My visit to Palmdale

I spent the afternoon yesterday in Palmdale, the foreclosure capital of L.A. County. No, I was not showing property. Shameless plug: My husband, Steve, and his cat have a book out titled The World is Your Litter Box. It's a how-to manual for cats and is very funny. Anyway, I go along with Steve to all the So. Cal. Barnes & Noble signings.

I haven't been to Palmdale in years. From the press it has received lately, here's what I expected: broken-down cars by the side of the road. Lots of homeless people. Board-ups all over the city. Signs on telephone poles re name-your-price homes for sale. In short, a community in a deep, deep recession/depression.

That's not what I saw. At all. The major shopping area had tons of traffic, busy franchises, and no board-ups. Lots and lots of people out and about, and none of them looked particularly troubled. In short, I saw a thriving community. (And yes, the Barnes & Noble was busy all afternoon and we sold out the stock.) Now, I'm not saying that area is not ground zero for foreclosures. I'm just saying. Perhaps I need to wait a year for the blight to set in?