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ANTELOPE VALLEY | Development News

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#1 ·
Lancaster says 'ni hao' to Chinese investors
The Antelope Valley city is going all out to woo Chinese businesses, including having officials take basic Mandarin lessons to greet potential investors.
By Ann M. Simmons
The Los Angeles Times
February 5, 2010

When the eight-minute promotional video wrapped up, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris' review wasn't entirely flattering.

The movie-making seemed amateurish in spots, and, in some shots, he and others would have benefited from a little makeup. Most important, the mayor told his staff, there weren't enough Asians in the video.

"If we're going to try to attract members of the Asian business community, we need to have more Asians in there," Parris told staffers.

The promotional video, which Parris requested be re-shot before being dubbed in Mandarin, is part of a larger strategy that Lancaster hopes will help it attract Chinese investment and create jobs in a region where unemployed is pegged at 17%.

The city is sending business delegations to China, partnering with a Chinese sister city, and using a language tutor to teach bureaucrats Mandarin.

It may seem odd that this frontier desert town, where many residents relish the separation and distance from downtown L.A., is actively courting the language and culture of a far-flung land. But city leaders say they're on a mission.

"We have to recognize it's a global economy," said Parris, who has been studying Mandarin using the language-learning software Rosetta Stone, and plans to send his two adult sons on a year-long language-study trip to China. "The Chinese have trillions of American dollars. We want them to reinvest those dollars back into America."

In recent years, other Los Angeles County cities have proved to be a bigger draw for foreign-owned or -affiliated business enterprises. According to data published by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. last spring, there are 4,521 foreign-owned and -affiliated businesses in Los Angeles County -- most of them Japanese. Los Angeles topped the list with the most foreign enterprises, while Antelope Valley placed last.

City leaders are eager to change their standing by promoting Lancaster as a destination with foreign investment appeal.

In recent months, Lancaster has hosted several delegations of potential Chinese investors. The visitors arrive to a city defined more by sprawling malls and landscapes dotted with Joshua trees than by the park-perfect industrial districts of Silicon Valley or the bustle and neon of Los Angeles.

But they are welcomed in Mandarin by staff and officials who attended 2 1/2 -hour Mandarin classes every other week for about four months last year.

The greetings typically amount to "Hello. How are you? How was your trip? Welcome to Lancaster," said Luis Garibay, a senior redevelopment project coordinator for the city, described by colleagues as one of the most proficient Mandarin students. The classes are to resume sometime this year.

"We never expected to become experts," Garibay said. "The goal was to get some fundamentals, to help break down barriers."

"What's important is the understanding that we care enough to try to understand their culture and language, and to try to communicate, even on a small level, that their investment is important to us," said Deputy City Manager Jason Caudle, who also took the Mandarin lessons.

The strategy might be paying off.

Parris said Lancaster was "leading the pack" to become the location for a new car-making plant owned by the Chinese manufacturer BYD Co. Ltd, a giant in the rechargeable battery industry.

A delegation of Lancaster businesspeople, clergy and city staff will travel to China before spring to meet with potential investors, Parris said. Lancaster is also pursuing a sister-city relationship with Huainan, in China's central Anhui province. And Lancaster is considering establishing a bilingual English-Mandarin charter school in an effort to entice more Asians to move to the city, Parris said.

Asians make up only 3.8% of Lancaster's population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data; city officials say about a dozen Chinese-owned businesses -- most of them commercial enterprises such as restaurants and retail stores -- call Lancaster home.

"You can't just say you're a comfortable place for Chinese to do business, you have to be a comfortable place for Chinese to do business," Parris said.
 
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#2 ·
Antelope Valley

There may be a job opportunity in my future in Lancaster, CA. I am vaguely familiar with LA and I realize this is not the glamorous California like Malibu or Beverly Hills on TV (which is what my potential boss pointed out repeatedly on the phone). I have been to the Inland Empire region before, but not the Antelope Valley. Is Lancaster comparable at all to Rancho Cucamonga? Also, how would you compare Lancaster and Palmdale?

My potential employer also said that Lancaster was like a small town and oriented more towards familes with children. Is there much to do there for young, single people?

Thanks.
 
#3 · (Edited)
WELCOME TO STUPENDOUS​
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LANCASTER CALIFORNIA!​
cue music .....​
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Situated in the heart of California's Antelope Valley,​
Lancaster is the "HEART" of California's Antelope Valley!​
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Ya know, some historians state that the name ''Lancaster'' was bestowed upon the town by Mr. M.L. Wicks, a real estate developer who purchased six sections of land from the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1884 at a price of about $2.50 an acre. Prior to that date, in 1882, Mr. Wicks started a Scottish settlement of about 150 persons in the Valley, presumably the town was a more permanent home for those people. The story goes on to say that he named the new city for his former home, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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Another version of the way Lancaster received its name attributes the deed to Mr. Purnell, a member of the Southern Pacific Railroad staff whose duties included the naming of all stations. His reasons, unfortunately, must remain obscure because all records were destroyed by fire in 1906.​
How about that?​
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Regardless of the origin of the name, the area would not have been developed as it has without the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was completed between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1876. Following the completion of the railroad and the establishment of a water stop because of the purity and accessibility, the Western Hotel, then known as the Gilwyn was built, and by 1890, Lancaster was quite prosperous.
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In 1898, gold was discovered in the hills north of Lancaster and attracted scores of prospectors who staked claims that are still visible and being prospected. The old-time miners would rig ''V'' shaped wagons with sails and ''tack'' across Muroc Dry Lake going to and from work. Also, in 1898, borax was found in the mountains surrounding the Antelope Valley, sparking the world's largest open-pit borax mine.
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Since the 1930's, when the first airplane was brought to the area and the Air Force started conducting flight tests at Muroc Air Base, Lancaster has grown relatively steadily. Edwards Air Force Base, famous for its space shuttle landings and home to the famous aviatrix Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom riding Club, has had a major impact on the local economy, and continues to with the Air Force Flight Test Center's programs which include testing of the B-1b, the B-2 stealth bomber, the F117A stealth fighter, the SR71 ''Blackbird'', and the U-2 (yes, it still flies). It is quite common to look into the forever blue sky and see one, two, or even three of these beautiful ''birds'' flying at the same time.
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NOTE: THESE AIN'T LOUD​
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Until it was incorporated in 1977, the area was under the political influence of Los Angeles County. Citizens in the area felt a need for better interaction with their policy making body and local control; and, with the work of the Citizens for Incorporation, cityhood became a reality. The vote for incorporation signified a new community pride as well as a commitment to exercise the traditional rights of self governance.
But, lets answer your questions ...​
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There are 160,000 people in Lancaster, meaning there are 80,000 women there, regardless of the lack of afterwork activities!​
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The average home looks like this.
All residences in the city must include the requisite satellite dish, as seen here, so the suicide rate remains at a manageable level.
Yes, they have Home Depot!​
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Rancho Cucamonga is located at the foot of Mt Baldy in what is affectionately known as the western edge of the "Inland Empire."​
The average house looks like this:​
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The population is similar to Lancaster, but the Women to Men ratio is 5 to 1, and the location nearby of the 210 and 10 freeways makes access into the city a breeze. Despite all of this, the working population is up before sunrise,
ready to tackle the events of the day in sheer happiness!​
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Palmdale is the same as Lancaster.
 
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