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Old 05-05-2011, 08:28 AM
 
1 posts, read 5,310 times
Reputation: 19

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Ok so I have seen ALOT of negative things said about Palmdale, Lancaster and surrounding cities and I must say I am a bit annoyed. I just want to clear a few things up...

1) Westside vs. Eastside... When did people start considering the eastside everything east of the 14? Because the eastside is everything east of Division, hence it's name. Anyways, Yes, I do agree that the westside (west of Division) is better in general however the eastside does have alot of nice "non-ghetto" areas. Much like any city or town has its bad parts and good parts, that's life.

2) Crime: Yes there is crime, yes there are "gangs" and yes there are drugs and drug addicts but name one city that doesn't have that?...I know, right now you are saying "not my town, it's too nice for that" but think again! NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO THERE WILL BE CRIME! The crime rate here is below average and has gotten much much better over the last few years.

3) Schools: We do have a ton of schools from K-8 to high school and even some colleges and technical/trade schools. There are public and private schools and I would say that most of the schools are average but there are a few that are exceptionally nice and a bit above average.

4) Housing and Jobs: Housing is VERY affordable, whether you plan to rent or buy. You can get a 4 bedroom house for the price of a 1 bedroom apt. in L.A. With our recent and ongoing housing crash there are many very nice houses, on both sides of town, that going for extremely low prices. Plan to buy? Average price $100,000. Plan to rent? About $1400 a month. Now for the sad thing... Jobs here are very far and few in between, that is why most people end up commuting. It is a aerospace industry in Palmdale so if that's your field your in luck, if not then you might have to commute to get a reasonable job and salary.

5) Weather: There is not four seasons here, unfortunately. The summers are long, dry and very hot (average high of 103) and because that is fire season and we are on the valley floor we will be covered by smoke when there are fires on surrounding mountain ranges. In the summer we have santa ana winds, which quite honestly feels like fire smacking your face. It is pretty much windy year round but mostly in spring and fall. Spring and fall last about 2-3 weeks and then switches to one of our 2 seasons. Winters are very cold and mostly dry, yes we get rain and snow but not much of either, snow is sort of a rarity. The winds add a very big wind chill and sometimes will be in single digit temps with wind chill.

6) And lastly, recreation: There is not much to do in Antelope Valley as far as club or bar scenes, we do have a nightclub in Lancaster, Bex,and some bars but really nothing to brag about. There are annual events such as; the fair, events on the BLVD, poppy festival and "bark in the park" for animal lovers and their furry friends. We do have a couple lakes (one is private, membership only) country clubs, driving ranges and golf courses. However if none of those things suit you we are centrally located within about an hours drive from everything... beach, mountain high (slopes), and Hollywood and L.A.


So that is basically my review on the Antelope Valley, I have lived here for 25 years and am mostly happy with my home town. Do your research before moving anywhere and good luck! I hope this helped, even just a bit!
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Old 05-06-2011, 10:25 AM
 
Location: Southern Illinois
54 posts, read 92,919 times
Reputation: 157
Hmm. Nice to hear a positive report about my home town. I left Lancaster (and California) in 1980. I still have friends there, however...

...who don't paint quite as rosy a picture. My biggest impression during the last couple of visits was when I swung by my alma mater (AVHS). It looked like, frankly, a beat-up ghetto school, and not one of the top schools in SoCal it was when I graduated. Apparently the new (since then) LHS gets all the good kids now.

My ex-in-laws live near 10th East (excuse me, Enterprise/Challenger Way) and J. I agree, still an OK-ish neighborhood, albeit showing its age. It's the area around the high school near Lancaster Blvd. and Division, and everything east of 14 and between H and I that's truly dicey... but those were already the poor neighborhoods when I lived there 30 years ago.

My friends summarize the problem as 14 having becoming a "viable" commute route to L.A. (I tried that for about two weeks - job downtown L.A., house in Lancaster. I couldn't move fast enough. But that was when housing was affordable in the L.A. basin - pre-history.) The problem with the AV is that the relatively lower housing costs are still going to attract the less-moneyed. With poor folks come poor-folk problems such as inconsistent employment and, sometimes, questionable character. But, I gather, the other fringe exurbs (Berdoo, Riverside, even out as far as Cabezon) are all experiencing the same difficulties.

One buddy (a 60-year native) put it, "The trash who can't even afford Lancaster have taken over Rosamond." Sad indictment.

Something else that makes me really down about home is that it has become a bastion of extreme philosophy. "Flat Earth Society" for one. George and Sharon Runner (Sharon was in my graduating class at AV - where did we go so wrong?).

Good luck. Thanks for the positive snapshot. I'll work harder to look for the better in the area next time we're out there visiting, and try not to focus on everything that's vanished since it was a quiet little bedroom town for Edwards and Plant 42.

Last edited by MikeQBF; 05-06-2011 at 11:09 AM..
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Old 05-07-2011, 09:48 AM
 
1 posts, read 5,221 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you so much for this post!! Myself and family are moving to the AV area and all I hear is bad things. Well, we don't have a choice. We are moving there. We've been looking really hard at Palmdale and the houses are really affordable.

Everyone is saying stay on the westside. So, really that's what we are going to do! We thought about an hours commute but it's just stupid. Luckily for us, family are in Vegas and are going to drive around most of the neighborhoods to get a feel for Palmdale.

This is a really big help for me. Thank you, I knew it couldn't of been all bad.
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Old 05-07-2011, 01:06 PM
 
Location: Northern Colorado
4,932 posts, read 12,717,408 times
Reputation: 1364
I would chose Palmdale over Lancaster.

Palmdale has all the nice places. My aunt lives there, and all her children except one moved back after they graduated college.

Palmdale has a nice mall, some high end restauraunts hidden around, Trader Joes, and it's affordable and near jobs. Quartz Hills is the even nicer and new community. Weather isn't too bad and it snows at least once a year.
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Old 05-07-2011, 11:59 PM
 
158 posts, read 602,926 times
Reputation: 156
Very honest assessment. I've lived here 22 years and agree with everything you said.

It doesn't matter if you live in Palmdale or Lancaster as far as getting to the mall, etc. Everything is very accessible from either town.

We like it here. This area has been an affordable place to raise our family.
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Old 08-14-2012, 12:03 PM
 
11 posts, read 46,315 times
Reputation: 22
Just came across this thread and I want to thank the posters in this thread....I'm moving to Palmdale with my mom and brother in Sept and was hoping to read more positives abut moving there...

It's not our first choice, but it's our only choice to move right now because we really can't afford to live in the San Fernando valley right now, rent has become rediculously high here in the valley...Maybe one day when me and my brother are making good to great money we will move, but for now our home will be Palmdale...

One of the main things were were concerned about was the summer heat out there, but it can't be much worse than out here in the valley, plus If I'm not mistaken it gets less humid out there...

All in all I think we will be happy in Palmdale, it has all the same shopping Walmarts etc than we do here in Van Nuys/Panorama City, plus Kaiser for our mom....So thank you for posting some positives about Palmdale, especially reading about all the negatives....
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