The Cost of Living Diaries: Victor Valley, CA
Learn from a local what it's like to reside in California's Victor Valley region.
Welcome to The Cost of Living Diaries. How much does it cost to live in California’s Victor Valley? What’s an average mortgage, a cocktail, or a week’s worth of childcare? Keep reading because we asked a Victor Valley, CA local to tell us all about the cost of living in this thriving city!
The “oh, so appealing” Victor Valley region is located in the Mojave Desert, an area made up of the thriving cities of Victorville, Apple Valley, Adelanto and Hesperia. While known for its beautiful mountain vistas, sunny days and breathtaking night skies, the region also boasts excellent cuisine and retail options, great jobs, friendly, affordable neighborhoods and outdoor recreation that can’t be beat.
To get a better view of what this attractive region offers, we sat down with Sharon Wallace of Victorville. While she grew up in Illinois, she and her husband moved to the area in 1998. They later spent about three years in Illinois, where she started her business, Sharon Wallace Photography. Then, eleven years ago, they moved back to Victorville, and she brought her business with her, focusing on glamour, headshots/personal branding and senior photography.
Sharon Wallace
Sharon Wallace Photography
Q: Why did you decide to move back to Victorville?
A: Following my husband’s job. We’ve moved around a little bit. He’s an electrical engineer. We came back to our same house, our same location. We liked that area, and we always intended on going back.
Q: How would you describe Victorville?
A: If you ask people, they’ll say it’s a commuter town, so a lot of people that live there commute to work, although there’re obviously people who come and start businesses. It’s a rapidly growing community. There’s always an influx of new people, and it’s very diverse, both in ethnicity and in restaurants, activities, everything you can do. If you’re in Victorville compared to other areas of the country, you have access to everything, like your big chain restaurants or shopping. You have those sorts of things, and you also have the mom-and-pop places and all of the diversity that comes with that.
Q: What do you love about living in Victorville?
A: I love the activities and things. Living in the desert, you have access to riding motorcycles. We have a Jeep, so we go out in our Jeep in the desert, and other people do their quads, so you have that desert activity — the camping and that sort of thing, hiking. There’s a new bike trail that you can ride on.
Q: What’s something unique about the area?
A: It’s diverse in age group. There are lots of senior living places and lots of communities in the surrounding area that are geared toward senior living…as well as new and upcoming people who might be currently communing but they are raising their families here.
Q: What’s it like to run a business in Victorville?
A: All the businesses in the communities sort of join together, and they support each other, so it’s like “let’s support local shopping” and that kind of thing. That’s been an incredibly positive experience. I really like that.
Q: What is housing like in the area?
A: The housing is very affordable. You can buy so much more in the High Desert compared to what you can buy down the hill (Los Angeles, Inland Empire, etc.) And there’s new housing coming up all the time.
Q: What’s your favorite restaurant, and how much would dinner and drinks cost for two people?
A: The restaurant that we really like to go to is Mama Carpino’s in Apple Valley. It’s a little Italian place, a mom-and-pop place, and it’s been growing over the years, too. We really enjoy going there. I would say it would be under $100 for a nice meal and drinks.
Q: What’s your favorite coffee shop in the area, and how much is your go-to drink?
A: Near me, I like The Grind (Coffee House). It’s a local mom-and-pop place. There’s indoor and outdoor seating. They are always playing music. It’s a nice little coffeehouse vibe. They do have food choices. I’ll meet my clients there and sit outside and show them their portfolio of their pictures. I’m not much for flavorings, so I just get either an espresso or a latte, but they have a big variety of lemonades, too. You can get a nice large coffee or lemonade for around $5.
Victor Valley Economic Development
This digital edition of the Victor Valley Economic Development is sponsored by The Greater High Desert Chamber of Commerce.
