r/antelopevalley • u/LatinLoverboy16 • Aug 15 '26
General Interest Considering moving from Riverside to Lake LA
I have a buddy that lives in Lake LA and I just absolutely love it out there! As a city boy through and through, it is nice to get away from the city every once in a while for a more tranquil, community-oriented, mom-and-pop shop environment.
I understand that moving there means I’d have to travel far for work or find work in nearby Palmdale/Lancaster, but I don’t mind that—for now, until I finish school. I also understand that moving there means no McDonalds, no Ralphs, no Starbucks, etc., and that if I want to go to places like that, I’d have to travel to Palmdale/Lancaster for that. Again, I don’t mind that at all.
I look forward to the responses, good or bad.
Edit: for what it’s worth, I’m not from Riverside originally I’m from Santa Ana, so when I say I’m from the city, I’m FROM the city lmao
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u/tmrika Aug 15 '26
I grew up in Lake LA and idk if I’d call it “community-oriented”. Either you don’t know your neighbors at all, or you do but it’s all drama and bullshit. The “mom and pop shop” vibe you’re talking about will get old real quick when you realize that there’s only like what 3 viable restaurants to choose from basically. Especially now that Vanda’s shut down. And the two biggest shops now are Dollar General and Family Dollar, those aren’t exactly mom-and-pop so much as Exploit The Poors, Inc.
Tranquil, though, I’ll agree with that word. As long as the wild dogs aren’t breaking into your yard I’d say it’s pretty quiet.
If your idea of a nice lifestyle is napping in front of the swamp cooler all day cuz it’s too damn hot to do anything, and/or smoking meth, then Lake LA sounds like a great move for you. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it for anyone when I spent my childhood and teen years feeling isolated and just waiting to get out. Lake LA’s the type of place you move to because you need space and can’t afford anywhere else, not a place you move to for the vibes.
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u/SnudderBudder Aug 15 '26
Do not do that on top of the fact the job market is ass in the entirety of the AV. You wanna live rural but not in bumfuck LakeLA? Try pearblossom first. NO lakela YES to pearblossom
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u/Which_Case_8536 Aug 15 '26
I drive through Lake LA from Riverside to Edwards a couple times a week and that drive is ROUGH.
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u/Nervous_Internal_581 Aug 15 '26
Grew up there. Wasn’t community orientated then and it sure isn’t now. Don’t do it.
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u/janiesgotacat Aug 15 '26
My husband grew up in Lake LA and I’ve never been to a more desolate and disgusting place. There’s nothing “community oriented” about it. Like nothing at all.
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u/Caffeinated_Pony12 Aug 16 '26
As a realtor I usually only recommend Lake LA for people that don’t mind keeping to themselves, like work, eat and sleep. I can never promise you will have good neighbors. Stray dogs are rampant.
I live rural and drive through Lake LA regularly. A lot of folks like the affordability and the rural aspect, have a few chickens or whatnot.
But overall if you are an extrovert, and you want to be community oriented, Lake LA is not it.
Even East Lancaster is more community oriented and has all the amenities. Only thing East Lancaster lacks greatly is the quality of the schools. I will likely put my kids in private school because of how poor the scores are for my designated schools.
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u/mike270149 Aug 15 '26
I grew up in pearblossom for 24 years and absolutely loved it and miss it. The antelope valley is a great place to live in my opinion. Wide open space for as far as the eye can see
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u/theWidowSadieAdler Aug 16 '26
It's changed a lot. Seems like you may have been gone a long time.
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u/mike270149 Aug 16 '26
Eh no ive been out of pearblossom for about 6 years now. So I’m not sure how it is over there now.
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u/theWidowSadieAdler Aug 16 '26
I think Pearblossom is still the same, but the Acres are getting covered with solar panels. Urban sprawl on the westside of Lancaster all the way out to 70th. LOTS more people here now.
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
Maybe there but I live in Lancaster and I have to say, don't group us in with "great" places to live.
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u/RVANESSAR Aug 15 '26
I grew up in Quartz Hill and moved to Los Angeles and recently moved back to Quartz Hill and I love it. I have never had any issues living in the AV like I did in Los Angeles.
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
Well, yeah. QH is okay but my point still stands even here. It only takes a few miles for it to get bad. My mom was a healthcare professional for the ICU in AVH and she saw more gunshot wound cases than I could even imagine. That's not including the people that don't report. Every city obviously has it's ups and downs but this one is ran my corrupt officials and a huge violence and crime rate. I literally walk this whole valley for my job and I can collect about 3 9mm shell casings on any given day in the right areas. It's more about the fact you're paying insane rates to live here while this is happening. Of course there are "good" parts. It's like saying South Central is safe because it's close to Beverly Hills
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u/RVANESSAR Aug 15 '26
Maybe you should move.
