east bakersfield is a region in bakersfield, california directly east of downtown. the region was formerly known as the town of sumner, which was later incorporated and renamed kern city. it is primarily a mixture of residential and commercial developments. it also contains a small business district (which was the downtown for kern city) centered on the intersection of baker and sumner streets. census data is provided on the right for the time period when the region was an independent town and city. it is part of the bakersfield urban area of almost 500,000 people.