived in nearly the other three. The town had slightly more veterans than its share, or 17%, compared to 13% around the country.

Government

Frazier Park is governed by the Kern County Board of Supervisors. A resolution to form the Mountain Communities Municipal Advisory Council and its bylaws would be brought to the Board for approval. The five members he selected for initial appointment for the advisory council were Stacey Havener, Linda MacKay, Steve Newman, Robert Peterson, Anne Weber. "We are leaving open the option to extend membership to seven at some point depending on the need to represent additional interests within the communities," says County Supervisor Ray Watson. The council includes Frazier Park, Lebec, Fort Tejon and Tejon Village, Pinon Pines, Lake of the Woods, and Pine Mountain Club, he says. The members were selected based on demonstrated leadership, community service and broad representation of community interests and geographic areas, Watson says. He says the council will have a five-year term, with the option of extending it to seven years if necessary, depending on community needs. The group's bylaws will be submitted to the board for approval in the spring of 2009. The first meeting of the council is scheduled for May 8, 2009, at the Frazier Park Town Hall, which is also the home of the Town Mayor, Thomas Lauchlan, who will serve as Town Mayor for the next five years.

Town Council

Unincorporated areas of Kern County have no local government. The volunteer Mountain Communities Town Council was formed in 1995. The council held a number of forums, which attracted more than a thousand people. In 2007, the California Air Resources Board lent it equipment to test air quality in Lebec. In 2013 the organization, dubbed MCMAC, contained 4,370 registered voters among the area's 8,384 Kern County residents. In June 2020 a new town council was organizing with the intention of uniting the community and saving many local businesses and community development programs. It would cover only the Kern County part of the Mountain Communities. The town council never returned to the area. It was dissolved in October 2008, with its last meeting held on October 16, 2008. The people of the mountain communities began to boycott the meetings. The MCMAC often met to empty rooms: four people talked to each other and empty chairs for nearly three years. In April 2012 both candidates to succeed WatsonDavid Couch and Harley Pinsoneach said he favored an elected Mountain Communities Advisory Council, and after Couch won the election, the remaining four council members resigned. A poll by show of hands revealed about 40 in favor of a MAC, 7 opposed, and 20 undecided, with others not voting. The first members of the MAC were Stacy Havener, Linda MacKay, Steve Newman, Robert Peterson, and Anne Weber of Frazier Park. In August 2009, Watson announced he would recommend the formation of a Municipal Advisory Council to the Kern county Board of Supervisors.

Education

Homeschooling is important in Frazier Park and surrounding areas. Estimates range between 8% and 30% somewhere between 100 and 400 children. Frazier Park hosts a branch of the Valley Oaks Community Charter School. The charter school is designed to "provide opportunities, support, and accountability for parents in their homeschooling endeavors" The community is a part of the El Tejon Unified School District. The district educates students from the fifth through the eighth grade. It also has a high school for ninth- through 12th-graders, Frazier Mountain High School, also in Lebec. The school district also has an elementary school and a middle school in the community. It is the only non-charter school that lies within Frazier Park; it educates children in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Transportation

Kern Transit provides weekday service from the Flying J gas station via the Route 130 bus to the Santa Clarita Station Metrolink and the McBean Regional Transit Center. It also provides bus service Monday through Saturday during the summer months to Lebec, Gorman, Lake of the Woods, Pinon Pines, and Pine Mountain Club. It offers a dial-a-ride service all year.

In popular culture

The Black Six (1973), a blaxploitation biker film directed by Matt Cimber and featuring several NFL stars was made in the area. In 2011, an American independent film The FP was released. The comedy film focuses on two gangsthe 248 and the 245that are fighting for control of The FP (Frazier Park) In 2017, the film Frazier Park Recut was released by filmmaker Tom Morris. It was filmed on location in Frazier Park. The Clones (1973) was shot partially on location. The Black Six was shot in the same area as Frazier Park in 1973. The film was directed byMatt Cimbers and features several NFL players. The FP is a comedy film written and directed by brothers Brandon and Jason Trost. It focuses on the battle between two gangs, The 248 and The 245, for the control of the park. In the film, the 248 are the dominant gang, while the 245 are the sub-gangs. Frazier Park is a popular destination for bikers and bikers in the U.S. It is also a popular tourist destination in the United States. The park has been the site of numerous biker and biker films, including "The Clones" (1973) and "The Black 6" (1973). The park is also the location for the film "The Lost City of Z" (1974), which was filmed in and around the town of Frazier Park and was shot on location around the city.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Frazier Park, Kern County, California = 1. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 42. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Frazier Park = 5.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 1,642 individuals with a median age of 34.9 age the population dropped by -1.32% in Frazier Park, Kern County, California population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 510 residents per square mile of area (200/km²). There are average 2.55 people per household in the 910 households with an average household income of $47,878 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 14.50% of the available work force and has dropped -4.26% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 16.98%. The number of physicians in Frazier Park per 100,000 population = 121.9.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Frazier Park = 12.9 inches and the annual snowfall = 5.5 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 41. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 269. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 35.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 51, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Frazier Park, Kern County, California which are owned by the occupant = 53.46%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 37 years with median home cost = $131,870 and home appreciation of -24.49%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.82 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,172 per student. There are 19.9 students for each teacher in the school, 5458 students for each Librarian and 1033 students for each Counselor. 9.97% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 10.18% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 4.78% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).