All you (n)ever wanted to know about Ridgecrest (Bakersfield: apartment complex, to rent)

[consolecowboy]

Originally Posted by SimBoo

We are back in California, now, looking at the Antelope Valley or Coachella Valley. It looks like La Quinta is the only good option for families, but seems too expensive. Ridgecrest was looking good until I read what you've said. We're not going to repeat that mistake. East Palmdale has some nice looking areas but I'm not impressed with what I've read about the schools. How is Acton?

First, please read my other posts, particularly the one near the beginning of this thread. It'll give you an idea of my personal experience as a Ridgecrest resident twice, once growing up and once in my adult life. No need to regurgitate info here. Suffice to say I now live in Palmdale. While I can't speak to the Coachella valley, I can compare the rest.

Do not move to East Palmdale. There is a ton more crime and graffiti over there than the West side. Brand new housing tracts all over, yes, and they get their walls tagged almost immediately. Also, there are multiple school districts in the Antelope Valley, with significant differences between them. There's a single high school district but multiple elementary/middle school districts. The best, by far, is Westside Union School District. That is mostly a product of the socioeconomic populace from which they draw, than the quality of teachers or administration, which I believe is true for almost all school districts (I'm married into a family of public school teachers). Simply moving to West Palmdale does not mean you are in Westside's territory. You have to be west of 25th Street West, in general. Westside's schools, and the high schools they feed (Quartz Hill and much of Highland), very closely correspond to Sierra Sands' (in Ridgecrest) standardized test scores.

Acton is better, especially in terms of crime/safety, if you can afford it (minimum 1-acre lots somewhat dictate a price floor) and prefer the semi-rural lifestyle. A national builder, Forecast Homes, built a major tract over most of the last 5 years or so; other than that, you have mostly custom (and older) homes. Acton is a short 10- or 15-minute drive to Palmdale.

Final point, keeping in mind I'm married into a family of public school teachers: the #1 factor in your child's success in education is YOU, the parents, and therefore the child's home life and support network. Everyone has their own opinions about big schools vs. small schools, private vs. public. If you are conservative and/or religious, you're probably going to prefer private schools because you're concerned about your child being exposed to "bad stuff." You're probably more likely to blame the school if your kid does drugs, than yourself or the neighborhood you chose to (or could afford to) live in. Personally, I'm pretty darned liberal considering I came out of Ridgecrest and now live in Palmdale, and although I'm religious, I believe in separation of church and state -- including a state-funded education. Sunday school should be taught in Sunday school, and the 3 R's should be taught another 5 days of the week. Anyway, that's just a tangent, but the point is that I'm not greatly concerned about my kids going to Westside's schools (which hasn't happened yet).

[thebigswede]

charls it is called naval air weapons station at china lake not warfare and they do call it the base

[thebigswede]

Originally Posted by Charles

That was a great post, organized and well crafted.

I've worked and trained at the "Center" (As I recall; They called it the "Center", not the "Base", because it is the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake.) If you are in (and I mean "in") to dirt bikes, skiing, camping, hiking, general outdoors it can be OK for some folks. When I was at Point Mugu in the 1990s there was always this threat looming over Mugu that Mugu would close and all our jobs would go to China Lake.

hey charles it is called naval air weapons station at china lake not warfare center and they do call it the base

[KNJO]

Ridgecrest is nothing like that. Ridgecrest isn't a LDS town

Ridgecrest has 9 Wards for an area of 30,000, even LDS members will tell you that is a high number for a city of that size. I know the city prefers to hire LDS, and converting to Christian can and will get you fired. It also might help explain the conformist attitude you will find in schools like Gateway. I'm in a neighborhood now surrounded by LDS, and they will not let their kids play with non LDS kids, they never speak unless they want something, even our sheriff is LDS and has made it clear; his friends are above the law! Code enforcement officer is also LDS and has a different set of rules for his friends, example: his friends are allowed to have multiple trailers on their residential lots they rent out to friends, yet the Christians are not allowed to have any; and it's strictly enforced. Remember Brigham Young hated Christians with a passion, so much so he had 160 men, women & children massacred; because they dared to pass through Utah on their way to California.
To learn more Google: Meadows Mountain Massacre

Ridgecrest may not be an LDS town, it just seems like it!
For the record: many Kern County towns are populated with one cult or another, like Frazier Park and Lake Isabella. Tehachapi has four cults that all hate each other, which might help explain all the rude business owners Tehachapi has.

I too am looking for an area that is not run by cults, it's very hard on the children.
I hate having to explain to my five year old boy, that the boy next door is not allowed to play with him because he is not LDS. After dealing with it in Arizona, I don't want to go through it again.

