LANCASTER CA, EDWARDS AFB what can you tell me about the area??? (Los Angeles: high crime, buying a house)

[wmnRtist]

I moved from the Lancaster Area over a year ago. What a blessing. That town is literally the depiction of Hell. As a bedroom town, the only thing that it has done for the area is to create one smaller version of oppression. The one can afford to live in LA do, but most buy or rent in the AV. There is no culture to speak of. ie....arts, theater, etc. Lots of gangs, murders and drugs. I have lived in 3 different parts of the area, only to be chased away by gunshot and drugs. One can only go so far as to either move or put up with it. One year later, we are well established in our Nebraska community, a part of art galleries and theaters. People just care more here. I live in a town with the same population as Lancaster and Palmdale. We have over 27 galleries. Life flourishes here. Our daughter actually has music and art provided as a class in school. If you have children, run!! Nothing can come good from the school systems there. They are mini prisons. Children are not empowered but seen as the future criminals. Most folks are mean. And when you find kind people the junk overshadows that kindness. If the crime and drugs do not stop, the community will end up killing each other. Oh, and don't expect the police to show up in a timely manner if you live in a less than desirable area (understaffed or just don't care) I know this is harsh but but I think that anyone who has watched that town go down the tubes, I would hope that they agree. If you are military, try your best to get the duty station changed. Good luck.

[sheri257]

One thing I've noticed on this site is that people are always saying crime is way up in this place or that place but, you really need to look at the actual data because those claims aren't always true.

However, with Lancaster and, to a somewhat lesser extent Palmdale ... the crime problem is very real. Just look at the crime stats posted on this site. The crime rate is well above the national average and has been growing for the last five years.

Yes, crime is up with other desert communities because of more people moving there, but at least it's still below the national average in most desert towns. Not the case with Lancaster ... it's well above average.

One possible explanation is that there's a state prison there. On the other hand, Tehachapi also has a state prison but doesn't have anywhere near the same crime rate so ... that can't totally explain what's going on in Lancaster.

Same with Adelanto, another prison town about an hour outside of Lancaster ... they've actually got four prisons there, one county, two state and one federal. And the crime rate is up there but still below the national average ... and still far below Lancaster's crime rate.

I don't live in Lancaster, I only work there but ... I will say this. Lancaster police are notorious for giving speeding tickets. Maybe they're spending too much time citing people for traffic violations instead of fighting real crime.

[lexi]

I would agree with previous posters... West Lancaster and West Palmdale
are the best but make no mistake, it's pretty ghetto there now. Acton is
very nice, Santa Clarita is wonderful but you'd have a brutal commute.
If it were me I'd probably pick Tehachapi if snow and ice weren't a problem
for commuting or Acton.

[ibarrio]

There has been a rash of shootings in the Area (all within the last week-week in a half.

A student near Highland High School was shot (Westside Palmdale).

A former AV student was killed in Lancaster.

There was a shootout near Littlerock High School.

There was a shootout in East Palmdale near 47th street.

And I think there was shots fired at a business on 90th street.

[MindMender]

I'm looking at a possible job at the correctional facility and I currently live in Los Angeles. What would be the best (safest) place to rent in the Palmdale / Lancaster area?

Thanks!

[lexi]

Originally Posted by MindMender

I'm looking at a possible job at the correctional facility and I currently live in Los Angeles. What would be the best (safest) place to rent in the Palmdale / Lancaster area?

Thanks!

Rancho Vista in west palmdale right near 50th... the closer you get to
the mall the more crime you'll encouter so the farthest west of Rancho
Vista you can get is the best. That would make your commute between
10 and 15 minutes. Good luck...

[amanda32]

If you do not live on the east side how can you give an opinion. My family purchased a home on the east side and yes there are problems, but nothing compared to the San Fernando Valley. The west side of Lancaster just had a pervert visiting the schools and gropping kids. A lot of home invasion robberies on the west side. Several of the 16 murders that someone was speaking of have happened on the west side of Palmdale and Lancaster. Stop bashing the east side . The whole valley has problems. The east side of Lancaster is trying to clean itself up. We have a lot of new home buyers that are trying to make something of their neighborhood. We are starting neighborhood watch programs and the sheriffs have gotten more involved in the community.

[er2cc]

Having lived in the Lancaster /Palmdale area 40+ years I have to agree that this is not the place to move if you have a teenage son. The drugs and gangs are waiting for people like yourself and your family. I moved from west Lancaster 4 years ago to Tehachapi/Stallion Springs and commuted to Edwards for 4 years until I retired. It's 55 mins. from my house to the flight line and worth every minute of it to be away from Lancaster. I could put up with the blazing heat in the summer and the cold in the winter, but the gangs and crime are exactly what everyone says. I am disappointed that the community leaders have let things get so far out of control because it used to be a great place to live. The peace of mind that I have living here is what I have been looking for. It's quite without any sirens,loud music,gunshots and rampant crime.

[DhOnAkEr]

I have lived in Quartz Hill for 10 years and my house has been burglarized four times, people have stolen things off my cars, vandalized the house next door, and the neighbor right down the street was murdered in his home over drugs. I don't recommend moving to this city it's gone down hill, it's turning into L.A.

[junkman18]

As I said in an earlier post, I used to live in Acton, and after reading all these other posts about the A.V. area I can't get over how lucky we are to be out of there! We sold our house in the Spring of 2006, and I guess we had sold right at the top of the high prices......... Sad to hear what is happening to that area, we moved to Acton in 1978 and the A.V was a nice place..........