Antelope Valley, California
Antelope Valley, California is in Southern California between the Tehachapi and the San Gabriel Mountains. The Antelope Valley spans approximately 2,200 square miles in both northern Los Angeles County and the southeastern portion of Kern County. The largest cities in the Antelope Valley are Palmdale and Lancaster. Antelope Valley also contains the city of California and many other smaller, unincorporated towns. A new city is being planned by developers, to be called Centennial. This will be a full-service city of over 20,000 homes, with schools, entertainment venues, recreational facilities, employment, and government.
Each major Antelope Valley, CA city has its own government. In the Valley, the majority of the resident's first and only dealings with the California Judicial Branch are in one of the 58 trial courts, called Superior Courts. These courts are located in each county of the state. Antelope Valley residents would utilize either the Los Angeles County Superior Court or the Kern County Superior Court. Superior courts hear civil and criminal cases including felonies, as well as family, probate, and juvenile cases. The Courts of Appeal are the next highest judicial authority within California. The Courts of Appeal review contested decisions of the superior courts. The Supreme Court of California has the highest judicial authority within the California judicial Branch and reviews decisions from the Courts of Appeal, especially decisions when the death penalty is imposed. The California Courts' Online Self-Help Center provides California residents with helpful information regarding the California Judicial Branch. In California, personal injury cases are decided in the civil courts.
The aerospace industry is Antelope Valley's major industry. Edwards Air Force Base and U.S. Air Force Plant 42, which includes manufacturing facilities of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, are located in Antelope Valley. Air Force Plant 42 is the Antelope Valley's second-largest employer, after Edwards Air Force Base. The Mojave Air and Space Port, in Mojave, California, is the first facility in the nation to be licensed for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft; it is certified as a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Space Port also functions as a general-use public airport.
The Antelope Valley boasts a variety of colleges and universities, including the University of Antelope Valley, West Coast Baptist College, Antelope Valley College, and a satellite campus of California State University, Bakersfield. The University of La Verne and Chapman University also have satellite campuses in Palmdale.
Several major roadways traverse Antelope Valley, including the Angeles Forest Highway, the Antelope Valley Freeway (State Route 14), State Route 18, State Route 138, State Route 58, and US Route 395. Other options for travel in Antelope Valley, California are the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, a public bus system for metropolitan Palmdale and Lancaster, Metrolink, Amtrak, and Greyhound. The Palmdale Regional Airport is the largest airport serving Antelope Valley, CA. The Mojave Air & Space Port is the second largest airport, and numerous other smaller public and private regional airports dot the Valley.
For health care, Antelope Valley, California residents have their choice of hospitals, including the Antelope Valley Hospital, the Lancaster Community Hospital, and the Palmdale Regional Medical Center, which is under construction. From humble rural farming roots, the Antelope Valley community has grown into an aerospace industry hub and a sprawling bedroom suburb of Los Angeles, acquiring thousands of new residents each year.
