North Lancaster, CA

Lancaster's lettered avenues count down toward the start of the alphabet as you drive north, and somewhere past Avenue H the city lets go and North Lancaster begins. This is the roomy upper end of Lancaster in Los Angeles County, stretching toward the Kern County line with mountains on the far horizon and more open desert than rooftops. The southern fringe still looks suburban, with recent subdivisions backing onto the older city grid. Push north and the pattern breaks into scattered homes on desert parcels, a few manufactured-home parks and long stretches where the only structures are power poles. Out there, plenty of roads go without pavement or streetlights. Apollo Community Regional Park is the local anchor, a county park built around a lake that has hosted a youth derby for decades. Steve Owen Memorial Park, back in town on 10th Street West, has a fenced dog area and the city's big softball complex next door. Cafe Antigua on 10th Street West brews Guatemalan Antigua coffee and bakes its own bagels, and Amate Coffee on 20th Street West puts a modern Mexican spin on the café menu. The Lancaster Metrolink station downtown is the end of the line toward Los Angeles, useful for anyone who wants to skip the freeway. The tradeoff is noise when the fires start. Between those days, North Lancaster is about as quiet as the city gets, with wind, open sky and the lights of town well to the south.