Los Angeles Relocation Guide - Antevia

In 1956, Palmdale’s first high school was established, making it easier for youths to nothave to travel to Antelope Valley High School in nearby Lancaster.In August 1962, the township of Palmdale officially became the city of Palmdale with theincorporation of 2 square miles (5 km²) of land around the present day civic center.In 1963, the Antelope Valley Freeway, or State Highway 14, was completed as a linkbetween Palmdale and Los Angeles. The freeway at this time ran all the way to presentday Technology Drive. It was at this time that talk about the future PalmdaleIntercontinental Airport was seen as the way of the future. By 1965 the new city hadannexed an additional 20 square miles (52 km²) of land and industry was thriving. Talk ofthe future commercial airport had many investors buying up large quantities of land.In 1970, the City of Los Angeles went forward with buying 17,500 acres (71 km²) of landeast of the city for its proposed commercial airport. However, the United States Air Forcedesired to put a hold on the construction of this new facility until the existing airportreached its commercial capacity. So under a joint use agreement with the military, theLos Angeles Department of Airports, now called Los Angeles World Airports, built a9,000 square foot (800 m²) terminal on leased land that opened in 1971, creating presentday Palmdale Regional Airport.By 1974, the Antelope Valley Freeway was completed all the way to Mojave. In 1977,Palmdale built its first municipal building, the Palmdale City Library. This was the sameyear that its northern neighbor Lancaster incorporated itself into a city. Since the 1920s,Lancaster had been the much larger and principal community of the Antelope Valley, aswell as the rest of California's Mojave Desert, and Palmdale had always played secondfiddle to it. The 1980s and 1990s were the decades that really started to define the twoAntelope Valley cities. Affordable housing in the area caused a dramatic spike in thepopulation. The city became a bedroom community for those employed in Los Angeles.Palmdale's population continued to approach Lancaster's. Throughout the eighties andeven the nineties, Palmdale was the fastest growing city in California and second fastestgrowing city in the nation. In 1980, Palmdale's population was 12,177. By 1990, it hadsoared to 68,842. It was in 1990 that the Antelope Valley Mall opened at Rancho VistaBlvd. and 10th Street West, presently the busiest intersection in the entire Mojave Desert.In 1991, the Palmdale Auto Center complex opened. Throughout the 1990s and early2000s, central Palmdale has become the commercial center of the California High Desert.In 2000, the city's population was 116,670. In 2002, Palmdale's population finallyeclipsed its northern neighbor Lancaster, with over 137,000 residents today. The citycontinues to look forward to quality managed growth in the future.EducationK-12 SchoolsThe City of Palmdale has 3 separate elementary school districts and 1 high schooldistrict: