Reviews & Comments
Lancaster, CA
My Opinion on Lancaster, CA. -
12/12/2010I have lived in the Lancaster area from 1998 - the present (2010).
PROS:
-decent year-round temps
Since we are not in the close L.A. area we don't get their great temps but our 2500' elevation and southerly latitude gives us pretty good numbers. (Why do you think Mexico City is close to 70 degrees, year-round? It's at 7500' and has a real southerly latitude.)
We may get hot on summer days but, most all of the summer nights are cool. And we only get "Texas-sized heat" (Dallas,Houston,San Antonio,Austin,etc.) about 2 -3 weeks of the summer (not the whole summer as there). I.E. Our 110 degree days equals Dallas' 100 degree days (with some humidity). Most of our summer days are 90 - 100 degrees.
We may get cold in the winter (down to low thirties at night) but we have many sunny winter days, with temps in the 60's.
-smog isn't as bad as most of California is
-lots of old and new common retail outlets and a nice mall (over 400,000 people in the area)
-2 hours away from one of the most visited places in the world (Los Angeles)
and all that it has to offer in shopping, recreation, dining, entertainment, culture, sight-seeing, etc.
-we're in a big valley and have a nice view of the mountains surrounding us - some with snow on them
-can actually get green out here (beautiful on the hills) in wet weather (lots of desert flowers!- we're home of the State Flower/California Poppy Preserve)
-don't see a lot of spray paint graffiti here - gas pumps and restroom mirrors are etched up but not a lot of paintwork (or it gets removed quickly)
-I like how we have a rainy season and dry season. And, in general, I like our abundance of sunshine/lack of rain. Do miss the clouds at times, though.
Particulary with our elevation, that California sun can be brutal and relentless (months on end) at times.
I.E. If you are fair skinned you will probably be indoors a lot.
-no traffic!! It is getting heavier, but since I have been here I have not been in bad traffic jam once! The area is pretty spread out. (Although, maybe I am just lucky. I don't get in a traffic jam when I go in to L.A., much either. But, I don't go into L.A. a lot.)
-housing: affordable (especially by California standards) (now, 2010, it wasn't affordable 4 or 5 years ago - I thought it was overpriced, it looks like I was right)
CONS:
-The frequent high winds!! There is a reason they put multi-million dollar wind turbines in this area. The spring is the worst, in frequency and in severity. But, most of the year is pretty windy in general. Although, it is hard to gripe about the wind in summer (it can be very cooling at times, particularly at night).
-not much in the way of blue or white collar jobs
-no large entertainment venues (to be expected since Lancaster and Palmdale are more large "suburbs/ bedroom communities" than a real metropolis - you won't find any skyscrapers in this {large valley)
-not much culture,real defining heritage that I know of, although, we do have Edwards Air Force base and the aerospace industry, and our region is rich in minerals and alternative energy (solar and wind), and lots of Indian artifacts.
-lots of brown desert in the dry season - which reminds me, fire season can be bad (awful air quality) I have been pretty lucky in that, too. Lots of fires around me my 12 years here, but it has only gotten real bad for me once (winds helping me out). I would leave the area and go to a hotel if it got real bad - is how much I hate it.
On crime, I would give it a little better than average rating - especially for a large population area.
That is all I kind think of at this time.
Austin, TX
In Austin's Defense -
12/12/2010This is an add on to a previous review I made.
I railed against Austin for its awful summer heat (Day AND night - at least here in the high desert of California it cools off at night. See my review for this area at Lancaster/Antelope Valley, CA.).
BUUUTTTTTT, in Austin's defense, it does have some nice winter weather. It can get cold. I remember it getting down to 2 degrees one day. But, generally speaking it has an avg January low of 40 and an avg January high of 60. So, there's the payback (for awful summer heat).
Couple of other points I didn't address:
Traffic: I saw it go from a place where you didn't have to worry about going cross-town at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. - to a place where you did.
Haven't been back in a while (If they moved the airport from Airport Blvd way out to Bergstrom did they rename Airport Blvd?? I shared a house with 3 other guys on Airport Blvd and the {commercial airliners} would fly 100 feet over our house - you couldn't hear anything for 30 seconds.), but expect traffic to be appropriate for an area of over 1 million people.
Jobs: I drove a taxi for 5 years (in the early 1990's) and that's a comment I would hear often about Austin - "nice place but no (white collar)jobs."
By their low unemployment rate (compared to the rest of the country as of 12/12/10), it looks like they still have a lot of blue collar jobs.
Also, I stated a little opinion in my last review that some might disagree with. I happen to like a nice racial mix in my populace - I realize there are others who might like a racial majority in their area.
And forgive my straying from the facts a little above - just taking a break from the examination side as well I will say this....
If you are racking your brain looking for that "perfect place," good luck, or tell me where you think it is (and I will probably be able to point out either many or few, large or small, negatives).
From what I have found, outside of the coastal areas of California (San Fran to San Diego - which are still very expensive areas relative to the rest of the country - and some parts have bad smog), and some prestigious areas on the Northeast Coast, pretty much everything else in the U.S. is average. Its share of pros and cons - and the severity of those pros and cons differ - but, they balance out to average. A lot of it depends on what you are looking for - to me climate is a huge factor. I like living in a cooler climate (Austin vs. Antelope Valley, CA), but after 12 years here the frequent high winds and dust are starting to bother me and have me thinking of the "next locale." (Can't believe the average American moves ever 7-10 years - I thought I was the only transient.)
One last thing and it's about this website (Let's see if they edit this out.). I really like this website for quick concise facts but don't rely on them as perfect. For example they give San Diego and us (Lancaster) about equal scores on the (summer) climate comfort range (45 and 47) and that is way not true (I wrote them about it, but they haven't done anything, YET.). I.E. We are way hotter than San Diego.
They list us, Rosamond, CA. as a 1 on the air quality scale because they link us in with (awful) Bakersfield because they are using county stats and not city stats. I.E. Air quality varies within counties in Cali, and Rosamond has better AQ than Bakersfield.
That is all. I am going to check out the NFL action (it's Sunday!). I have said enough, if not, too much..........
Austin, TX
My Opinion on Austin -
12/4/2010I lived in Austin from 1979 - 1995.
PROS:
-pretty hills/some nice views
-pretty lakes nearby (many with nice homes on them)
-pretty river running through town
-pretty wise/cool populace
-decent air quality (last time I checked)
-tons of beautiful women (guy's point of view)
-decent nightlife
-nice racial mix (not an overload of any one category)
-affordable food and utilities
-big university and state capitol add something to town
CONS:
-THE HEAT!!! The main, if not the only, reason I left. It is ungodly from June - August. And May and Sept. are bad too. You HAVE to have air conditioning in your car and home. I was tired of not being able to go outside without sweating miserably and being very uncomfortable (and then come the mosquitos!). It might be dryer than Houston, here, but it is still very muggy.
-housing costs: it looks like Austin ain't cheap no more
-possible lack of entertainment - no zoo, theme parks, some concerts will pass you over for nearby San Antonio (used to be that way)