Palmdale or Bloomington?? (Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, Lancaster: insurance, home, neighborhoods)

[drumboogieinaz]

Can anyone tell me more about the two cities above and which would be best for a married couple working on a family? Need to know about neighborhoods and proximity to other areas: shopping, church, highways, etc.

Thanks!

[cugrad]

I don't know anything about Bloomington, but I live in Lancaster (adjacent to Palmdale).

If you want a family, you definitely do not want to live in Palmdale. LA has been exporting their criminals and welfare recipients to the area. Ten years ago, it was apparently a nice, quaint town. Now it is a slum.

Additionally, you should probably be concerned about the quality of medical care. Currently, the area has one overworked hospital that tried to kill a friend of mine twice (once with a drug she had told them she was allergic to, the second time with a drug whose side effects aggravate a condition she already suffers from). The hospital recently lost its liability insurance provider due to too many claims. A co-worker's wife is pregnant and they are having a home birth with a mid-wife from Tehachapi just to avoid going to the local hospital. A story in the local newspaper said that about 2/3 of the patients at the hospital cannot pay. You can therefore surmise the level of care you will be given.

As far as shopping goes, Palmdale/Lancaster has the basics, but for a real shopping spree you'll probably want to drive down to LA. There are some churches (apparently the Antelope Valley is particularly religious compared to the rest of CA, but I haven't lived elsewhere in CA so I can't say for sure). It kind of depends on the denomination though.

Highway 14 runs down the middle of the two cities, and makes getting from place to place relatively simple. However, due to the distances between everything, most people I know here put at least 20k miles on their car per year. I should caution that response with pointing out that most people I know (including myself) work at Edwards AFB, which is a considerable drive.

[drumboogieinaz]

cugrad,

Thanks for the heads-up. After reading more about Palmdale, even the Westside, I am leaning towards other areas. I also found out Bloomington is about the same, if not worse, then Palmdale so I am looking further east, in the Redlands area.

[cksgrl]

cugrad -

I ran across your post by accident, and although months after your reply, I need to tell you that you represented homebirth inaccurately. Nobody "has" to birth at home; it is an educated and safe choice for those whose pregnancies are low risk and have the philosophy of a gentle birth without interference. I can guarantee you 110% that is why your co-worker and his wife chose to birth at home; homebirth is never anything but a joyful decision. Licensed Midwives carry the same lifesaving medications to a homebirth that any laboring mother has availability to inside a hospital. Licensed midwives have more schooling and experience under their belts with natural childbirth than any OB/GYN has. The World Health Organization states that a low risk mother birthing at home with a Licensed Midwife is as safe if not safer than birthing in a hospital setting. The Tehachapi Hospital doesn't even HAVE OB services available, so no one delivers babies there. You must go to Bakersfield or Lancaster if you wish to deliver in a hospital. Home births have tripled in ALL of Kern County in the past 3 years since 3 Licensed Midwives are now available to our population. There are so many innacurate assumptions on what home birth is truly all about, so after reading this, please represent it correctly if at all.

[jessemh431]

To the OP

Palmdale is a bad choice. In fact, everything near Palmdale and Victorville area is bad.

Definitely reconsider and try Santa Clarita. Though residents just had a hard time with the fires, the whole area is much safer and has much better schools. I think it is also newer. It does get quite hot though. But, luckily, the biggest water park in LA is right in your backyard along with Six Flags Magic Mountian. The water park is 6 Flags Hurricane Harbor.

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by drumboogieinaz

Can anyone tell me more about the two cities above and which would be best for a married couple working on a family? Need to know about neighborhoods and proximity to other areas: shopping, church, highways, etc.

Thanks!

Where is Bloomington? I know of one in Indiana is that it.

[don luciano]

bloomington .ca is good place for starting a family and living life.BUT the only people that get that trouble are other gangs members that are not from bloomington so if your not a gang memember from some other city or town" then your alright" nothing to worry about. this i definly know i lived ther for years i know every body and every thing that go's down ther