When the Jim Davis Airpark in Palmdale noted that it would NOT build a hanger for the space shuttle and stated that if it was good enough for the Enterprise Museum to have a shuttle exposed to the elements, it was good enough for Palmdale - well, that was pretty much the end of it. The other options (a NASA facility at Edwards, Edwards AFB, and Boeing property) fell through for a variety of reasons (NASA wanted the shuttle to go to a public museum, which none of these three were willing to permit..)
Had there been more willingness to build a climate controlled hanger for the shuttle, I'm sure Palmdale would have won.
I'd say that within an hour's drive is far better than the alternative of somewhere on the other side of the country.
The Science Center is not that far at all from the folks who designed and built the shuttle’s primary engines at Rocketdyne in Canoga Park. The Science Center is a fitting location. Now, the one that’s headed to New York.......not so much....