In fairness to Fresno, my understanding is it's not unilaterally unpleasant, and I assume that at the HC's salary you can afford a pretty sweet house there. That being said it doesn't really seem like that much of a step up from the UCD job to me, especially not for Hawkins as a Davis guy.
I'd take Fresno over Bake, any day. The air quality is a little bit better and you can get a nice house in Clovis or in the foothills. That said, my aunt and uncle live in Bake and like it, but they also have a ranch in Sonoma County so they can escape the summer heat.