Help! Lancaster/Palmdale/Tehachapi/Bakersfield?

[Sierra56]

We like Lakewood.

[Roaddog]

Originally Posted by california5

Oh wait! After talking to my husband-the weather here is harsh, the schools are horrible, the drug problem is out of control, the gangs are everywhere, everyone knows your private business and there is absolutely nothing to do here.
No need to ruin my paradise.

Nice try but to late to change now

[Sierra56]

Originally Posted by DeserTBoB

P
Trivia for the clueless: You know the valley street naming system (well, before Palmdale started screwing up the names and the FHA banned "straight streets" in the 1930s, anyway), right? Division Street does just that, and points southward directly at the old County Hall of Records in what is now East LA. All sections delineated by alpha and 10s of numerical names are subdivided into plots .1 mile wide by 1/16 mile tall...hence, there are 15 theoretical "numbered streets," from K-1 to K-15, between Aves. K and L. The original intent was for parcels that size to further be divided into homesteads and home lots, which would create the "metropolis." Avenue A is the Kern County line, and Avenue X is the furthest south, up around Crystalaire. I guess no one ventured further up the mountains to plot Aves. Y and Z!

Knowing this system makes finding any address on any alphanumerical street a snap even for the most idiotic of drivers...of which there are many down there. For example, an address of 24500 East Ave O-2 would be located at a point intersecting 245th St E and 1/8 of a mile south of Ave. O and would be exactly 24.5 miles east of Division Street in Palmdale. An address of 43500 10th St. E would be 43.5 air miles north and one mile east of the old County Hall of Records. The system, of course, was too smart, and lately, the Palmdale city idiots have been doing their best to make it not work anymore at all. The FHA-mandated "curvy streets" caused a lot of the alphanumeric streets to be lost, and "named" streets started showing up in both towns after they started going into new developments in the 1950s.

All the work of one man, in his "spare time"...William "Old Bill" Mulholland, founder of the Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light (now the DWP) while he was building the LA Aqueduct circa 1914. Sadly, "Old Bill's" "metropolis in the desert" turned out to somewhat like the disaster that his St. Francis Dam did in 1928!

When we lived in Lancaster, we heard that the grid system of the streets were laid out by Mormon settlers, as was common to western settlements. I have read much of the history of So. Calif. water and have never heard of any reference to Wm. Mulholland doing this. Never heard the part about Division Street pointing to the hall of records, but it makes sense. That explains why Lancaster has 5-digit house addresses on the North-South streets. It was always hard to get lost in the AV! BTW, the new San Francisquito Canyon road bypasses the ruins of the St. Francis Dam now.

The LA Aqueduct is a closed water delivery system straight to LA. It does not allow for distribution in the AV. Fairmont Res. is just a stilling lake for the tunnel to San Francisquito canyon. If it was true that Wm. Mulholland wanted Lancaster to be a metropolis, where would the water come from?

[NoPassWord]

Hi I was looking for a Sec8 map and found this site. Let me tell ya'll about the BRAND NEW housing track behind my house, eastside of Lancaster, Ca. There are 14houses. None of them sold b/c the asking price was way to high. Well, the builder is bringing in Sec8 renters. I am POed. This is on top of all the other managment copmanies bying up all the empty homes in Lancaster and moving Sec8 ppl into them.

For years LA county has been sending their castoffs to the AV. LAc not only pays the section8 vouchers it MOVES the families lock, stock, and barrel to our lovely little town. We make up 3% of LAC's tax paying population and we now have 33% of all the Sec8 renters. WTF??

[kitty3]

Do you think Rosamond has a lot of Sec.8's? Are there drug and gang problems there?

[california5]

Rosamond is horrible. . It's a nasty, dirty, depressing town. For the most part, the people there have no ambition in life, living on welfare is their goal.

[SoCalMan]

Me i would stay in Lancaster but move to the westside its safer and most of the homes are cheap there and small crime rate.

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by crickett_4jc

My husband is a CO in tehachapi, but we live in Bakersfield. The commute is about 50 minutes to an hour, and we thought about moving to Tehachapi because of the long commute, but I just can't bring myself to do it. We have family that lives in Tehachapi, so we're up there a lot, but it is too depressing for me. If you like the small town atmosphere of everyone being in everyone else's business, it might be OK. The air is much cleaner there than in Bakersfield, but, as my 17 year old neice confirms, there is so little to do there that kids get into a lot of trouble (drugs especially). Not that that doeasn't exist in Bakersfield, as well as everywhere else, but I grew up in Bakersfield and didn't get into trouble. We lived (and still live) in SW Bakersfield, and it's pretty safe here. It's like a big town with a smaller town mentality. Everyone is connected to someone else somehow in Bakersfield! It's also only a 2 hour drive to the beach, to LA, an hour to the mountains, 4 to San Diego, 5-6 to San Francisco.
I teach for the Kern High School District, and though there are schools that don't do well in Bakersfield, there are also lots of schools that do well. And whereas there are a limited number of private schools in Tehachapi, Bakersfield has many more.
Bakersfield isn't perfect, but I personally have weighed my options between Bakersfield and Tehachapi, and Bakersfield definitely comes out on top!
Hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Kerstin

My friend moved from LA to North Edwards, to Mojave and finally to Tehachapi. It is a nice friendly family-oriented town. So many people moved their families there to escape LA. Every summer, they have the Tehachapi Mountain festival. Brings in visitors all over the state. It is very beautiful there. If your husband works in Tehachapi, it is worth another look. Beats driving there from Bakersfield 5 days a week!

[dtandmc]

I have been following the area for about a year and am looking to move to Bear Valley some time within the next year. I have notice an increase of houses on the market and am wondering why there are so many listed. Are people leaving the area and if so why? Any info on Tehachapi/Bear Valley would be appreciated. Also what is the main form of employment, wages?

[kitty3]

I've been watching the area too. Looking to move there. It is my opinion (not sure if it's RIGHT ) that they may have overbuilt...too many houses available, not enough buyers. Bear Valley Springs also has extra fees and taxes and stuff that other parts of town do not have. From my estimation (again, just an estimation) about an extra $200 per month to live in BVS versus any other neighborhood in the Tehachapi area. If you can get a good deal on a house, I suppose it would be worth it...you get tennis courts, pool, country club, hiking, horse trails, etc. etc. Supposedly there is no garbage pick up in BVS, you have to haul your own!!

As far as jobs and wages, that part I do not know.

Stallion Springs is another community that has pool, country club, all that stuff, but not the hefty fees. It is south of Bear Valley Springs. I don't think it is gated though (not sure) like BVS.