Palmdale

Palmdale, California 

In the U.S. state of California, the city of Palmdale is located in northern Los Angeles County. The city is located in Southern California's Antelope Valley. Palmdale is separated from the Los Angeles Basin to the south by the San Gabriel Mountains. 

Palmdale was established as the first city in Antelope Valley on August 24, 1962. Voters approved making it a charter city in November 2009, 47 years later. The population of Palmdale increased from 152,750 in the 2010 census to 169,450 in the 2020 census. The 32nd most populous city in California is Palmdale. The Palmdale-Lancaster urban area, which includes the city of Lancaster as its closest neighbor to the north, has 359,559 inhabitants in 2020. 

Geography 

Palmdale is a city in Los Angeles County, and the San Gabriel Mountain range, which is about 40 miles (64 km) broad, divides Palmdale from Los Angeles. The Antelope Valley region of the Mojave Desert is bounded on the south by this mountain. After Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Nevada; and Lancaster, Palmdale is the second most populated city in the Antelope Valley and the fifth most populous city overall in the Mojave Desert. Together with its neighbor to the north, Lancaster, Palmdale forms a twin-city complex and forms the core of the Antelope Valley and the High Desert of California. 

In the center of Palmdale, at 34°34′46′′N 118°07′00′′W, and 2,655 feet (809 meters) above sea level. 

The city has a total area of 106.2 square miles (275 km2), of which 106.0 square miles (275 km2) are land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2) are water (including artificial Lake Palmdale, the most noticeable and picturesque component of the municipal water supply system). Water makes up 0.24 percent of the area. 

Due to its location on the San Andreas Fault, the city is vulnerable to large earthquakes. Just north of the Avenue S off-ramp, this fault crosses the Antelope Valley Freeway and continues west along the former Butterfield Stage Line (now Elizabeth Lake Road) into Leona Valley. 

Climate 

Palmdale, which is a part of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 8b, has an arid climate typical of the High Desert (Köppen climate classification BWk). The coldest month, December, has a normal mean temperature of 44.4 °F (6.9 °C), whereas the mildest month, January, experiences daily regular minimum temperatures at or slightly below freezing. The summers are warm and almost entirely without rain, with July and August sharing the title of hottest months with an average mean temperature of 81.2 °F (27.3 °C). Annually, there are typically 35 afternoons with a maximum temperature of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher and 52 mornings with a minimum temperature of or below freezing. The average annual rainfall is 5.90 inches (150 mm), falling over just 27 days (about 4 weeks) on average. 

Record lows were 3 °F (16.1 °C) on January 13, 1963, while record highs were 118 °F (47.8 °C) on August 5, 1990. The "rain year" from July 1940 to June 1941 had the highest annual precipitation on record, at 18.41 inches (467.6 mm), while the highest monthly precipitation, at 7.55 inches (191.8 mm), and the highest daily precipitation, at 3.43 inches (87.1 mm), were both recorded in December 1943. In contrast, the year with the lowest annual precipitation, from July 2012 to June 2013, saw 1.15 inches (29.2 mm) of precipitation. 

Economy 

The aircraft sector is Palmdale's most significant industry. Other manufacturing businesses have moved to Palmdale in search of more reasonably priced property, accessibility to Palmdale Airport, and exclusive tax incentives. 

Because Palmdale is home to both the Palmdale Federal Foreign Trade Zone and the Antelope Valley Enterprise Zone, significant tax benefits are provided for businesses that relocate there. These are urban special zoning zones where businesses can relocate with the help of state, federal, and local grants and tax advantages. These zones were put into place to assist Lancaster, which is close by, and Palmdale in luring more jobs to the region so they wouldn't be as reliant on the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley for employment. This will lessen pollution and traffic congestion while stabilizing the Antelope Valley economy across a number of businesses. The Antelope Valley's municipal governments want to diversify their economies in order to lessen their reliance on the aerospace sector, which is noted for having "feast or famine" seasons. 

