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I have viewed previous posts but was still a bit confused so I thought I would post my own question.
It seems for Adelanto and Victorville most posters on this website state to avoid these cities at all cost. Are there any nice parts? Are there gangs basically roaming the streets all the time? Do the criminals live among decent people in most communities? Also it seems most would advise to live in Hesperia over Adelanto and Victorville. Is Hesperia a better city?
Please tell me the places I should be looking at to live (room to rent) close to Barstow as that is where I will be working.
OHH YEA, BTW Snow... I saw in one of the post I viewed earlier that it shows in Victorville... I've never lived in a area that shows so please advise me of anything that may be new to someone from the San Diego Area. (Car problems because of extreme heat, snow, etc) Hows the drive traffic wise to Barstow from Hesperia, Adelanto and Victorville?
Thanks
If you are into crime, dope, gangs and so on go for it. This area for the last couple of years has gone up sh*t creek..........
Where do people get this stuff? Yes, certain parts of the desert have a crime problem but ... not as much you may think. Look at the crime stats on this site, keeping in mind that the nationwide average is 325.
Yes, Victorville definitely has a problem at 444.
But so does San Francisco at 489 and LA at 408. Do people say that meth addicts are over running those cities? Have tourists stopped visting LA and SF because their crime rates are so high? No.
Hesperia, by contrast ... has about the same crime rate as Costa Mesa, a very ritzy area of Orange County where houses cost $650K on average.
Costa Mesa's crime rate: 261.
Hesperia: 259.
Meanwhile Apple Valley and, even Adelanto ... comes in lower than SF, LA and San Diego.
San Diego's crime rate: 350
Apple Valley? 312
Adelanto: 303
So perception doesn't always match reality here. The reality is the crime rates either match or are actually lower than the national average in most cases.
It has been my experience that statistics don't always match reality. I have lived in both Costa Mesa and Hesperia (and Los Angeles), so I can speak from experience having seen plenty of gang members, drug dealers, and witnessing armed robbery three times (all of that happened in Victorville and Hesperia)! Comparing crime statistics for Hesperia and the high desert to a place like Los Angeles or San Francisco is comparing apples to oranges. L.A. and S.F. are much larger cities with denser populations. People still visit those places because there are actually things to see and do there. In my opinion, there isn't much in the high desert worth seeing, but to each his own.
Comparing crime statistics for Hesperia and the high desert to a place like Los Angeles or San Francisco is comparing apples to oranges. L.A. and S.F. are much larger cities with denser populations.
That's why the crime rates are reported as crimes per one hundred thousand people... so you can make valid comparisons regardless of the population differences.
I'm not saying that the High Desert doesn't have a crime problem but, I'm just trying to put it into some perspective.
Oh well ... I guess people just want to believe whatever they're going to believe no matter what the sheriff or police departments report.
sheri257 said...
If you moved to Texas for example, like so many Californians did ... the crime rate would actually be MUCH worse.
Keep in mind that the average crime rate nationwide is 325. All three major Texas cities are WAY ABOVE this average:
Austin: 435
Dallas: 753
Houston: 659
How do Victor Valley high desert cities compare? Three out of the four towns are BELOW average.
Hesperia: 259
Apple Valley: 312
Victorville: 444
Adelanto: 303
*********************************************
Where do these numbers come from and what do they represent? The number of shoplifting complaints in the last decade? Are these reported crimes, arrests, or convictions. It makes a difference 'cause the public perception of crime is usually much worse than the actual facts. And what may have originally been reported as a crime, in fact, later turns out to be something entirely different - and usually less critical.
I have lived in Austin since the early 60's. It has had its' share of highs and lows in every measurement category - right now housing prices are outrageous 'cause of all the California money flowing in. But at least gasoline is still reasonable at $2.55 - $2.70/gallon. We just have to be careful when buying California spinach. Now THERE's a crime for you...
Anyway, I'm lookin' for an inexpensive studio apartment in the Palmdale/Victorville corridor - I'll be working out at the old Gray Butte AFB. Any suggestions are cordially accepted. Thanks...
Last edited by randyharwell; 09-28-2007 at 11:47 PM..
Reason: change editor mode...
People who've lived in the desert towns for years always say this ... "it was a nice place then." Well ... since it was a rural area, hardly anybody lived there either.
Again, let's look at the data posted on this site ... because everything else is subjective and, often, inaccurate. Yeah ... crime does increase with population BUT ...
If you moved to Texas for example, like so many Californians did ... the crime rate would actually be MUCH worse.
Keep in mind that the average crime rate nationwide is 325. All three major Texas cities are WAY ABOVE this average:
Austin: 435
Dallas: 753
Houston: 659
How do Victor Valley high desert cities compare? Three out of the four towns are BELOW average.
Hesperia: 259
Apple Valley: 312
Victorville: 444
Adelanto: 303
What's interesting is that people always think Adelanto is worse and Apple Valley is a nicer area but, Apple Valley's crime rate is actually slightly higher.
Once again, perception is far from reality. The high desert cities are actually getting a bum rap on crime.
Maybe so, but data based on police reporting of crime can also be inaccurate, -especially if the local police are often seen as ineffective or people don't trust them! I think some areas appear relitively safe, but are actually more dangerous than average in reality, and I do think someones who lives in a place and spends a lot of time around there has a legitimate voice to be heard on this issue. It's also just a cultural thing in some areas/some people (and I am not talking so much about race/ethnicity, but more class or regional/local subculture) to "work things out" as much as possible without calling the cops, which may be seen only as a last resort (if that).
