Palmdale and Lancaster...

[DaLAW]

Hello all,

I'm from Maryland but have been browsing California for sometime as a possible relocation area after I finish my last semester. I've seen the Palmdale and Lancaster area's of Los Angeles County seem to be remarkably cheap compared to other parts of Cali I have read about. Actually, the areas are much cheaper than where I live in Maryland too (Montgomery County, suburbs of DC). Can anyone shed any light on these area's? Nice? Growing? Atmosphere? Thanks a lot...

[Stugotz]

Hello all,

I'm from Maryland but have been browsing California for sometime as a possible relocation area after I finish my last semester. I've seen the Palmdale and Lancaster area's of Los Angeles County seem to be remarkably cheap compared to other parts of Cali I have read about. Actually, the areas are much cheaper than where I live in Maryland too (Montgomery County, suburbs of DC). Can anyone shed any light on these area's? Nice? Growing? Atmosphere? Thanks a lot...

Ah, the Antelope Valley, affectionately known in local parlance as "The AV." It's the desert. Tumbleweeds and dirt. AV real estate is cheap but it's because AV is far removed from everything and everyone. Continuing the focus on the not-so-good, there are lots of tweakers and anti-government types up there. I'm not sworn (yet!) but I work for the County and I'm familiar with some of the difficulties of dealing with the AV types. I would not recommend moving there but then again I'm a city slicker. ;)

PM me if you like.

[ICE Offcr]

The area is called the High Desert (Antelope valley), I lived thier for 4 yrs. It is beautiful and yes alot cheaper than anywhere else in LA county. It is about 1 hr (driving) time east of LA.

Fast growing as alot of people have moved thier to get away from the fast life down below, they have lots of recreation (dirt bikes, camping, lakes etc) in this area. keep going about another hr and a half and you run ito the mountains. Police service is done by the LACSO, as any other place they have issues but no more or less than the big city..

[DaLAW]

Damn, an hour from LA? Is it FAR removed from "urbanity" and what not? Are there malls and all the nice little things that the joe-blow city-slicker is used to?

[j91184]

ive been to palmdale accuple of times and i really dont like it. i would recomend you the city of Victorville. its right inbetween los angeles ang las vegas....what more could you want? and right now you can buy yourself a brand new house 3bed 2 bath for about 250k its a fast growing city with alot of big commercial buildings goin up as we speak. the only bad news is that the police department goes through san bernardino county...and they're not hiring right now

[Berlioz]

From what I hear, the AV is getting and has gotten a lot of the south LA thuglets. Rumor is, the projects (namely Nickerson Gardens, Imperial Courts, and Jordan Downs) are slated to be torn down and relocated to the Palmdale/Lancaster area...have fun with that.

[DOAcop38]

Damn, an hour from LA? Is it FAR removed from "urbanity" and what not? Are there malls and all the nice little things that the joe-blow city-slicker is used to?

only "civilization" is Santa clarita ,aka "copland"( and no - canyon country is still trailer parkville)- 15 minutes from the farthest northen edge of L.A. city ; drive another miserable 45minutes along the 14 fwy( a former foot path for the ancient native americans in this region and for wild west age cow rustlers) and you'll be in grimey gulch,eerrr "pompton" ( Compton + palmdale)-up there is a DEFINITE cultural divide -if you go west when you exit the 14 fwy,you probably WORK for a living,worry about schools and property taxes,and tuck your kids in at nite- but if you go east ,you probably ride on "22s" , hate the po-po's, and think "afro man" is a home grown musical genius:D. As Dickens said.." all that is loathsome is found there"....

[syphon157]

only "civilization" is Santa clarita ,aka "copland"( and no - canyon country is still trailer parkville)- 15 minutes from the farthest northen edge of L.A. city ; drive another miserable 45minutes along the 14 fwy( a former foot path for the ancient native americans in this region and for wild west age cow rustlers) and you'll be in grimey gulch,eerrr "pompton" ( Compton + palmdale)-up there is a DEFINITE cultural divide -if you go west when you exit the 14 fwy,you probably WORK for a living,worry about schools and property taxes,and tuck your kids in at nite- but if you go east ,you probably ride on "22s" , hate the po-po's, and think "afro man" is a home grown musical genius:D. As Dickens said.." all that is loathsome is found there"....

