Great place to live! - 10/24/2007

I have lived in Palmdale's west side since 1991. My job was transferred here from the LA area and until then I had never heard of Palmdale. I have seen this community grow and grow. Along with this growth problems of modern day life in a big city has followed. However, this is still a great place to live. Palmdale is close to the greater LA area, allowing us to be part of any event in the big city. Clean air, excellent recreation, activities and shopping makes living here a pleasure.

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Ok for desert living - 10/3/2007

My girlfriend and me moved here with our son after living in Denver, CO. I soon came to miss living in Denver. It's ok for an L.A. county town, one in the high Mojave desert. We live on the eastside of Palmdale, more older part of town. Most of the new housing tracts popping up tend to be on the westside. Overall, its not that bad. Just don't move to Lancaster (Eastside)near here. Sheriff deputies call Lancaster "Compton North",

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Palmdale is not "the place to call home" - 7/27/2007

I moved back here 4 years ago to be close to family. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do. Palmdale has really changed for the worse since I lived here back in the 80's. They built the prison in Lancaster and built a ton of section 8 apartments all over. Section 8 in theory should be a good thing to help families in need. However, it is mostly abused and I don't know anyone who wants that on their street. The new houses are beautiful and affordable but when considering everything else it is not "the place to call home". The crime is up. Even if you live on a nice street, there is no guarantee that your neighbor will not rent out to section 8. The "not so good" people walk into your neighborhood and vandalize it and mark it all over with graffiti. I do neighborhood watch and got so tired of painting over the graffiti on our street mailbox that I just call the city to do it now. The public schools are really bad (35 or more:1 student teacher ratio) so if good schools are a criteria you need to be able to afford private school. Do your research!!! I didn't and I'm paying $900.00 a month for private school! There are a lot of sex offenders living right in or near your neighborhood so you have to beware of that. They are let out of the prison on a regular basis. Many people don't believe in taking care of their yards. On every street there is an eyesore. Code enforcement is a joke out here. Some things like the weather have not changed. It is really cold in the winters and really hot in the summer. Expect a high electric bill in the heat and a high gas bill during the cold months. Very extreme weather with the high winds blowing at least 6 days a week. We rarely get to enjoy our beautiful backyard and pool because of the wind. Most people commute to the S.F.Valley or L.A. and the traffic is mostly unbearable getting worse all the time. The medical practices out here are a joke. It is very difficult to find a good HMO doctor. Consistency is non-existent. If you have a PPO you might do ok to drive to the valley. If you have a job that requires a doctors note, be prepared to sit in urgent care for hours because "same day appointments" are only for the lucky. If you must live in Palmdale, the westside is a little bit better (and more expensive) than the eastside. Stay away from East Lancaster (very scary). The prison is in west lancaster so stay clear of that. Better yet avoid Lancaster all together if you can. If you choose Quartz

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We are on the move!!! - 5/18/2007

Have you all noticed the negative views of the Cities of Palmdale and Lancaster? Sad, but it is all true. I have lived in teh Antelope Valley most of my life and it was a great town until the big move of gang bangers and drug dealers from Los Angeles. There are murders every week (or every day if were unlucky). There are home invasion robberies, sexual assaults, gang fights, plots to commit Columbine style massacres at our local high schools. The stretch of road on Sierra Highway between Avenue J and Avenue M has the highest concentration of child molesters and paroled felons living in hotels. If you find that hard to beleive, check out the Megans Law Website and type in the Cities Names and be amazed at what our local governement allows. Let's continue. There are high percentage of Section 8 Housing (especially in brand new developments), there are halfway houses, emancipated youth homes, one maximum security prison, one womens prison, one youth prison and one illegal immigrant prison. Understand this, if there are prisoners in these prisons, then there are prisoners families living near the prison. So imagine the neighborhoods. More and more stores and advertising are in languages other than English. There are more "alternative" education schools than actual schools. Alternative schools are for students that are kicked out of regular schools. Sad, that there are alternative schools in the elementary and junior high school levels as well. The Antelope Valley could be called the Cities of Wal-Mart as there are currently four Super Wal-Marts with an additional three more planned. If you need your liquor, there are stores in every corner, near walking distances to schools. Don't move hear if you want a peaceful, fear-free life for you and your family. If you want to gang bang and sell drugs or lead a life of crime, welcome home!

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Its Changing - 3/24/2007

I have lived in the AV all my life, I am 40 years old and am looking to move out of the area, possibly up to Northern California. Because of the AV being my "home" it has been hard to leave, but with the change in people moving in and the gang activity and drugs....it has become a scary place. I don't want to "bad mouth" the Antelope Valley, but the truth of the matter, its not the same, when I could walk to the liquor store with my sisters when we were 8,7 & 6 and not be bothered or afraid we were going to be kidnapped or shot.

