China Lake

[theheights109]

Can anyone tell me anything about the China Lake area - schools, cost of living, neighborhoods, etc.? Anything within an hour is of interest....and yes, I am from the east coast, so I have NO CLUE about that area....it's about as far as one can get from my neck of the woods

[SgtCHP]

My father worked there in 1950. I visited it twice as a kid. That was ample. I have never been back!!!!

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=9990

http://www.city-data.com/city/China-Lake-Acres-California.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/china-lake.htm

[theheights109]

I had found some stuff on Wikipedia, but not being from that area, I didn't know what to make of it! I guess it is pretty bad, eh?

[LA DEP]

Are you looking to work there, or looking to live in the area?

[orlandofed5-0]

Theheights do a search as I posted some stuff about CLPD.

[X1X1X1]

Death Valley should be about an hour away

[Retired96]

I drive thru the area about 25 times a year. It is in the Mojave Desert and is mainly there for the US Navy weapons testing area, without the military there would be no town. It is quite isolated and it get hotter than hell in the summer. It is at the Southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and its only a few hours from some of the best Trout fishing in the country. If your looking for the big city activity you have to drive about 150 miles south to LA or 250 miles north to Reno. It basically it out in the middle of nowhere...

[GLHS837]

Check with MCSD, if hes not from China Lake, hes from Edwards, I think, based on his posting. He can be found it this thread......

http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=128827

[417Lt]

The towns to look up for details are Ridgecrest and Inyokern. Like mentioned, it is the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains and considered a desert area. It has grown a lot recently, housing is affordable, and it isn't near as desolate as it used to be. Very close to great hunting, fishing, motorcycle riding, 4 wheelin', and other type outdoor activities. With hospitals, Home Depots and shopping malls the place isn't half bad.
Stay away if you want an ocean breeze, need a night club within walking distance, or like to give 75% of your pay to your landlord.

[MCSD]

Nope, never been to China Lakes or Ridgecrest.

[new boot 162]

to theheights109:

I'm a San Bernardino County SD deputy. The station I'm assigned to has a sub-station in Trona, which is about 20 minutes from Ridgecrest/ China Lake area. Parts of Ridgecrest are in San Bernardino County. I've worked in that area more than a few times.

China Lake isn't a city, it's the naval air station. There is a small DOD police force there that patrols the base. Ridgecrest is the city, and is a decent little city of about 30,000. It's a desert town, but the Sierra's are pretty close. There's some crime and bad neighborhood, but overall it's pretty good. There's basic shopping like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, grocery's, and some strip malls with mostly local business'. It's affordable there, I think most of the houses are in the mid-100 range right now.

If you are planning on living within an hour of Ridgecrest, you might as well live in Ridgecrest. The people from nearby towns all go there for almost everything anyway, especially shopping. It makes more sense to live there if you're going to work there. The schools are better than the surrounding area and there is a lot more to do there than the towns within an hour of there. What ever you do, avoid Trona like the plague!

I hear Ridgecrest is hiring a few officers with Obama money.

[LeeRoy]

Hot hot hot in the Summer. You better have a reliable car with good a/c.

I spent a week there going to a class once in the summer. The base is big with a bunch of different missions including an active air station and a rocket test sled track. Because there is a lot of testing that goes on you have many different contractors working there full time and many that conduct TDY there while they blow up/drop/shoot their latest prototype.

Other than one hotel, two bars, and a deli I didn't spend much time in Ridgecrest. The area is close to the ample recreation of the eastern slope of the Sierras if hunting and fishing are your thing.

[LA DEP]

I'm a San Bernardino County SD deputy. The station I'm assigned to has a sub-station in Trona, which is about 20 minutes from Ridgecrest/ China Lake area. Parts of Ridgecrest are in San Bernardino County. I've worked in that area more than a few times.

Trona? (shudders in horror).......who do you have to **** off to get assigned to Trona?....

I have deeply buried nightmares about having to visit Trona when I was in High School, and we played football/baseball against them......playing football on chemically impregnated all dirt fields was loads of fun.

[new boot 162]

They have quite a scam going. They sucker people into working there by offering an extra $1,000 month in pay for on-call/resident deputy pay, free housing with utilities (except phone, internet, and cable), a takehome ride, almost no supervision, and lots of OT. The tradeoff is that it's TRONA! It's a two year commitment, but it's atually a great gig for a few years to save up a bunch of cash.

I don't know anyone who was sent there for punishment. SBSD send people back to the jail for that. Trona and other resident posts like Baker attract younger guys looking for cash and guys ready to retire to boost retirement.