I've owned a few Taft properties over the years. Just sold one last month. Don't care for the place frankly, and I'm quite happy to not have a reason to drive out there again for while!
What exactly turns you off about Taft?
Imagine everything you might ever want a city.
Then imagine a city with zero of those things.
Congratulations, you now understand Taft.
High crime rate (roughly double the national average), a per capita income far below the national average, little job growth, poorly ranked schools, aging housing stock that has far more than the usual percentage of derelict properties (no reason to build new housing with no population growth), a largely uneducated populous, and zero entertainment (other than committing crimes or watching others commit crimes, apparently), and it's marooned by itself in the middle of nowhere with no other cities reasonably close that could provide any either. But, at least you can enjoy the 110 degree summers and views like this all around: