Palmdale, CA

Palmdale sits at the southern edge of the Antelope Valley, the first big desert city in Los Angeles County you reach after the Antelope Valley Freeway climbs out of Santa Clarita. Aerospace built the modern town, and Air Force Plant 42 on the north side, birthplace of the SR-71 and the B-2, still sets its rhythm. The city changes a lot from edge to edge. Downtown has the oldest houses and apartments, set on plain blocks a short walk from the boulevard. The east side runs out in long tracts of single-family homes with some manufactured-home parks mixed in. Rancho Vista is the settled west-side suburb wrapped around a public golf course. Parks do much of the social work. Marie Kerr Park hosts summer concerts at the amphitheater and weekend softball, Pelona Vista Park fills with soccer games, and DryTown Water Park on Avenue S is where much of the valley cools off in July. The places people recommend tend to be independents. Baracoa Cuban Restaurant near the mall does Cuban plates, and Angkor Restaurant on Rancho Vista Boulevard is a sit-down Asian kitchen. The coffee shop that comes up in conversation is Trio Coffee House in Anaverde, known for espresso with Mexican flavors and a gelato case. Most errands happen near the Antelope Valley Mall and along 10th Street West, where Trader Joe's, Sprouts and Aldi are neighbors. Nearly everything takes a car. The Transportation Center downtown is the exception, where Metrolink trains and Antelope Valley Transit buses meet. Distance south is the tradeoff. Most jobs in the Los Angeles basin mean a long run down State Route 14, and the foothill subdivisions add miles before the on-ramp. A typical week in Palmdale loops between freeway, grocery store and ballfield, with the hills on one side of town and test jets overhead on the other.