Pasadena, Pomona, Riverside OR Their Surrounding Areas? (Los Angeles, Santa Ana: apartments, for rent)

[msrulez]

Hi Everyone!
Well, I posted a question a few days back regarding me moving to Oxnard, but due to the thoughtfulness and care of you kind people I found out that I should rather avoid the area. So, I have moved on to my other alternatives, I am considering to move to either Pasadena, Pomona or Riverside and wanted to know your views on this matter. My no 1 priority is Pasadena because of it being close to LA, and cause I found a really decent place for rent under 1000 dollars rent around Summit ave. Now my question is which areas do you think are good among these three or if you have any other neighbouring city please do mention it as I am running short of time and need to confirm.
Thank you all in advance...

[msrulez]

Oh yeah, what do you guyz think about Rancho Cucamonga? Is it a good place to live in with decent schools and stuff and any idea of its crime rate?

[timelesschild]

Where is your job going to be?

Pasadena is really nice. Its downtown is absolutely lovely, with vibrant retail, dining, commercial and professional businesses. It has the Gold Line Metro train, which is cheaper than Metrolink trains and very reliable. A really fun thing about Pasadena is its residential architecture, which includes many Craftsman and other picturesque gems. Stay away from the NW quadrant, though - it's a pretty tough area. Everything surrounding Pasadena is nice as well, except for some tougher areas of Altadena.

Pomona has a significant gang presence, although neighboring cities Claremont and Glendora are very nice. It has some very respectable colleges there, though. Pomona is on the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink, if you like to be on a train line (I do).

Rancho Cucamonga is NEW suburbia with NEW big-box shopping and apparently a nice mall. Big, new cookie-cutter houses. It's very cheap to live out there, and getting cheaper as the housing bubble continues to burst. I am not sure what the job situation is like out there, but the Inland Empire as a whole is struggling right now. Big time. Again, this is on the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink.

You can find out more about Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga on the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) board. Good luck!

[msrulez]

Thank you! Well, I am a student and will probably work part-time during the summers in not-so-high level jobs. So, Pasadena, Ranhco and then Pomona is for you, right?
Again I really appreciate your help in this.

[ewvdt]

Altadena is very nice, close to hiking trails. We've lived here almost 25 years and enjoy the outdoors and quiet surroundings. Most anywhere north of Altadena Drive is good.
Summit in Pasadena is NOT a good area and was/is known as the snakepit.

[msrulez]

Snakepit! why? But it is a generally good are, Pasadena, right? I might as well start driving around pasadena and find a decent place.

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

Where is your job going to be?

Pasadena is really nice. Its downtown is absolutely lovely, with vibrant retail, dining, commercial and professional businesses. It has the Gold Line Metro train, which is cheaper than Metrolink trains and very reliable. A really fun thing about Pasadena is its residential architecture, which includes many Craftsman and other picturesque gems. Stay away from the NW quadrant, though - it's a pretty tough area. Everything surrounding Pasadena is nice as well, except for some tougher areas of Altadena.

Pomona has a significant gang presence, although neighboring cities Claremont and Glendora are very nice. It has some very respectable colleges there, though. Pomona is on the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink, if you like to be on a train line (I do).

Rancho Cucamonga is NEW suburbia with NEW big-box shopping and apparently a nice mall. Big, new cookie-cutter houses. It's very cheap to live out there, and getting cheaper as the housing bubble continues to burst. I am not sure what the job situation is like out there, but the Inland Empire as a whole is struggling right now. Big time. Again, this is on the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink.

You can find out more about Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga on the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties) board. Good luck!

I was told this area is a lot hotter than the coastals and the air is not breathable especially on bad air days which seems to be growing . true?

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by 12buttons

I was told this area is a lot hotter than the coastals and the air is not breathable especially on bad air days which seems to be growing . true?

Pasadena is hot in the summer but I haven't had trouble with the air quality.

Pomona and Rancho? Hotter and smoggier, is what I always hear too.