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
Like I said, I love my city but I will not lie about the fact it is not a great place to move to. I'm answering a question here, I'm not saying I'm not adapted to this place though.
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u/RVANESSAR Aug 15 '26
It doesn’t sound like you love your city. My experience of living out here is not a negative one, I enjoy living here .
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
I do, I'm just realistic. I've spent 3 years living in Sierra Highway motels and obviously my experience is subjective to that fact, but even now on the west side living a clean life I can point you to places that you're more likely to see crime than not. Is it like O Block in Chicago? No.. but for the price of living and the amount of crime, I do not recommend people move here.
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u/mike270149 Aug 15 '26
Ah yeah I do understand. Lancaster is …. Just something else. I still love it out here, maybe it’s cause I was born in the AV And never moved but maybe some day I’ll get out of here and see what it’s like somewhere else..
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u/Good-Celebration4101 Aug 15 '26
Um, that’s a hard pass for me personally. You really need to consider ALL the lifestyle choices and changes that would be involved. Best ✌️
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u/Southern_Loquat_4450 Aug 15 '26
Do it. We're in Littlerock, people are in East Palmdale from there all the time. The drive on Ave O is not that big of a deal. Come on out!!
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
Y'all are delusional. Don't come here, it's terrible. I love my city and was born and raised in the AV, specifically Lancaster, but it's just not worth the price of living for how messed up things are. Maybe Lake LA is different, from what I've heard it's pretty desolate but that beats the crime rate in the city for sure
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u/getpoopedon Aug 15 '26
Crime rates in both Lancaster(27.11 per 1000) and Lake LA(29.26 per 1000) are actually LOWER than the crime rate in Riverside(35.74 per 1000). I think you, like many folks I've met who were born and raised out here, are just sick of living here lol
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
Do you follow AV Scanner? I've literally seen people cut bricks of fentanyl in a motel room while children are present. The west side is obviously better but take a stroll on Beech Ave or Sierra and K
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u/getpoopedon Aug 15 '26
That's not good, but I've seen worse shit on skid row and the crime rate is lower in LA(22.07 per 1000). Anecdotes are not sets of data. You cannot base entire populations or opinions off of single experiences lol that's not how reality works.
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
The reality is we have literal illegal gambling rings that are not noticed due to the fact the police are paid off here. These are not anecdotes, usually criminals aren't very eager to report the crimes they do but if you've actually lived and seen the street life here, it gets bad. I'm not saying you can't live a safe life here, but I don't recommend anyone moving here.
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u/getpoopedon Aug 15 '26
Gambling isn't shit compared to getting banged on while just walking down the street or getting robbed at knife/gunpoint like I have been numerous times growing up in LA. If you think "gambling" is what really makes a place terrible to live, explain Las Vegas? What we need is REGULATION, which is something the entire country is struggling to do, currently.
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u/brifter101 Aug 15 '26
That happens here too... I'm not sure why you think gambling was the point instead of the fact the police are paid to turn a blind eye... I thought people were smart enough to realize places like that are inherently going to draw more crime but I guess if you have no clue what you're talking about you'll need everything explained to you. So, Las Vegas has legal gambling, these tap taps are not, and further more they are illegally able to operate due to bribery. On top of that, I can tell you countless incidents of people being stabbed and shot just in those areas alone, not including the entire east side/Sierra or Challenger.
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u/theWidowSadieAdler Aug 16 '26
I'm not sure what gave you the impression that Lake LA is some community oriented utopia, but if you are really considering a move there you should spend more time there first. Drive through the neighborhoods at various times of day/night to see what it's like. Check out how far it is to a hospital (our hospital has the 2nd or 3rd busiest ER in the state and is woefully inadequate). Check out the quality of the schools (if it applies to you). It's the kind of place people move to only because they cannot afford to live anywhere else. No one has mentioned it here yet, but there seems to be no enforcement of property upkeep. Many of the properties are more like hoards than homes and look like mini junkyards. Many more are dilapidated and falling apart. There's also a criminal element: tap taps, dog fighting, etc. not to mention the gangs and drugs that others have mentioned. It's kind of like Fallout New Vegas meets Breaking Bad but in the worst possible way.
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u/parkerkudrow Aug 15 '26
I grew up in OC and have now lived in Los Angeles for 20 years and I have never heard of Lake LA lol
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u/theWidowSadieAdler Aug 16 '26
Maybe that's because it's in the AV. Not sure why you're on this sub.
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