The research, development, final assembly, flight testing, servicing, and/or modifications of the Space Shuttle, the B-1 Lancer, the X-15, the B-2 Spirit, the B-21 Raider, the F-117 Nighthawk, the F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Lightning II, the SR-71 Blackbird, the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, and numerous other aircraft that have been used by the United States Air Force, NASA, and air forces and airlines around the world have all taken place in Palm Major operations of the following aerospace businesses are located at USAF Plant 42, including those of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and its renowned Skunk Works, and Northrop Grumman. One of the largest structures in the world, the old Boeing hangar (formerly North American Rockwell) at Plant 42 next to LA/Palmdale Regional Airport is owned by the Los Angeles World Airports. The hangar served as the location to produce the 2004 movie The Terminal, which included a sizable scale model of a terminal at JFK International Airport. The SOFIA program at NASA moved its operations from Edwards Air Force Base to this hangar at Site 9. 

Palmdale is now home to a number of renowned enterprises and manufacturing companies, which has helped to diversify the local economy. Major anchor tenants in the Fairway Business Park include US Pole, a major manufacturer of street lighting poles, and Delta Scientific, a global leader in high strength vehicle barrier systems that provide protection for many federal, state, and local buildings as well as a top supplier to the military and US State Department for embassies and other installations worldwide. Numerous more significant manufacturing, industrial, corporate, and other enterprises, as well as the Palmdale Auto Mall, are located in the Palmdale Trade and Commerce Center. In order to serve the needs of the brand-new Palmdale Regional Medical Center, a variety of medical and related support offices are opening. When the U.S. Department of Energy published a grant competition on July 8, 2009, Quallion LLC, a manufacturer of lithium-ion cells and battery packs, revealed plans to develop a battery manufacturing factory in Palmdale. 

Don Babb's The Model A Ford Company, which later changed its name to Classic Manufacturing and Supply, built steel bodies and parts for hot rods and customs in Palmdale starting in the 1960s. 

Announcing in December 2014 that they would retrofit an existing space in Palmdale to produce the P3010 series of vehicles, Kinkisharyo, the El Segundo-based U.S. division of Kinki Sharyo Co. Ltd. of Osaka, had a $890 million contract to build 175 light-rail cars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that was running behind schedule. For the 2016 openings of the Expo Line Phase II Extension to Santa Monica and the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa, a sizable shipment was required. The remaining 175 vehicles will be required once the K Line and Downtown Connector begin service in the ensuing years. Final assembly work has already started in the hangar the business rented from Los Angeles World Airports in Palmdale. Prior to the start of series production, Metro received the first car in October for testing. 

The Antelope Valley Mall is the area's go-to place for retail shopping, and its restaurant now offers a wide range of cuisines. 

The most valuable crop grown in Palmdale is onion. Onions from Antelope Valley were shipped to countries like Australia, Dubai, Japan, and Taiwan. Wheat, fruit, oats, barley, alfalfa, and other crops are also farmed in Palmdale and the Antelope Valley. 

Population 

California's Los Angeles County is home to the city of Palmdale. It will have 158,943 residents in 2023, making it the 35th-largest city in California and the 166th-largest city in the US. The population of Palmdale has declined by -6.11% from the most recent census, which showed a population of 169,279 in 2020, and is now falling at a pace of -2.08% annually. Palmdale has a population density of 1,498 persons per square mile with a total length of nearly 106 miles. 

Palmdale has a poverty rate of 20.81% with a $78,339 average household income. The median monthly cost of rent in recent years has been, and the median value of a home is. In Palmdale, the median age is 32.3 years, with 30.6 years for men and 34 years for women. 

The San Gabriel Mountains divide the city of Palmdale from the city of Los Angeles to the south. Palmdale is located in the northern part of Los Angeles County, California. It is the 33rd most populous city in California and the second largest city in terms of land area in Los Angeles County.