Monday, May 14, 2012

Lancaster and Palmdale and Victor Valley Projected Population Growth

The population in the Antelope Valley is now about 440,000 and about 360,000 in Victor Valley. The projected population for the Antelope Valley (including Southern Kern County) is to increase in 2030 to 880,000 while the population at Victor Valley during this period is to grow to 700,000 as both areas rank among the fastest growing in Southern California. The plan for the High Desert Corridor through mid 2013 is to continue the meetings and then to begin the engineering which is projected to begin construction in 2016 and then to complete the roadway in 2020. The tremendous growth in these areas will make this roadway an absolute necessity based on the projected population projections. The City of Lancaster 2000 population was an estimated 118,718 persons, representing a 22 percent increase over the 1990 population of 97,291 persons. As of January 1, 2007, the City’s population was an estimated of 143,818 persons. Population growth is expected to continue in Lancaster, with SCAG estimating that its population will reach 168,032 persons by 2010, 191,912 persons by 2015, 215,468 persons by 2020 and 259,696 persons by 2030.3 This projection would represent a population growth of approximately 80.6 percent between 2007 and 2030. Similar estimates are targeted for Palmdale, Ca also reaching 270,000 by 2030. LA Counties population is projected to increase to 10,718,007 persons by 2010 and 11,501,884 persons by 2020. The sources on population growth are SCAG’s, GAVEA, and Antelope Valley 2030 General Plan. The largest area for Los Angeles County to grow is the Antelope Valley as it hold 49% of the available vacant land in the county. An estimated 1 million population expansion in the next ten years can only take place in Lancaster and Palmdale with any significance. The Population growth alone will increase the demand for housing and land resources. If the Vacant land investor is looking for a 20 year buy and hold then with this growth and inflation then buying land now at current low rates is a great strategy for long term gains. Contact us today for low priced land via our site vacantlanddeals.com 213 500-9578 and view our current inventory.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

CalHighSpeedRail Says Train Will Cost Under $100Billion and Launch Sooner With Revisions

HighSpeedRail recent New Conference: Promising "improvements" to the state's controversial bullet train plan, the new head of the project told a Senate hearing in Silicon Valley on Tuesday he now believes building high-speed rail would cost less than the alarming estimate of nearly $100 billion. "I believe the number's coming down," Dan Richard told a packed auditorium Tuesday night. "Obviously the $98 billion was sticker shock for a lot of people." Using existing tracks like Caltrain and speeding up the construction schedule would bring down the costs of the project, Richard said in defending the much-criticized plan that Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed him to revive. He also promised quicker upgrades to Bay Area and Los Angeles commuter lines that would share the track and upgrading the initial leg of track in the Central Valley. Richard said the project's first segment in the Central Valley -- dismissed by some as a $6 billion "train to nowhere" will be tweaked to offer more "immediate benefits," but he offered no specifics. He also vowed to spend some $750 million in state funds in the next few years to help electrify the Caltrain line (SFBay Area commuter train) and $1 billion for similar commuter rail upgrades in Southern California, laying the foundation for bullet trains in those regions. The state's new plan will call for launching train service sooner by breaking the 520-mile line into "bite-sized" segments that can be built quicker. Previous estimates had delayed full service between Richard did not shed light on the fact that California does not have about 85 percent of the funding needed to build the train. "I don't think we'll be able to look (the Legislature) or the public in the eye and tell them that we have any greater clarity about the funding today," Richard said. He did, however, defend estimates that enough passengers will ride the train to turn a profit. Richard testified before key Senate Democrats and a packed house at the 600-seat Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts during a rare Silicon Valley hearing on the project. The California High-Speed Rail Authority in the next two weeks will release a final business plan that will give a more detailed look at everything from costs to funding to rider estimates. Major changes are expected after the preliminary plan included huge cost increases and steep drops in expected rider counts. That led to a slew of criticism from nonpartisan analysts and a drop in support in polls among a majority of likely voters. The Legislature will debate the plan over the following two months before voting in June on whether to spend $2.7 billion to match $3.3 billion in federal funds to start building in the Central Valley early next year. Lawmakers would have to approve spending on the upgrades in the Bay Area and Southern California in future years. Democratic Sens. Joe Simitian of Palo Alto, Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach, and Mark DeSaulnier of Walnut Creek, asked pointed questions but could not get Richard or fellow project board member Jim Hartnett of Redwood City to offer specifics on the forthcoming plan. The Legislative Analyst's Office said Tuesday that it is still concerned about the lack of funding, the need for upgrades in major metro areas and that officials haven't accurately compared the huge cost of the bullet train to alternative investments. Will Kempton, who leads the project's independent peer review group, said the state should start building in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, not the Central Valley. That way, if California receives no more funding, it could at least upgrade popular commuter lines. "Those investments will not be lost," Kempton said. But Richard disputed that. "The words 'train to nowhere' may have escaped my lips before I" came on the board, Richard said. "But I believe today that it's the right place to start." Dozens or potentially hundreds of people were expected to speak late Tuesday into Wednesday morning to slam or tout the project. Construction workers held signs touting the project and were opposed by naysayers armed with "kill high-speed rail" fliers.