The stats about Texas is very impressive....BUT those are some of the highest crime area's in America (population?)
Try checking other places like the Pacific Northwest with population like ours. If the crime has gone up and the way of life has gone down you can bet the locals will say its because of the people from California. To get away from this you have to move somewhere that is not appealing to this sort of person! Lowlife!
Its not just the crime here its the low class people that have moved here...wheres the stats for that.
Like I said work in a State Park for awhile in the middle of summer and see how things look. These are people that dont know how to flush toilet paper so they pile it up on the floor. Or they write their name or message with it on the wall. They break every rule there is and just laugh about it...in the meantime their children learn all this. What ever happened to pack it in pack it out. Silverwood Lake for example has to have around 240 cubic yards of trash hauled off every weekend...this is not counting what is left behind on the ground...which is probably another 120 cubic yards. Keep in mind a large roll off dumpster is 40 cubic yds! Destruction...that to all payed for by the tax payer.
You see none of this is reflected in you stats...but this is what the population of new people moving up here is really like in the real world.
And I am just talking most of this has changed in the last ten years or less.
Yeah in 71 when I moved here from Long Beach by the way...Hesperia had a population of around 3500 and you had to go to Berdoo for everything. Then they built more stores and things for you to do and it was better then. The big downhill has been the last 5- 10 years.
So its not just the crime its the way of life. I think if you took a survey of people that have been here for 15 years or more you would get this same story!!
Crime rate alone doesn't tell the whole story of life in these high desert towns. It's a quality of life issue.
The deterioration of quality of life, across the board, is what makes life so miserable here now. I live in the Antelope Valley but am familiar with Adelanto and VV.
Many members of the prevalent low-life culture, don't make the official formal crime stats. They do make life unpleasant for "normal" people who wish to enjoy their homes and neighborhood. For example, in my neighborhood, on any given weekend we are treated to live and/or canned music blasting at all hours so loud the windows rattle, formerly
nice houses looking like inner city, gunshots that never seem to result in a police response, assorted low-life roaming around and loitering in groups, pit bulls running wild, junker cars cruising by while the scruffy occupants scope out the nicer homes,trash all over, none of these things often end up as crime stats but still, to my way of thinking, seriously degrade life! Yes, some cities are "cracking down on section 8" but for every household that loses it's voucher for criminal activity, fraud etc.two more pop up..can hardly wait for the current wave of foreclosures to become the new HUD subdivisions...Bottom line is none of these high desert towns are very appealing these days, the drought and climate only make things worse. It isn't a nice place to live anymore, bearable if you cocoon inside your well-insulated house and only look straight ahead while driving...just my opinion. sue-Z
The only people that dont see this live behind walls in nice gated communities.
Seeing your post is like watching a small animal approach a baited bear trap that you know is going to violently kill the critter.
Ok, I spent the majority of my life in these cities and I'm going to hit you with some brutal truth.
There is NO job in Victorville, Adelanto, Hesperia, Barstow, Silver Lakes, or Apple Valley that is worth moving yourself to the High Desert for. Even if your job title was "King of the High Desert" what exactly would you be the king of?
Imagine a world with no color but brown. Brown desert floor. Brown skin from exposure to the sun. Brown everything. Now add 50+mph wind that blow year-round.
There's an area called "The Zone" or "Felony Flats". It's less then 2 miles from Roy Rogers home... So ya, there isn't any "nice" place to live or to get away from it all. At it's height of civilization, you'll still be knee deep in filth.
Even Silver Lakes, a richy community between Victorville & Barstow, draws out thieves from all over the high desert because it's so secluded and it takes a cop about 45 minutes to drive out there. 30 if he's high-tailing it. Not to mention, it's situated next to the Lost Hog. (Biker Capitol) There are no shortage of drugs out in Silver Lakes. That's where a lot of people from around the high desert go to get "quantity". I wont even get into the renta-cop security force that's out there in Silver Lakes. I lived on Stirrup Lane for many years... In truth, Silver Lakes is the worst of them all. There's always some kind of rediculous drama. If you have a dirty yard, you get your picture in the monthly paper they distribute out there. Their little Riverview middle school is a complete joke when it comes to education. You had to catch the bus for Victorville High School before the sun even came up. A nice hour long trip each way, every day. Sucks to be young in Silver Lakes. Did I mention that those big expensive houses in Silver Lakes were built on uncompacted sinkholes? Well, it's a very common problem there, houses are cracked right down the middle, although still standing.
Most of my old buddies will be stuck there (High Desert) for life. You can't really make enough to get out unless it's your life's goal. I'm one of the very few fortunate ones from my clique that was able to escape the High Desert. Unfortunately, I went out of the pan and into the fire.
Just avoid California alltogether if you can.
Here are some pictures of what the High Desert looks like. (That's Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia, Adelanto, Barstow, etc...)
They'll be tucked in the crevices of hills just like those in the first photo.
The second photo is all you see when driving from 1 of those towns to the next. Except maybe a couple of grave sites off of the side of the road.
See there you go...another one of us who have had the pleasure of seeing this place go to the track rats from LA.
I am outa here!!
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