:D:D:D LOL hit the nail on the head with that one

[Retired96]

I was raised in the Antelope Valley and left after high school in 1967. It does get hot in the sumner and can get very cold in the winter, the winds can blow you off the map.

Palmdale is a ghetto with all of the dirtbags that moved from the LA area.

Quartz hill, where I was raised is the nicest area to live. The Antelope Valley has grown to about 300,000 or more residents so you have everything you need.

I read a article a while back that said that the Antelope Valley was the child abuse capitol of the country.

To give you a idea of how busy the Sheriffs Dept is, back in december I was listening on my scanner and by 2100 hrs the Lancaster and Palmdale stations had already put out over 1000 tags ( dispatched calls or details). That is a huge amount of calls and details for service. (LASD Deps on this board will understand what 1000 plus tags will mean)

[LA Copper]

I agree with others here, too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. Also is VERY windy year round. It's an hour's drive from LA, not counting traffic... and there's always traffic.

Some of the housing is nice, mostly pre-planned communities, which are good areas to live in as long as you don't venture too far out. And as earlier stated, a lot of dirtbags from South Los Angeles have moved out there.

If you're looking to work in the Los Angeles City area, I wouldn't recommend it.

Maybe if you told us what exactly you're looking for and what you're looking to do, we could help you out.

[L8SHIFT]

You have nicer areas west of the 14fwy. Most safety personnel live there.;)

[McGruff]

A year or so ago during a live news report regarding the flooding in Lancaster, they aired teenagers sitting in shopping carts going down the chest high flood like little boats. So ghetto...lol

[LA DEP]

Lancaster and Palmdale are 2 of our busiest stations to work....very high crime areas.....I grew up in north AV, and left in 93......will NEVER live there again....(well ok,if you you paid me 1 million a year, I might consider it)....

There are many reasons that Palmdale is referred to as North Compton

[alientic]

I agree with all of the post. If you were to move there definitely live on the westside of anything whether it be Palmdale or Lancaster. Quartz Hill is nice. Lots of new homes and gated communities on the Westside.

You can live there but I wouldn't necessarily hang out there. Valencia is so close that it's worth the drive for shopping or entertainment. If you must the AV Mall will suffice but it is ghetto as all hell.

If you can afford Montgomery County then you can afford the Santa Clarita Valley. I would definitely look into Valencia or Stevenson Ranch. But I did enjoy my time in the AV you just have to live in the right place and not hang out there.

[Garbage Man]

The remote regions of th LA area were propped up by the skyrocketing housing market that placed most homes out of the reach of the common working man. Now the areas closer to work are getting cheeper as the housing market collapses. The outer rim areas are already seeing massive amounts of vacant homes that just cannot be sold and very soon they will have severe economic issues such as blight.

[IMachU]

If you can come out here in the housing slump, it would be a good time. I bought a condo the last time the market tanked, for about $84,000. When the market recovered and started the big up-swing, I sold the condo and got one of those houses that GM was talking about...not one that the average working man can afford. But I can afford it now. So it's about the right time to make a move if you can.

Many departments are still hiring here, so getting a cop job isn't all that difficult (it still takes about 6 months to get hired, regardless of the dribble pumped out by recruiting officers).

[EMVAMPYRE]

"Palmdale-Just like Compton, only colder!"

[pulicords]

"Palmdale-Just like Compton, only colder!"

And hotter (during the summer)!

[Carrington]

I live 45 minutes away from Palmcaster. I do not like Palmdale/Lancaster, though it is really growing. "Just like Compton" is pretty accurate. It is a city, it has malls and pretty much everything you need. Quartz Hill is better as others have mentioned. Where I live is far removed from "urbanity" (Tehachapi)! As far as areas around here go, Bakersfield is a little better, and the real estate is still fairly cheap. A lot of people who work in Los Angeles live there.

[LA DEP]

I live 45 minutes away from Palmcaster. I do not like Palmdale/Lancaster, though it is really growing. "Just like Compton" is pretty accurate. It is a city, it has malls and pretty much everything you need. Quartz Hill is better as others have mentioned. Where I live is far removed from "urbanity" (Tehachapi)! As far as areas around here go, Bakersfield is a little better, and the real estate is still fairly cheap. A lot of people who work in Los Angeles live there.

Tehachapi is still pretty nice....several of our guys live up there.....had one of our DB guys that was driving from there to West Hollywood.....90 miles+....yikes.....

