Lancaster, CA

Lancaster, the northernmost of Los Angeles County's big cities, is laid out on the flat floor of the Antelope Valley where the lettered avenues keep marching north to the county's edge. That main street is The BLVD, the part of Lancaster Boulevard the city rebuilt for people on foot in 2010. The oldest housing sits near it, modest postwar and ranch-style houses packed close on grid streets. Westside Lancaster is the newer stucco-and-tile tract country, with curving streets and bigger lots the farther west you go. Downtown is also where the city goes out. The Modern Tea Room brews well over a hundred teas and hangs fresh local art every few weeks, and Buckle & Boots is the place for a plate of barbecue followed by line dancing. For coffee, locals point to Cafe Antigua, known for Guatemalan beans and bagels made in house. Prime Desert Woodland Preserve keeps a stretch of native high desert with walking paths on the west side, and Apollo Community Regional Park up north circles a fishing lake. When the bloom arrives, the poppy reserve a short drive west turns the hills orange. Errands follow the avenues. Avenue K and Avenue L carry most of the grocery stores, WinCo and Sprouts among them, and Antelope Valley College sits on Avenue K. The Metrolink line to Los Angeles ends at a station near downtown. Spread is the honest cost. Away from The BLVD nearly every trip is a drive on wide arterials, and the commute toward Los Angeles runs long. What the distance buys is sky, the kind you notice on summer nights at the AV Fair or watching fire tankers lift off from Fox Field.