[msrulez]

i dont think that air quality will be a problem for me, I ahev lived in really bad 'air' places before and dont think that it can be any worse .
Can anyone tell me some neighborhoods where there are apartments and condo for rent which isnt too "high-life" nor too bad, so that i can drive around and see if there are any places in Pasadena.
Also, what do you mean by snake-pit? Im really itching to know that?lol
Thanx for all your help.

[MIKEETC]

I would choose Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, and Pomona in that order.

Pasadena is an established community. I used to work for the Gas Company reading meters and there were a lot of very nice neighborhoods in Pasadena. It has a vibrant downtown with numerous interesting things to do. One of the comparisons I like to make (though others may disagree) is Pasadena has many of the positives that you'd find in a larger city like Los Angeles without most of the attendant problems that go with it. The homes in Pasadena impressed me and will probably impress you if you're a fan of Craftsman architecture. I wish home developers would just copy that style because it is my favorite (I digress). Anyway, a lot of history in that city with local activities (the Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, etc.) and local institutions (Caltech, Norton Simon Museum, Art Center College of Design, Huntington Library, etc.) that are world renowned. Then you figure that it is relatively close to other places in Southern California due to its relative central location. It is not really close, for example, to the beaches, downtown LA, or Hollywood but it is much closer than the other cities on your list. The weather is relatively moderate - temperature extremes were rare; as I worked outdoors there for about 4 years I don't recall thinking it was too hot/cold very often. From an average cost-of-living standpoint, I think it will be the most expensive of the four you've listed but not the most expensive in the area (see San Marino or South Pasadena).

Rancho Cucamonga is a nice community in the Inland Empire. It is a surburban, bedroom community, however, and therefore it is missing a lot of the urban vitality that makes Pasadena interesting in my opinion. If you're single, because RC is more of a family-oriented place, you might find yourself bored. There is the Victoria Gardens shopping mall (if that's your thing) but Old Town Pasadena is more authentic. The city has experienced explosive growth in the last 20 years so everything will appear new. The housing stock is really nice in RC. A lot of nice homes that are relatively inexpensive compared to areas closer towards LA. My brother lived in the Miramonte Apartments and there were really nice. From an average cost-of-living standpoint, I think it will be the 2nd or 3rd most expensive of the four you've listed. How it compares with surrounding communities is debatable especially with the housing market jumping off a cliff. Nearby, similar alternatives, more or less, abound (see Ontario, Upland, Fontana, or, further southwest, Chino Hills). It is definitely hotter and drier in the summer. During the Santa Ana wind events it can get quite windy. When the wind clears out the smog, the view of the San Gabriel Mountains, especially Cucamonga Peak, can be really cool.

Riverside is a nice, older community. It is one of the "core" cities that make up the Inland Empire. It has a history similar to Pasadena. Unfortunately, it isn't at the same level as Pasadena. It's downtown is nothing compared to Pasadena. Weather is similar to Rancho Cucamonga. I am not too familiar with Riverside or its immediate surroundings so I'll leave it at that. The primary reason it gets 3rd position with me even though I don't know so much about it is because the next city I do know...

Pomona is a not-so-nice, older community. I grew up in Pomona and lived there for about 25 years. My Mom still lives there so I see it all firsthand every weekend. The other cities on your list have crime and gang problems but Pomona's is most likely the worst. Of course, there are nice places in Pomona (see Ganesha Hills, Phillips Ranch, or Lincoln Park), but overall I can think of better cities nearby (see San Dimas, Diamond Bar, Claremont, etc. etc.). I'd like to see Pomona get better but first the economic and political environment needs to improve. In the absence of that, Pomona is in the doldrums. Build-out occurred years ago so most of the housing stock is relatively old. I've watched it decline slowly from a solidly middle class community into a working class/impoverished community; there's nothing wrong with working class folks, but let's face it, working class income cannot support middle class retail/restaurants/services - for the most part and you're not going to find it in Pomona. In the time I lived there, I rarely found anything to do in Pomona. Vibrant is not a word I'd use to describe it. If there was something I wanted to do I usually went to downtown Claremont or the Montclair Plaza in Montclair...

I'll stop there.

These are my personal observations and I am certain I've left some details out. Good luck.