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My husband and I may be relocating to Edwards AFB in the first half of 2009. We don't have a specific date yet. We have scoured these forums, craigslist, area newspaper classifieds, Google maps (isn't Streetview awesome?), and realtor.com to get an idea of the area. We are considering Rosamond, California City, North Edwards, Mojave, Tehachapi, Lancaster and Palmdale. Here are some of our tendencies, preferences and requirements. We would appreciate opinions of where you think we might like to live.
- Close to base:
During the week we are pretty much homebodies. We may venture out once a month for dinner and a movie. A short work commute would be nice - once we get passed that stretch just to get off base :-)
- 3 bedroom/2 bath single family home:
Because we do enjoy spending a lot of weekday time at home, we're looking for lots of house for the price. We would like to stay around $1000 month. We most likely will rent, although with the current housing situation buying may be an option. A single family home would be better, as opposed to a condo or townhome. We enjoy our surround sound and don't want to knock the pictures off of the neighbors' walls. At least 2 bedroom, but prefer 3 or more. Because we finally will be back in the States, we anticipate hosting family a few times a year so a third bedroom would be nice. A yard isn't that important to us, but we'd like enough room for our grill.
- Screaming fast Internet
- Schools not an issue
- Access to freeways:
We are tourists. On most weekends, vacations, and holidays we will be venturing to all points north, south, east and west. Vegas, L.A., Hollywood, Yosemite, San Diego, Grand Canyon, beaches, mountains, deserts, state parks, national parks, wineries, festivals, museums and concerts are on our agenda. Fortunately our childhoods in West Texas prepared us for long drives to get places. Unfortunately it also prepared us for the bland, tan, sand-covered and windblown environment that looks so familiar on those maps and pictures we've seen of Antelope Valley :-p
Well the 14 freeway cuts right through the AV so you can get out north to the 395 and up to the mountains and parks. South takes you to the 5 and 405 so you can go to the LA tourist places.
Thanks for the highway info. We weren't sure how big/fast 14 was. It's hard to tell just by maps. Looking at the other threads, I guess more specific questions on the other topics would be:
- If kids and schools aren't a concern, are Palmdale and Lancaster really so bad?
- The smaller towns of Rosamond, California City, and Tehachapi seem to be cheaper with less crime. However they are more remote. Do these towns have good high-speed Internet options? We've used satellite for Internet before and weren't really satisfied. We looked at speeds on some ISP sites, but usually they tout the maximum and those speeds aren't always available to all parts of town, or even to some towns. Any input from current or recent residents would great.
- Because it does have trees and is in the mountains is Tehachapi threatened by fires? The "Southern California wildfires" seem to pop up on the news at least annually and we've never really paid attention to the locations.
- Also in the news are the horrors of the housing crisis. How has it affected the cities and towns around Edwards? Are the foreclosed properties scattered? Or are there whole neighborhoods, subdivisions and towns that are full of empty houses? We wouldn't mind living near a few empty houses, but a whole street would probably be depressing and not so safe.
I realize I ask a lot of questions. Answers to any of them are appreciated.
Yes, the Tehachapi Mts and Tehachapi itself are threatened by wildfires, but not near as often as are the traditional heavy burn areas of San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and L.A. Counties.
Tehachapi is also an active seismic region. The last major local earthquake to seriously affect the town was an Mw 7.3 in 1952. It killed 9 people and caused major property damage.
Don't rule out the Victor Valley area. It's served by I-15 and SR 58, and is a major metro area as far as amenities are concerned.
I don't have children either, but I find those maps track quality of life as well as grades. It's pretty obvious. I am a bit jaded on the whole area since I firsthand watched it degrade into the sad state it is in. Windy as all get out, mutants everywhere, it just plain sucks or maybe blows is more appropriate. As far as internet, I do know someone way out on A and 65thW that uses avradionet, which is a line of site deal with an antenna on your roof. It runs $35 for 500KB.
about a mile out of the North gate is a little town of North Edwards...the only stuff in this little town is a little mexican restaraunt and a little market.... but if youre a home body this little town should work well for you. door to door home to work , only takes me 15 minutes..... whereas if i lived in Rosamond... once i actually got to the gate, it would still take me 15 minutes...
Cal city is a little bigger with a little more stuff there but you'll add another 10-15 minutes on your drive.
Living in North Edwards you could actually ride your bike to work (during the warmer months).... i do.
oh... i would also reccomend putting your kids in the base schools..
We have arrived and I'm glad to say the Antelope Valley doesn't seem as bad as these forums make it out to be. It definitely has its own geography - windy or hot (haven't had both yet), lots of desert, enormous sky, valley stretching for miles and miles with the mountains in the background. Maybe not for everyone, but I like the views. It does take forever to drive anywhere. We are in the middle of nowhere, but can drive to many places in a few hours.
And as is found almost everywhere in the States and even the world - the larger the town, the more people, the more housing, shopping, dining, and entertainment options and the higher the crime rate. One thing we weren't looking forward to after 5 years overseas was the crime - even petty - in the States.
We don't have children, but a lot of posts on city-data ask about them. The local access channel for Edwards AFB says that civilian employees and active duty military are eligible to enroll kids in base schools. I don't know more details, but some parents might want to look into that.