We just lost a guy in a off duty TC up at Willow Springs and 90th.....Motorcycle vs 18 wheeler.....

[Carrington]

Tehachapi is still pretty nice....several of our guys live up there.....had one of our DB guys that was driving from there to West Hollywood.....90 miles+....yikes.....

We just lost a guy in a off duty TC up at Willow Springs and 90th.....Motorcycle vs 18 wheeler.....

I had no idea that they drove that far! :eek:

I'm sorry about your loss.

[DOAcop38]

A year or so ago during a live news report regarding the flooding in Lancaster, they aired teenagers sitting in shopping carts going down the chest high flood like little boats. So ghetto...lol

"high desert 'hood surfing"??????:D(used to see people do that in the L.A. river back in the late '80s-remember seeing a LIVE coyote floating on a mattress in the wash near Canyon country several yrs back also)

[DagoStar]

"high desert 'hood surfing"??????:D(used to see people do that in the L.A. river back in the late '80s-remember seeing a LIVE coyote floating on a mattress in the wash near Canyon country several yrs back also)
Coyotes are the ultimate survivors aren't they:D

[DOAcop38]

Coyotes are the ultimate survivors aren't they:D

lololololol !!! when society ends ( by WMD or God's wrath) all that will be left is the "Nation of Pompton",formerly hi desert L.A. co., Ca- and the Crips,Bloods,Mara Salvatrucha, rats, roaches and the LAST "civilized life form"- the coyote ........:rolleyes:

[TheInlandEmpire]

Palmdale/Lancaster is the L.A. version of Moreno Valley..don't do it!

[Enroute540]

Why does everyone always talk about how bad palmdale and lancaster is? I grew up in south central and the antelope valley is nothing in comparison!,Lets be honest folks,its all about who you associate with. Before i moved to Lancaster i lived in valencia, and trust me,just because you dont see it,or its not on TV that doesnt mean it doesnt happen. Listen to your scanners one night, im an EMS dispatcher and im even surprised at all the assaults comming out of stevenson ranch. Ive only been out here since december but all im sayin' is that its not THAT bad!!:)

[LA DEP]

Why does everyone always talk about how bad palmdale and lancaster is? I grew up in south central and the antelope valley is nothing in comparison!,Lets be honest folks,its all about who you associate with. Before i moved to Lancaster i lived in valencia, and trust me,just because you dont see it,or its not on TV that doesnt mean it doesnt happen. Listen to your scanners one night, im an EMS dispatcher and im even surprised at all the assaults comming out of stevenson ranch. Ive only been out here since december but all im sayin' is that its not THAT bad!!:)

Talk with some of the Deps that work up there.....its a pit....esp. compared to how it was before they started dumping all the parolees and 290 registrants up there.....

I grew up in AV....spent my first 24 years there.....will NEVER EVER live there again.....

We get 35-45 OIS countywide a year.....mostly clustered at 4 stations....Century, Compton, Lancaster, and Palmdale.....

Most regular folks will not shop at the mall in Palmdale, as it is idiot central.....they drive down to SCV to shop, dine out ect.....

AV is kind of like the SFV.....there are some nice pockets, but these are surrounded by bad areas......

SCV is not as nice as it once was either, esp. in Newhall and Canyon Country........there has been some stuff going on in Stevenson Ranch, but except for the homicide earlier this year, there hasnt been THAT much going on, compared with the rest of the valley

[Retired96]

And to think when I left Antelope Valley in 1967 after High School the entire valley had maybe 30,000 people. I recall the sign entering Palmdale had a population of 6-8 thousand, Lancaster was less than 20,000, Quartz Hill was less than 5,000. I went back a few years ago and was shocked at the growth. The ranch I grew up on was a gazillion homes.

[richjorg]

AV is kind of like the SFV...

I grew up in the west end of the SFV and I would say it is nothing like the AV. My brother and wife's grandma live in the AV and I don't even like to go there to visit.

[LA DEP]

I grew up in the west end of the SFV and I would say it is nothing like the AV. My brother and wife's grandma live in the AV and I don't even like to go there to visit.

What I mean about it being like the SFV (and I lived there for almost 8 years as well) is that there are nice 'pockets' surrounded by crap.....the west end of SFV (Thousand Oaks, Canoga Park ect) USED to be nice as well

But even when you are in a "nice" area, you are still within 5-10 minutes of the idiots