COMMENT BY
Jay from Tehachapi, CA
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Tehachapi, CA
COMMENT
Mountain Gem Between to Metro Areas
Tehachapi is a Mountain Community in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada between the Central Valley (Bakersfield) and the Antelope Valley (Mojave, Palmdale, Lancaster). The elevation is 4000 ft. We have summers that are not too hot, 75-90 degrees F average, over 100 Fahrenheit only with an occasional heat wave, or during the drought. High desert climate with mostly dry air, and high winds are common in Tehachapi. Our air quality is mostly pretty good, except for some smog blown up from Bakersfield every now and then.
After a 10 year drought in CA we have hopefully come back to our "land of 4 seasons status". It can snow and rain quite a bit during winter and spring months. Temperatures usually cool off between end of October through May, also temperatures drop at night year round! - Tehachapi relies on its own source of water coming off the mountains and depositing into underground wells.
There is small downtown, with not much to do. All around you can enjoy the scenic Tehachapi Mountains, though. The Area of Tehachapi is aprox. 30 miles long if you start in Bear Valley and end in Sand Canyon. There are multiple valleys and small lakes.
Real Estate is more affordable here than in most of CA. It is more expensive than the Bakersfield and Palmdale Area.
The main income source of people living in Tehachapi comes from the prison in Stallion Springs, Edwards Air-force Base, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Scaled Composites in the Antelope Valley and some Renewable Energy Companies, I believe.
Tehachapi is great when you want to live in and or raise young kids in a low crime, mostly conservative, and very scenic Mountain Community, and don't mind the hour commute to do major affordable shopping, or see specialist doctors.
There is not much do do for teenagers or people in their twenties if they are not into hiking, bird watching and horseback riding. It is the best place to be between LA (120 miles away) and the Central Valley, that's for sure!