Kerman was so named when two venture capitalists out of L.A. -- William G. Kerckhoff, and Jacob Mansar -- combined the first three letters of each of their surnames to come up with the new name for the patch of land they'd acquired.
Kerman is pretty much right in the center of California, geographically speaking, and is about 15 miles to the west of Fresno, the only major city in the region. To the eastern border, you'll find the Sierra Nevada Mountains, while about 90 miles to the northeast is the world-famous Yosemite National Park. Right to the southeast at a similar distance is where you'll find Sequoia National Park, where the largest trees in the world -- the Redwoods -- live. If you really want to stretch your legs, San Francisco is roughly three and a half hours to the northwest, and L.A. is about four hours to the south-southeast.
Moving to Kerman
The city of Kerman is home to about 13,544 people and is surrounded by rural farmland. As such, many of the local people work in this region, but others commute over to Fresno for higher-paying office jobs. If this is you, you're going to need a car, as Kerman has no public transit system, and there's simply no other way to get around. There's a surprisingly good mix of properties available in the city, from one-bedroom apartments to three-bedroom houses for rent. However, finding somewhere might be slightly tougher than you think. Make sure that you get letters of reference and proof of income before you start canvassing for a potential place to live, and it's crucial that you put some money together for a security deposit and paying your first month's rent up front.
Neighborhoods in Kerman
It's hard to truly know a place until you live there, but it's still a good idea to take a drive around the area to get a feel for it. This will help you to decide where you might want to end up, although that might be determined by what's available at the end of the day. There are three neighborhoods in the city, two that make up the main urban center and another that covers much of the farmland around it. You'll find plenty of home rentals all over, but if you want to find an apartment rental in Kerman, you're generally going to have to stick to the center of the city.
City Center: Hungry? Great! Head down S. Madera Avenue, and you'll have plenty of places to choose from, such as Tio Chema Restaurant, Reno's Place and Maria's Family Cafe. There are also plenty of other useful amenities down the main street, like banks, shopping outlets and several schools dotted throughout.
N. Madera Ave / W. Whitesbridge Ave: There's a great sports recreational area here at the Kerman Unified Schools District, with baseball fields, a football and track stadium, eight tennis courts, swimming pools and more.
Rolinda / Floyd: This area has a massive number of fields and so much farmland you could get lost among the grapes. If, however, you're looking for a larger house in a rural and quiet area of the city, this is where you should be looking.
Living in Kerman
Life in Kerman is very much for the outdoorsy types. There is a host of great attractions nearby, if you like that sort of thing, with national parks all around and the California Golf country to the northeast. If you're a keen runner, cyclist, hiker, swimmer, fisherman, hunter or just about anything you can imagine doing on land, water and even snow (like skiing), then life in Kerman is for you. Oh, and if you're keen on long, warm summers to help you take advantage of all of the above, then that's even better.
OK, so there's no transit system in the city, but that's not the end of the world, is it? Why not cycle instead like so many other people do? If you're working too far for that, using your car is the best choice, and it's certainly possible to commute to Fresno without a problem if you want a larger wedge stuffed in your pocket at the end of each month. Also, travel in and out of town is simple across routes 180 and 145, so getting out for work or play isn't a problem, despite the lack of public transport.