Some newbie observations and ramblings on towns surrounding Edwards AFB:
Lancaster (population 143,616) and Palmdale (p.140,882). (I don't know enough difference between them yet):
Suburbanized - if you want to live near the more modern big box stores, grocery stores, and chain restaurants and want a choice among them: Lowe's or Home Depot, Target or Kmart or Walmart, Costco or Sam's, Red Lobster or Olive Garden or Red Robin or Famous Dave's Barbecue or IHOP or Denny's, etc. There are multiple locations of fast food outlets. The mall in Palmdale has the usual Dillard's, JCPenney, and Sears anchors. There are probably plenty of options for internet services. There are many tract housing developments - full of identical McMansions and some with smaller houses. I don't know where to live or where not to live, other than everyone saying the west side is safer. Not sure what constitutes the west side. But as others have written it can go good or bad neighborhood by neighborhood. There are stories featured regularly in the Antelope Valley Press local daily paper about the gang crime problems. We haven't felt threatened, but we've mostly just visited the cities for shopping and eating. The two cities also have concerts and festivals in the parks, a performing arts center with touring theater troupes visiting and concerts, and a minor league baseball team. Also, if you plan to regularly head over the mountains to LA and all its wondrous offerings - Disneyland, Six Flags, Hollywood, Lakers games, even more shopping, etc. - Palmdale is the closest drive. And it's not too bad of a drive, mostly over hills and past housing subdivisions. Both Palmdale and Lancaster have MetroLink rail stops. The train to LA Union Station takes about 2 hours. LA is a car town but a few years ago on vacation we managed to do quite a bit of sightseeing using only the metro.
Rosamond (p.17,098) - Nice compromise between proximity to base and to conveniences of Lancaster/Palmdale. Housing is less expensive and you are at the edge of the air base, making it ONLY :-) a 20-minute drive from the main area of the base. There are housing areas of various ages (some very new, some from the 50s), a large Albertsons with a pretty good selection, and several fast food places. The McDonald's, Taco Bell, Domino's and Subway are in the Albertson's shopping center, if I remember correctly. There are several other restaurants and fast food places we're not familiar with but plan to try (hello Foster's Freeze).
Mojave (p.4,570)- We've only been through here on our way to somewhere else. It's at the crossroads of two highways and has a decent selection of restaurants to show for it. The Stater Brothers grocery store is bigger than in the outlying towns, but smaller than the Rosamond Albertson's. We didn't see any housing developments, but weren't really looking.
Tehachapi (p.12,077)- Nice, but for us not nice enough to make the extra drive from base worthwhile. It isn't a bad drive, but it's about an extra 60 miles roundtrip everyday. That adds up in time and gas money. It is up in the mountains and is pretty much a straight shot (as in no turns or exits) if you leave from the north gate. You pass wind farms on the way up. It boasts four seasons, unusual for this area. The town has lots of local businesses and restaurants. It also has a Kmart, Home Depot, Albertson's, and Save Mart. It has quite a few fast food places. The town seems very arts and culture friendly. They have a community theater, art galleries, a weekly farmers' market in the summer, and a surprisingly large number of live music options several nights a week (for such a small town).
North Edwards (p.1,462)- North Edwards is a true bedroom community. Not too much in the way of services, but incredibly convenient to Edwards. As a previous post noted it's about 15 minutes max. Also Edwards AFB school district is shared by North Edwards and Boron - Muroc Joint Unified School District. And possibly a little closer to Vegas than other towns in this posting.
Edwards AFB - If you have the option to live on base it has the usual base amenities, rules, and community. Most things shut down in the evening - commissary, BX, food court. You won't have the conveniences of living on the economy, but you won't have much of the crime either.
California City (p.13,757) - This is where we probably will live. It is about 16 miles from the main part of the base. It is even more in the middle of nowhere than the other towns I've listed. But it is where we found larger, newer houses for smaller prices for rent and for sale. It has several local restaurants and several chain fast food places - McDonald's, Subway, Quiznos. It is very physically spread out, and yet very small town-ish. It has two golf courses. They aren't the best, but that makes it more comfortable for golfers of our,umm, caliber. There is a park with a swimming pool and a small lake. The city should maintain these better. The Tehachapi community theater occasionally puts on shows down in Cal City. There are two small festivals a year. The town is working to be ORV/OHV-friendly - think dirtbikes, 4-wheelers, dune buggies, etc. There is a trail into/out of town for OHVers with permits and a park out of town built for these motorsports. There is a small grocery market, but we've heard from several people it's better to shop at the Stater Brothers in Mojave or to head down to Lancaster/Palmdale or to go to Rite-Aid in town - it is like a micromini Walmart. The latest issue of the Mojave Desert News local weekly paper had an article on a gang crime bust of 13 suspects, if I remember correctly.
We were looking for a lot of square footage near base with some dining options and it looks like California City is the winner. But it is way out in the desert, not really on the way to anywhere.
The closest Whole Foods is in Santa Clarita, but there are several farmers markets, pick-your-own farms, and fruit and vegetable stands in the Antelope Valley and Tehachapi. There is a health food grocery and restaurant called the Whole Wheatery in Lancaster we haven't yet checked out. There is a group of Central California organic farmers who make weekly deliveries to most of the towns in this post. There may be other groups who do the same, but Abundant Harvest is the one that delivers to California City.
In addition to California City, it seems that Lancaster and Rosamond are also dirt-bike, ORV/OHV friendly with tracks set up just for that. Maybe the other towns are too. And there is also a dirt-bike trail on Edwards AFB.
We aren't very social, but I'm sure people can find their own community through schools, Little League, churches, soccer, volunteering, bars, or coworkers in any of these towns.
Enough rambling. I just thought I'd add a newcomer's perspective on the Antelope Valley. I could be way off, but these are how the towns present themselves to me.
Excellent post with lots of good and unbiased information. Thanks for typing that all up.
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