Help! Lancaster/Palmdale/Tehachapi/Bakersfield? (San Diego, San Francisco: section 8, renters, low crime)

[Tamara_T]

Hey all!

My husband and I currently own a home in Lancaster, CA (east side) We HATE it! We just had a HUGE slew of robberies/vandalism over here and want to sell and get out.. pronto!

We are considering Bakersfield or Tehachapi... I would LOVE opinions on schools... etc in those areas. I have been to Tehachapi once to visit one of my husbands co workers. I didn't care for the emptyness up there.. didn't seem like much to do.. but then again. I didn't see any "trash" hanging around the stores, neighborhoods, etc.

A little about us..

My Husband works for the CA dept. of corrections and I own my own photography business www.momentscherished.com

We are 28 and 24.. have two young children ages 18 months and 4.

Thanks a bunch!!!

[dusesean1986]

A little white flight, where in Lancaster do you reside and hopefully I can help?!

[Tamara_T]

I am on the east side.. off of 35th street east and K.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by Tamara_T

I am on the east side.. off of 35th street east and K.

Oh brother! Sorry, Tehachapi isn't a bad choice. You can find a nice area in Bakersfield, even though some of their neighborhoods are run-down. What about Acton? There are nice parts of Lancaster and Palmdale, but I do admit you very well could need a sizable income. You are in a terrible neighborhood currently, Palmdale has a few nice communities as well. There's not much more out your way, Mojave and California City are quite rural. Hope that helps!

[dusesean1986]

What about Victorville, Apple Valley, Lucerne Valley?!

[Cali-girl]

Originally Posted by Tamara_T

Hey all!

My husband and I currently own a home in Lancaster, CA (east side) We HATE it! We just had a HUGE slew of robberies/vandalism over here and want to sell and get out.. pronto!

We are considering Bakersfield or Tehachapi... I would LOVE opinions on schools... etc in those areas. I have been to Tehachapi once to visit one of my husbands co workers. I didn't care for the emptyness up there.. didn't seem like much to do.. but then again. I didn't see any "trash" hanging around the stores, neighborhoods, etc.

A little about us..

My Husband works for the CA dept. of corrections and I own my own photography business www.momentscherished.com

We are 28 and 24.. have two young children ages 18 months and 4.

Thanks a bunch!!!

Hey Tami!

I would go for Tehachapi if I were you. In recent years, a lot of young families from Ventura County have relocated there due to the high cost of housing on the coast. I understand where you & your spouse are coming from -my brother is a US Marshall. The schools there test well in both elementary & high school levels. You may want to visit the Calif Dept of Education's website to learn more (API Scores-Academic Performance Index)

http://api.cde.ca.gov/APIBase2006/20...Select=15,KERN

The higher the scores, the lower the safety risk to you and your kids. Higher scores mean less "diversity" but its all up to you.

Lancaster & Palmdale used to be working class, conservative, white communities with low crime rates - until the State built the maximum security prison there on the westside. Many prisoners' families moved to the AV after that event due to a low cost of housing and proximity to their inmate(s). Until the State rescinds conjugal visits, then this trend will continue (unless that is the intent).

I just do not know how the landlords sleep at night knowing full well what they have done to the AV. Another thing that changed was the '94 quake - many gang members and their families moved to the AV since their apts & rental homes were destroyed in L.A. No one in L.A. was sorry to see them go (but, being politically correct, no one made mention of this in the media).

~Cali-girl

[Caliguy2007]

Bakersfield has alot of Nice and Safe Areas for you and your family,especially in the Northwest,Southwest and parts of the Northeast and Central Parts of Bakersfield.

[CaliforniaGal]

Just an observation but I have been checking out the rentals in Palmdale and Lancaster via Craigslist and one thing I have noticed -many of these rentals take section 8 (subsidized housing) and ppl w/ bad credit. Now to me, that is part of the problem out there. Since when can section 8 get you a home to rent for 2000.00? What am I missing here?

[Cali-girl]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaGal

Just an observation but I have been checking out the rentals in Palmdale and Lancaster via Craigslist and one thing I have noticed -many of these rentals take section 8 (subsidized housing) and ppl w/ bad credit. Now to me, that is part of the problem out there. Since when can section 8 get you a home to rent for 2000.00? What am I missing here?

The rent may be *advertised* at $2k, but the State/Counties pay a percentage of that rent for those who qualify, so that its actually lower. Most Section 8s are divorced women with kids (not judging, just sayin'). What happens is that Section 8 renters join up and co-rent, making their payments even lower.

~Cali-girl

[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