Steve

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by KNJO

Ridgecrest has 9 Wards for an area of 30,000, even LDS members will tell you that is a high number for a city of that size. I know the city prefers to hire LDS, and converting to Christian can and will get you fired. It also might help explain the conformist attitude you will find in schools like Gateway.

Wow, I hadn't really thought about it much before. I don't really like to generalize because even people cut from the same cloth are different, but now that you mention it, my next-door neighbors, my sister's best friend's family, and a few co-workers were all LDS. I simply chalked up the conformist attitudes to the conservative nature of the town.

[KNJO]

The Apartment complex in Ridgecrest I was living in was 70% LDS. It's the Christian children that pay the price, lets just say they don't play well with others. If you take your kids to the park, they will either shun your kids or get up and leave, the LDS teachers also play favorites with LDS children. Our new neighborhood is also surrounded by them, including the Sheriff and code enforcement officer; they really do think they are above the law, and the cop is there to remind you they are.
If it was not for the LDS factor, Ridgecrest would be a nice place to live with everything close by, you could almost do without a car. And the cost of living is among the lowest in the nation, with housing cost low by California standards.

If you look around other boards on this site, you will find I'm not the only one that has had to deal with their bigotry, and it's not just Utah, but also western Colorado & Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona and eastern Oregon and Washington.

Brigham Young hated Christians with a passion, and would ordered them slaughtered whenever they got in his way. Moving to Aurora, CO was a good choice, if I could afford to move the family, I would do it in a heartbeat. I remember the folks being allot friendlier there than here.

[buff93555]

I am 46 , and have lived in ridgecrest my whole life. I agree with some of the things you said about our town. but the rest is just plain hokey and unimformitive. Sure there is a drug problem , but isn't that pretty much everywhere you go ?

You forgot to say that if you have kids , this is a very good place to raise them . We have less crime than most cities our size. We average only ONE murder a yr. And unless your just a troubled person to begin with , then this is a pretty good place to grow up . As far as sports we average at least 2 teams every year that go to the C.I.F championship , and we win at least half of the time. As far as work , if your not lasy then you can find jobs here , no problem . So if your going to talk about our town PLEASE tell all of the story , and not just the bad things...THANK YOU .............. William Groves

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by buff93555

I am 46 , and have lived in ridgecrest my whole life. I agree with some of the things you said about our town. but the rest is just plain hokey and unimformitive. Sure there is a drug problem , but isn't that pretty much everywhere you go ?

You forgot to say that if you have kids , this is a very good place to raise them . We have less crime than most cities our size. We average only ONE murder a yr. And unless your just a troubled person to begin with , then this is a pretty good place to grow up . As far as sports we average at least 2 teams every year that go to the C.I.F championship , and we win at least half of the time.

Did you read all of my posts? I gave my OPINION, on all of them. My word is not gospel, just my opinion.

I don't think there is a drug problem everywhere. In Ridgecrest, many folks I knew either did drugs (IMO pot is a drug, as are abused prescription pills), sold drugs, or used to do drugs. I can't think of anybody I know (personally) here in Colorado that is associated with drugs, although I do know they are here, as they are everywhere, drugs just seemed way more prevalent in Ridgecrest.

I didn't find it to be a good place to raise kids. Maybe since you've lived in Ridgecrest your entire life, you may feel it is, but I've lived in a few different places and taken positives and negatives from each; I felt Ridgecrest to be lacking in the kid-raising department. I felt Ridgecrest to be a mind-narrowing place, and I don't feel that is good for anybody, not just kids.

Yes, Ridgecrest does have low crime. But while living in Ridgecrest, I had a gun pointed in my face, and caught a guy breaking into my house, and I lived in one of the better parts of town (S of E Upjohn).

I don't find HS sports as being a major factor in rating quality-of-life.

Originally Posted by buff93555

As far as work , if your not lasy then you can find jobs here , no problem . So if your going to talk about our town PLEASE tell all of the story , and not just the bad things...THANK YOU .............. William Groves

I agree that work can be found if you are not lazy, I mentioned this in my earlier posts. I just couldn't believe there were so many people that just sat around all day, not working.

I think I gave the whole story, my whole story. Remember, Ridgecrest was "my town" too, for three years.

[ann0529]

Can anyone please tell me anything they know about the Ridgecrest Villa Apartments. It is located on 141 W. Upjohn Ave. Thanks.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by ann0529

Can anyone please tell me anything they know about the Ridgecrest Villa Apartments. It is located on 141 W. Upjohn Ave. Thanks.

They are decent enough. They are built around a courtyard with a pool, and has covered parking around the perimeter. You are next door to a motel (Rodeway Inn). Mostly college, and college-age kids (Cerro Coso CC), and a few base workers.