emodx,
I grew up in Riverside, CA and live just east of it now in Moreno Valley, CA. Riverside is a nice place. Ethnically diverse with an obvious growth of the Hispanic population (75 miles from the border). Economically it is on an upswing. It has a nice mix of blue collar and white collar employment opportunities. Riverside is moderate to conservative, but with plenty of hippie liberals to keep it colorful.
The city of Riverside has had a huge campaign in place for 5 years now trying to draw entrpenurial type businesses, and the County of Riverside has been basically blowing any company with more than 200 employees that inquire about benefits, breaks, and incentives. Lots of rail access and trucking hubs for them to use. Passenger air is close by at Ontario Airport (20 miles) and private air (jet,prop, and helo) is in town (Riverside Municipal Airport). Cargo flights into March Air Reserve Base (Moreno Valley-5 miles East) and San Bernardino Airport (10 miles-North) are averaging about 25 per week each.
Homes range from pre-1920's Victorians to 1950's 'square' 1 storys to post 1980's Spanish style ranches. 90% of all new home floorplans are 4 BR 3 BA 2 storys. With the price of dirt around here, if you want something liveable it is 2 story. Lots and lots of Urban Sprawl to deal with (traffic, retail strip malls, industrial zones, and trending over-population. To the west is Orange County and Los Angeles County where the average home jumps to $450+. East is where I live and is keeping pace with Riverside home prices at about $50-$75K less.
The schools are pretty good. The city itself has two school districts. Riverside Unified has 5 HS's and the other has 3 (not including continuation or alternative settings). Lots and lots of elementary and middle schools. Riverside Community College is right in the middle of town and has two auxilarry campuses in Norco (West) and Moreno Valley (East). UCR (University of California, Riverside) is on the north end of town and has a thriving college/younger adult scene around it.
Lots of shopping, retail, boutique shops and small businesses make up the bulk of Riverside's economic base. It has a Metro Link Station (Mass transit rail servicing Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties) and a massive city bus system (But, I wouldn't get on one without my trusty friend - Mr. Glock 23 and his compadries magazine #2 & #3 ??? I keep waiting for the day I can sling my civilian M4.......I'm sure the idiots around town would REALLY keep there distance then
)
Crime is commensurate with an area where the masses are rising in the socio-economic classes - fairly high. With more and more two income families and less and less supervision of teens, they find trouble to get into. Most property crimes are break-ins and yuppie rides like convertables, high end Euros and SUVs are targets of choice for GTA. Narcotics are hard to expunge from the city, but readily found. Gang activity (in certain parts of town) is slowly becoming a major concern. With LA so close, a lot of the big city problems over flow into Riverside (45 miles).
Overall Riverside is a very nice place. It has its issues like everywhere else, but it is an above average place to live in my opinion. Here is the city's website:
Riverside, CA
But, if you want a no-**** opinion on the whole list........go to Hawai'i if you are looking at this move as a 10 year stop. But, if you are looking to buy and profit from your 10 years.......Sacramento, Phoenix, Charlotte, Memphis, and Nashville seem like the places to go to invest in a decent home and be able to sell and cash-in 10 years later.
I hope whatever you decide it makes you and your wife happy. And, if you choose Riverside, we can get together nad pillage each other's humis on a regular basis.
M. Gipson :thumbs:
