The many reasons we love Lancaster ca! (Los Angeles, San Bernardino: foreclosures, amusement parks)

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by Mommakitty555

I just moved to Lancaster from San Diego. Us this thread still active?

Surprisingly, there are lots of LA and San Diego transplants in the Antelope Valley.

[Guitarmaan]

Looking at Palmdale and Lancaster, I can hardly believe there is housing that cheap near LA. So be honest now, what's the catch?

If the only catch is desert landscape, then coming from Phoenix that's hardly an issue. My wife already wants to jump in a car and visit. Being near LA is a big draw for us, but being a little outside the congestion is even better.

Should we come and check it out?

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by Guitarmaan

Looking at Palmdale and Lancaster, I can hardly believe there is housing that cheap near LA. So be honest now, what's the catch?

If the only catch is desert landscape, then coming from Phoenix that's hardly an issue. My wife already wants to jump in a car and visit. Being near LA is a big draw for us, but being a little outside the congestion is even better.

Should we come and check it out?

The reason Lancaster/Palmdale seems affordable compared to the rest of Southern California is because:

1.) It is 60 miles out from downtown Los Angeles and 45 miles from the San Fernando Valley.
2.) Being in the Mojave desert, Lancaster/Palmdale get more extremes in weather. In winter, it's colder and in summer it's hotter. By "colder" I mean temps can get down into the 20s and 30s and by "hotter" I'm talking 105, 110 some days. When people think of "California", especially "Southern California", they don't picture suburbs in the desert. They picture the beaches, palm trees, etc. so they do not want to live 60 miles from all of that in the desert.
3.) Lots of available land to build newer homes. Since Lancaster/Palmdale are the fringe northern exurbs of Los Angeles, there is lots of land available for newer homes, thereby, creating more variety in housing stock and lowering the prices.


NOW...if you plan on looking for a home, here's some things you need to know:

1.) Stay west of the 14 Freeway! This will put you in Zip Codes 93536 (Lancaster) and 93551 (Palmdale). Both of these zip codes are pretty good, mostly middle class with lots of law enforcement, aerospace workers, medical professionals, educators, military personnel, retirees, commuters to LA, etc. Schools on this side of town are pretty good. The west side of Lancaster is part of the community of "Quartz Hill" and the west side of Palmdale is the community of "Rancho Vista".

Other areas you may like are Acton, Leona Valley or Lake Elizabeth, although prices tend to go up significantly in those areas.

2.) East of the 14 Freeway is not so good for living. Zip code 93535 (Lancaster) and 93552 (Palmdale) are a little rough. These were working class areas that were hit hard by the recession and all of the negativity that brought with it. There are pockets of 93534 that are livable and nice, but the general rule is to stay west of the freeway.

3.) Lancaster has a nice downtown area known as "the Blvd" where they have boutique shops, a nice art museum and performing arts venue, artist lofts, restaurants and a neat farmers market every Thursday. Palmdale has the regional mall and the more traditional offerings that you'd expect to find in suburban Southern California (Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, JC Penny, Burlington Coat Factory, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, TJ Max, Trader Joes, etc plus a plethora of chain restaurants.)

Would I, myself, ever live in Lancaster/Palmdale? Yes.

I love the fact that it is pretty self-contained as far as shopping and medical needs. I love the fact that traffic is less congested than in the San Fernando Valley where I currently live. I love the fact that if I lived there, I would be two and a half hours to Las Vegas, three hours to Mammoth Mountain/Eastern Sierra, two hours to the Kern River and Lake Isabella, six hours to Reno, NV; six hours to Flagstaff, AZ; two and a half hours to San Diego; one hour from LA, one and half to Orange County, one and a half to Ventura Beach, two hours to Santa Barbara...

If you're one who likes to travel short distances to see lots of things, the location of Palmdale/Lancaster itself is amazing and worth every penny!

[pears]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

The reason Lancaster/Palmdale seems affordable compared to the rest of Southern California is because:

1.) It is 60 miles out from downtown Los Angeles and 45 miles from the San Fernando Valley.
2.) Being in the Mojave desert, Lancaster/Palmdale get more extremes in weather. In winter, it's colder and in summer it's hotter. By "colder" I mean temps can get down into the 20s and 30s and by "hotter" I'm talking 105, 110 some days. When people think of "California", especially "Southern California", they don't picture suburbs in the desert. They picture the beaches, palm trees, etc. so they do not want to live 60 miles from all of that in the desert.
3.) Lots of available land to build newer homes. Since Lancaster/Palmdale are the fringe northern exurbs of Los Angeles, there is lots of land available for newer homes, thereby, creating more variety in housing stock and lowering the prices.


NOW...if you plan on looking for a home, here's some things you need to know:

1.) Stay west of the 14 Freeway! This will put you in Zip Codes 93536 (Lancaster) and 93551 (Palmdale). Both of these zip codes are pretty good, mostly middle class with lots of law enforcement, aerospace workers, medical professionals, educators, military personnel, retirees, commuters to LA, etc. Schools on this side of town are pretty good. The west side of Lancaster is part of the community of "Quartz Hill" and the west side of Palmdale is the community of "Rancho Vista".

Other areas you may like are Acton, Leona Valley or Lake Elizabeth, although prices tend to go up significantly in those areas.

2.) East of the 14 Freeway is not so good for living. Zip code 93535 (Lancaster) and 93552 (Palmdale) are a little rough. These were working class areas that were hit hard by the recession and all of the negativity that brought with it. There are pockets of 93534 that are livable and nice, but the general rule is to stay west of the freeway.

3.) Lancaster has a nice downtown area known as "the Blvd" where they have boutique shops, a nice art museum and performing arts venue, artist lofts, restaurants and a neat farmers market every Thursday. Palmdale has the regional mall and the more traditional offerings that you'd expect to find in suburban Southern California (Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, JC Penny, Burlington Coat Factory, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, TJ Max, Trader Joes, etc plus a plethora of chain restaurants.)

Would I, myself, ever live in Lancaster/Palmdale? Yes.

I love the fact that it is pretty self-contained as far as shopping and medical needs. I love the fact that traffic is less congested than in the San Fernando Valley where I currently live. I love the fact that if I lived there, I would be two and a half hours to Las Vegas, three hours to Mammoth Mountain/Eastern Sierra, two hours to the Kern River and Lake Isabella, six hours to Reno, NV; six hours to Flagstaff, AZ; two and a half hours to San Diego; one hour from LA, one and half to Orange County, one and a half to Ventura Beach, two hours to Santa Barbara...

If you're one who likes to travel short distances to see lots of things, the location of Palmdale/Lancaster itself is amazing and worth every penny!

Wow, this is a very good reply to your question. It sums up everything! I don't think I could agree more!

[Guitarmaan]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

The reason Lancaster/Palmdale seems affordable compared to the rest of Southern California is because:
snip

Wow, yes a great answer. And a lot more positive than I expected. Thank you.

[nightlysparrow]

Super bad dust storm there today--60mph gusting winds. Yuk.

[Guitarmaan]

50mph winds kicking up dust here today in Chandler AZ. It's all relative I guess.

[Guitarmaan]

Are Victorville and Hesperia comparable to Lancaster and Palmdale in any way? I know they're further away from LA (about 1.5hrs), but are they very similar towns? Housing is a little cheaper there.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by Guitarmaan

Are Victorville and Hesperia comparable to Lancaster and Palmdale in any way? I know they're further away from LA (about 1.5hrs), but are they very similar towns? Housing is a little cheaper there.

Very similar in more than one way.

They are sectioned off by mountains from the rest of their metro areas. They are both in the desert. Both have an Air Force base nearby (I think the base in VV is long shut down, though).

[DCMann2]

I loved the nights in the AV growing up because Lake LA (where I lived from 1990 through 2007) was traditionally a very dark town street lamps wise so being able to see the entire sky in all its glory was really awesome.

Summers are brutally hot and I got sick and tired of seeing nothing but sun 300 odd days of the year. The occasional summer storm would blow through and dump buckets of rain which is something I loved, but as the years passed I saw fewer and fewer of those storms for some reason. Winters are chilly and sometimes downright cold (our pipes froze and eventually exploded the first year we lived there ), but the rain is nice and the occasional snowfall can be fun. Spring can be nice and the poppies are absolutely beautiful, but the wind is absolutely horrible and completely ruins what could otherwise be gorgeous days in the valley.

The majority of my friends still live in the AV and yesterday they were telling me about 60 - 80 mph sustained winds, and I saw Facebook pictures of broken trees and blown in doors, and near zero visibility from all the dust flying around. It wouldn't be so bad if that were a 5 - 10 year event, but it really isn't all that uncommon to literally have hurricane force winds blowing through the valley during spring. Here in Butte County we had gusts of wind up to around 40 mph but I just have to chuckle at the people here who say "omg it's so windy today!" because they don't know what real wind is like day in and day out for days or even weeks at a time. Sure the winds die down when the sun goes down but that doesn't make it any better and they'll just pick back up again the next morning anyway.

Hot weather usually starts picking up around late May or early June and from July through September the heat is absolutely brutal. It's not as bad as say, Phoenix because it cools off significantly at night due to its high elevation but it's still miserably hot for the majority of the summer. One of my friends worked at the base last summer in a temp position and he told me that there was a period of about 4 - 6 weeks where it was at least 100° every day between July and August, and I gotta say I was happy to not be living there anymore. Sure it was hot here in Butte County (90s most of the summer with about two weeks of 100+ in late August/early September), but what it's like here is nothing like it is down there.

Fall can be nice but it doesn't really start until mid-October and ends in late November, and then it's winter from December through March and sometimes into early April.

Some people love the desert; like I said earlier all of my best friends live there and they all seem to like it well enough. One friend and his girlfriend might like it here in the north or along the coast like I do, but their friends (except me) and families all live in the AV with only a handful of exceptions (one has cousins and aunt/uncles in Camarillo and another cousin in Fort Bragg, for instance) so they don't have any intention of moving anytime soon. For them the desert works and that's fine, but I couldn't take the bleakness, the heat, the wind, and the same boring weather year after year and I had to get out. While I love living in Butte County for the most part (I was actually born in Chico back in 1984) I still get frustrated when all the lovely grasses and flowers die and turn that horrid brown and the heat beats down on us because it reminds me of the desert and how much I hate it, which is partly why I want to move to the North Coast so much.

Anyway, that's just my take on the area from someone who lived there for 20+ years. Also, I noticed that the OP lists their location as Texas now; I wonder what's up with that?

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the remodel of Lancaster Boulevard turned out REALLY nice and I like it a lot. The brewery is cool and the movie theatre with the fancy reclining chairs and being able to buy beer on tap is awesome.