The Victor Valley: better days ahead? (Los Angeles, San Diego: real estate, 2014, foreclosure)

[Smitty211]

Hey all,

I took numerous work-related trips to the Victor Valley the past several months, and am well aware of its general reputation: fairly high crime, a real estate landscape chock-full of "undesirables," a "dumping ground" of sorts, perhaps growing too quickly for its own good, not the best infrastructure.

But all that aside, there are things that I really did like about it: gorgeous desert scenery, clean air, a seemingly young demographic, doesn't feel overwhelmingly urban/hectic (good for this small-town Eastern WA native), but still not terribly far from bigger and better amenities, i.e. a weekend at the beach or in the mountains and all that LA has to offer when one so desires.

Full disclosure: I'm an introvert. A chunk of off-time alone with a car to hit the open desert roads with just my thoughts and imagination is a darn good time to me. Bars/nightclubs...I couldn't care less about.

My question is, does anybody familiar with the area see light at the end of the tunnel? I'm not expecting to hear that it'll turn into Palm Springs overnight, but might things begin to head in the right direction? I ask because a potentially very good job opportunity may open up there for me within the next couple of years. I'm not throwing up a prayer that the VV will start to rival San Diego for tourist dollars, but rather that it might begin to evolve into less of a perceived "cesspool" and more of a comfortable-enough, middle of the road exurb type of place.

I wouldn't likely spend a long time there, but if the career opportunity pans out, I'd like to one day look back on the place and say (at the very least) "that was a decent enough place. I'd consider going back, given the right circumstances" rather than "my God, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. To heck with that place."

I know I just threw out a lot at once...but, thoughts?

[Count David]

You won't know until you try. It is California's last grasp for most people.

I like the Victor Valley. But IMO, its only hope is that the CA real estate bubble comes back. And comes back again and again, after each successive pop.

It needs to have something going for it. I don't think relative proximity to San Bernardino is going to do it.

[BuildingsR' Us]

I like this post alot. It's nice to get some optimstic questions/concerns about the High Desert region. I myself live in Rancho Cucamonga. I can honestly say i'v only driven by the Victor Valley on my way to Las Vegas. I can't help you with the city itself.

However i do know that the high desert corridor is very important to the California economy in terms of being a hub for train freight for the port of Long Beach. The city of San Bernardino is full and can't handle all the activity alone. We had to sprawl further to keep goods flowing.
The Inland-Inland Empire i like to call it.

In our lifetimes, the region could grow into an El Paso size area.

You also have close proximity to the amazing San Gabriel mountains and the local famous "Big Bear" mountian resort town. These are Southern California's tallest mountain peaks. Winter in the high desert and mountain ranges is beautiful. Very close drive to snow. And yes, you're a nice weekend drive away from our lovely world class California coast. So don't beat yourself on the high desert. I'd pick it anyday over Nevada or Arizona. Those states are waaaay too inland for me! I need my ocean haha.

Personally if i were you, i'd go for a closer suburb in the metro region like Fontana if you can afford it. You have the same access to the mountains as the high desert but your on the other side so you dont have to make the long drive through the 15 freeway mountain ranges. You have rail to Los Angeles.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

I grew up in the area, long before it grew into its current sprawl. The communities in the high desert were always sort of the end-of-the road type places, sort of dumping grounds, just like the desert itself was a dumping ground for trash, toxic waste, etc. It got much worse when a lot of people's jobs were lost due to military bases closing, the railroad cutting back, etc.

A lot of people who wanted the American dream of buying a house were priced out of LA & Orange County, so bought homes in the high desert & started that impossible commute. My spouse had a coworker who drove daily from his new, cheap house in Victorville to his job in coastal Orange County. I don't know how long he did it, or if he survived the real estate crash that made so many of those houses go into foreclosure. The whole area is still struggling with the fallout from that. The area needs industry to thrive & there is very little of that.

[genjy]

The problem with the area is that it has no industry to support it. The Antelope Valley is very, very similar to the Victor Valley in many aspects, except that the AV still has an active military base nearby and a decent aerospace industry.

IMO, what the High Desert really needs is a CSU. That would add jobs and help boost education level permenantly. Industry and lower crime rates would naturally come after that.

[Smitty211]

Originally Posted by genjy

The problem with the area is that it has no industry to support it. The Antelope Valley is very, very similar to the Victor Valley in many aspects, except that the AV still has an active military base nearby and a decent aerospace industry.

IMO, what the High Desert really needs is a CSU. That would add jobs and help boost education level permenantly. Industry and lower crime rates would naturally come after that.

See, that makes a lot of sense. In regards to the first part, the AV is actually where I worked these past several months. And I see exactly what you're referring to in terms of the active military base and "decent" aerospace industry. The AV certainly has its rough areas, but from the (admittedly little) research and exploration I've done, those "well-off" in the AV seem to be a little more so than those in the VV.

As far as the CSU idea goes, I never thought of that but it seems like a fantastic idea, at least on paper. It's a growing area with lots of room for additional sprawl, so I don't see why they can't at least give a CSU some serious consideration. I actually lived near the CSUB-Antelope Valley campus, and the slogan "stay near...go far" that their graphics board displays can ring true for a Victor Valley branch, if only it's given the chance.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

It also does not help that the towns of the I-15 desert area (Victor Valley, Barstow, etc.) are in San Bernardino County, which is vast & has the bankrupt city of San Bernardino as the county seat, whereas Antelope Valley is LA County.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Just be aware it is more prone to boom and bust than even Antelope Valley.

It's farther from DTLA / major employment centers, there is no Fwy connection directly to the AV / the 14, and there is not a good transit connection into LA / the urban parts of the IE.

That said, I quite like the area aesthetically.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

It's farther from DTLA / major employment centers, there is no Fwy connection directly to the AV / the 14, and there is not a good transit connection into LA / the urban parts of the IE.

LAC Metro and SANBAG are working together to build a freeway basically along the Pearblossom Highway route. It's a thing.

Why...? Probably because there is interest to build up that side of the SG Mountain foothills, and that freeway will be the backbone of the development.

You can even see the proposed CAHSR station and Vegas HSR station in the plan below. Perfect for extending the AV Metrolink route to VV... just build it along the freeway route.

[Smitty211]

Originally Posted by genjy

LAC Metro and SANBAG are working together to build a freeway basically along the Pearblossom Highway route. It's a thing.

Why...? Probably because there is interest to build up that side of the SG Mountain foothills, and that freeway will be the backbone of the development.

You can even see the proposed CAHSR station and Vegas HSR station in the plan below. Perfect for extending the AV Metrolink route to VV... just build it along the freeway route.

I drove the Pearblossom Hwy numerous times (methinks far too many) for trips down the hill. That thing is a frickin' nightmare, especially with the constant construction throughout this year. It's good to see that they're expanding it, but I never remember hearing/reading anything about interest in building up the foothills...interesting.

Rail service into the VV would be huge and, in my opinion, could help with commerce and generating revenue. I'm all for it. In a time when the world is getting smaller, the VV still has that "middle of nowhere" feel to it, and rail service very well could be the missing link.