For a decade, "the bridge to nowhere" stood as a symbol of the bust-boom nature of development in the Antelope Valley.
The rock bridge over the Amargosa Creek in Palmdale was built during the last building boom, meant to be the gateway to the Ritter Ranch development. But the project never materialized, stymied by delays, bankruptcies and a slowing housing market.
But now, with Southern California in the midst of another housing boom, construction is beginning on the 7,200-home community. It's one of several large housing developments rising across north Los Angeles County that over the next decade are expected to bring up to 400,000 new residents into the region.
The Antelope Valley's last building boom occurred in the 1980s, as the expansive desert area 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles became a center for affordable housing. Large swaths of land were graded and covered with mazes of red-tile-roofed suburban starter homes, swiftly transforming the landscape. Palmdale saw its population jump from 12,277 in 1980 to 116,000 in 2000.
Although the north county has a reputation for inexpensive, no-frills housing, some of the new development in the works is decidedly more upscale. Ritter Ranch will include a golf course, swim club and an equestrian center set in 6,000 acres of open space studded with meadows and woodland.
"Ritter Ranch will be unlike anything in this valley," said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, who has lived in the area for 28 years. "We wanted to take our city to the next level of what urban development has to offer."
But not everyone is embracing the new growth.
"I moved out here for the seclusion, not to be near a housing tract," said Steve Cumiskey, 55, who lives in a rural area adjacent to Ritter Ranch. "It will make the city a lot closer. Where's it going to stop?"
In addition to Ritter Ranch, about 5,200 homes are under construction nearby in a tract called Anaverde. The Centennial project near Gorman will include 23,000 homes in a new town set to rise in the Tehachapi Mountains. To the south near Santa Clarita, the 20,885-home Newhall Ranch is beginning to take shape.
The area roughly from Santa Clarita north to the Kern County line has about 600,000 residents. But the Southern California Assn. of Governments expects the region's population to approach 1 million by 2020, thanks to new housing tracts.