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It's a wasteland. - 2/17/2007

We've lived here since 1990 and had high hopes. If you work "down below" you can expect commutes easily in excess of 1-1/2 to 2 hours each way in stop-and-go traffic. We do have light rail, but it never seems to run when you need it, to where you need it. Most local jobs pay less than similar jobs out of town. There is little to do unless you like run of the mill movies and theatrical presentations done by locals. To travel to Los Angeles or Hollywood for a play requires an overnight stay, due to traffic conditions. Travel time to Los Angeles International (54 miles) can stretch to over three hours - Burbank Airport (48 miles) can take nearly two hours to reach. Palmdale airport is opening in June 2007, with only two daily flights to San Francisco. If you like to dine on, or cook gourmet foods, Palmdale is a culinary wasteland. Grocery stores stock primarily mundane, prepackaged, frozen and canned foods (which is okay if you like that type of eating). There is no regular farmer's market. The opening of a Trader Joe's a couple of years ago was wonderful, but when I plan a gourmet meal, I often have to drive to Valencia 35 minutes away for provisions. There is no place to go anywhere in town for a special-occasion meal. It's all chain restaurants and mom and pop. The restaurant that regularly gets awarded for the best views and the most romantic, has some of the worst food in town. The City Governments of Palmdale and Lancaster are extremely poor urban planners. When Palmdale put in an Auto Mall, Lancaster also built one four miles down the freeway. Both sit half empty. Palmdale built a regional shopping mall, Lancaster built an outlet mall that is now nearly vacant. Lancaster has a Community College and instead of expanding classes or building much needed parking structures, we are instead building another Community College in Palmdale. Whatever Palmdale builds, Lancaster wants and whatever Lancaster builds, Palmdale wants...whether we need it or not. Our tax dollars are squandered at an astounding pace on these duplicate projects. We do have many, many, many big box, low price, warehouses. Because of that, if you plan to open a business, you need to be prepared to bring your pricing in line with the big box giants as the residents have a very strong "get the most for least amount of money" mentality. This is the high desert, where it's horribly hot during the summer. Unlike the deserts of Las Vegas and southern Arizona, this a real ugly desert.

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WORST place in UNITED STATES..Hands down - 10/13/2006

I grew up in Palmdale. I left in 1989. At that time it was a smaller city and somewhat safe. My parents still live there; in a better area of town, yet they are scared to go out at night. The black population is huge now. I am not racist, but I can say that there is an enormous gang problem in both Palmdale and Lancaster. My parents want nothing more than to move away ASAP. My mother is retiring and looking for anywhere that is safe and has trees. Palmdale is an ugly desert with reverse racism, gusty winds, no culture, crime, overpriced (even for being so close to LA). I would not move there if you gave me the biggest house in town and a $million yr. salary.

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ITs hot, its dry, far away from LA, its Palmdale! - 8/21/2006

Live here of and on my entire life, I can tell you this. Now that I have 3 kids of my own, I cant wait to leave Palmdale. Growing up here, was ok, but in the last 3 years this city has grown rapidly, & with the california housing market, this growth has been people from the "VALLEY / LA" selling thier little 80 year old house for 700,000 & comming out here to buy a 400,000 BRAND NEW HOUSE, this has led to this area being over ran with LOW BUDGET PEOPLE, If you catch my drift, I love the area & what it has to offer, but as for the people, its not a great palce to raise a family, by no means,! Enough said, I think I'm going to move my family to AUSTIN, TX!

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SO Sad - 6/3/2006

Bought a house here 2 years ago, and now can't WAIT to get out! Too many children, too much traffic, too much noise, too many people! Have to wait 10 years to retire! Yuck!

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Awful... - 5/21/2006

We bought a house in Palmdale in 2002. We stuck it out until 2005. I grew up in the Antelope Valley, and loved it when it still had a small town feel. We had been away from 1999 until 2002.It had grown so much in those years that it was amazing. We were happy with the food and recreational acivities. BUT... The gangs that are moving from the south are taking over. A family member of mine was murdered by a gang member. (He was not in a gang). They are everywhere. The job market is saturated. The housing prices are rediculous. It is amazing anyone can afford to live there. After barely making it for 3 years, we moved to a small town. We love it here. If someone offered to buy me a house in Palmdale, I wouldn't go back. The school system is awful (unless you live in Rancho Vista). I don't see how anyone could want to raise thier children there. It's a nightmare. I still have family in the area, and every time we go back to visit, it makes me love where I live so much more.

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Time to Move On - 5/4/2006

Having lived in Palmdale for over 40 years, I have seen a lot of changes, not necessarily all for the good. We do have great shopping, restaurants, sports, etc. Our soccer fields are top notch and a pleasure to play on. But, the crime in the area has greatly increased. The gang problem, I feel, is out of control. The quality of people you see here everyday and the lack of respect a lot of them have for people and property is very disheartening. I no longer feel safe going places at night or wish to have my younger kids in this environment anymore. "Palmdale, A Place to Call Home", sadly...not anymore.

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For the love of Pete, don't do it... - 3/11/2006

unless you like incredible crime rates- especially drug & gang related violent acts. Also, let's not forget the amazing level of ignorance- both in terms of racism and just plain ol'stupidity. Save yourself the bus token.

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PALMDALE - 3/1/2006

NEAR SKIING AND BEACH

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Palmdale, CA - 10/12/2005

I actually just fell onto this site trying to find ammunition against a friend who seems to believe that Corona, CA (where he lives) is the most perfect place to live. We moved to Palmdale just a year ago and we love it. My husband & I bought a new house and we're starting our family. We have so much room, no traffic to deal with and we've heard the schools and parks are great. My friend from Corona keeps on mentioning the crime here, but in reality, we live in a very safe neighborhood. The truth is crime can occur anywhere! There are good and bad areas of every City. Well, we truly feel that there is a lot of potential in Palmdale. The City is building huge recreation areas and everything is very family oriented. We see alot of young families like us moving to the area. Like I said, we love it and would never consider moving to the I.E. :)

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development - 8/8/2005

Are 1 million people moving to Palmdale? What is the economic outlook in the near future?

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