Demographics
In recent decades the valley has become a bedroom community,Lonely Planet, California, 3rd Ed., p. 476 to the Greater Los Angeles area. Major housing tract development and population growth took off beginning in 1983, which has increased the population of Palmdale around 12 times its former size as of 2006. Neighboring Lancaster has increased its population since the early 1980s to around 3 times its former level. Major retail has followed the population influx, centered on Palmdale's Antelope Valley Mall. The Antelope Valley is home to over 475,000 people, and the population is expected to reach 1,000,000 by the year 2020.
Non-Hispanic whites make up approximately 48% of the population of the Antelope Valley and form a majority or plurality in most of its cities and towns. Hispanics are the next largest group, followed by African Americans and Asian Americans.
Some long-term residents living far out in the desert have been cited by Los Angeles County's Nuisance Abatement Teams for code violations, forcing them to make improvements or move. One of the properties is a church building which was used to film "Kill Bill". The code enforcers have arrived on some of their visits in SWAT team formats.
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