Where to move? Modesto or Riverside, CA? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: 2009, crime rate)

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Great suggestion! I used to live in Alta Loma, and for whatever reason I didn't think to recommend it to the OP.

Good goin' FresnoFacts!

On my trip a few weeks ago I visited with some people I know in Alta Loma. Otherwise I would have forgotten about it too.

The only bad thing was that my allergies went crazy in the Inland Empire, either something in the air down there or else the higher smog levels. When I got back to Fresno I was fine within a day.

[yukiko11]

I personally lived in the inland empire for 8 years. I lived in literally the last house on my street in SB county. The house across the street was in Montclair. 18 years ago, I found the crime to be uncomfortable. There were always helicopters looking for suspects in the middle of the night, graffitti everywhere and after the second Watts riots, there were racial problems that had never existed. There are a lot of good areas in SB county, but please do your homework before you committ.

[nightbird47]

I lived in Riverside for 18 years. I've never been to Modesto but suspect its a better place to live. Don't underrate the smog in Riverside. Its persistant all year but in the summer and fall its a grey pall that blocks seeing the mountains. Its also been far more humid than it was when I started out there. As humid as its been in Oklahoma, I don't find it unfamiliar.

As for feel, if Modesto is a smallish kind of place Riverside is the opposite. It has 300 thousand people. But its literally in the middle of a bunch of surburban sprawl too. There is Corona, Norco, Ontario, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, Perris and then out toward the desert cities of Beaumont and Banning and others. In that main area you'll find nothing but city. The traffic is hidious. The hills around an in Riverside were growing houses when I moved. To get to work in San Bernardino you'd probably take the ten and that is a crowded and slow drive.

Someone mentioned the helicopters. They are a part of life, good or bad areas. I lived in a nice area when we first moved there but it creeps. By the time I moved it was pretty much barrio. So the demographics now don't tell the whole story.

Before you make a decision, go to Riverside in the middle of the summer and drive around in the late afternoon on a weekday. Drive the 91 from Riverside to Corona or visa versa. Get the feel of the town. There are some good things, but in my experience the good things are losing out to the bad ones bit by bit. Don't assume you'll manage the smog, but go when you have to breath it and see if you want to live there.

When I get out there for a visit I still want to go to the downtown area since its one area I loved to go to. But I'm finding I don't miss much else at all.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by yukiko11

I personally lived in the inland empire for 8 years. I lived in literally the last house on my street in SB county. The house across the street was in Montclair.

Montclair is also in San Bernardino County. OTOH, Claremont is in Los Angeles County.

Originally Posted by nightbird47

I lived in Riverside for 18 years. I've never been to Modesto but suspect its a better place to live. Don't underrate the smog in Riverside. Its persistant all year but in the summer and fall its a grey pall that blocks seeing the mountains. Its also been far more humid than it was when I started out there. As humid as its been in Oklahoma, I don't find it unfamiliar.

As for feel, if Modesto is a smallish kind of place Riverside is the opposite. It has 300 thousand people. But its literally in the middle of a bunch of surburban sprawl too. There is Corona, Norco, Ontario, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, Perris and then out toward the desert cities of Beaumont and Banning and others. In that main area you'll find nothing but city. The traffic is hidious. The hills around an in Riverside were growing houses when I moved. To get to work in San Bernardino you'd probably take the ten and that is a crowded and slow drive.

Someone mentioned the helicopters. They are a part of life, good or bad areas. I lived in a nice area when we first moved there but it creeps. By the time I moved it was pretty much barrio. So the demographics now don't tell the whole story.

Before you make a decision, go to Riverside in the middle of the summer and drive around in the late afternoon on a weekday. Drive the 91 from Riverside to Corona or visa versa. Get the feel of the town. There are some good things, but in my experience the good things are losing out to the bad ones bit by bit. Don't assume you'll manage the smog, but go when you have to breath it and see if you want to live there.

When I get out there for a visit I still want to go to the downtown area since its one area I loved to go to. But I'm finding I don't miss much else at all.

Modesto is like a smaller Riverside without much around it.

Riverside can get humid by CA standards.

I never thought of I-10 as being a slow drive, especially if one were to go east in the morning and west at night.

I don't recall the helicopters ever bothering me, and I don't recall them being a constant occurrence.

In either city, there is going to be a Latino presence, there is no getting around that.

[AllAboutEve]

If I were you, I would chose Modesto. I grew up in Fresno, but lived for 7 years in LA. Riverside is known to be "ghetto" even by LA standards. And its not as close to LA as you might think. It might seem like a short drive, but hit traffic and it could take you 2-3 hours (believe me, I know from experience).

Modesto on the other hand - has lower crime, less gang problems and is less expensive. I might move there as well but will probably stay just outside in Turlock. Those who say Modesto is a small Riverside probably don't have too much experience with either. If you are already leaning towards Modesto, I say you're leaning the right way.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by LizCab44

Riverside is known to be "ghetto" even by LA standards. And its not as close to LA as you might think. It might seem like a short drive, but hit traffic and it could take you 2-3 hours (believe me, I know from experience).

Modesto on the other hand - has lower crime, less gang problems and is less expensive. I might move there as well but will probably stay just outside in Turlock. Those who say Modesto is a small Riverside probably don't have too much experience with either. If you are already leaning towards Modesto, I say you're leaning the right way.

LA doesn't consider Riverside to be ghetto, more like "why in the heck do people live all the way out there?" seems to be the attitude. Driving to LA can take long, 2-3 hours isn't the norm, it can only take that long during the week during morning rush hour, on an exceptionally bad day.

If anybody thinks Riverside is all (or mostly) "ghetto", they really haven't spent too much time there.

Re: the bold comment, I lived in Riverside for 7 years (1996-2003), and spent 1986-1996 just outside it in Corona. I have quite enough experience with it. As for Modesto, I have passed through it (and stopped, but never lived in) quite a few times, and I'm sorry if my opinion on it "being a smaller Riverside" doesn't suit you, but that's what I have opined based on my trips through there.

[AllAboutEve]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

LA doesn't consider Riverside to be ghetto, more like "why in the heck do people live all the way out there?" seems to be the attitude. Driving to LA can take long, 2-3 hours isn't the norm, it can only take that long during the week during morning rush hour, on an exceptionally bad day.

If anybody thinks Riverside is all (or mostly) "ghetto", they really haven't spent too much time there.

Re: the bold comment, I lived in Riverside for 7 years (1996-2003), and spent 1986-1996 just outside it in Corona. I have quite enough experience with it. As for Modesto, I have passed through it (and stopped, but never lived in) quite a few times, and I'm sorry if my opinion on it "being a smaller Riverside" doesn't suit you, but that's what I have opined based on my trips through there.

David,

Your opinion suits me just fine , believe me I'm not taking it personally. I have several friends from Riverside, and I have family in Modesto. Although I've never lived in either, I've visited both, and I trust what I hear about it from the people that I know. And maybe the LA people you know didn't consider it "ghetto" but that was the general consensus among the people I talked to while in LA. There's nothing personal about it! I lived in Long Beach for almost 3 years, and many people considered it ghetto! It happens. It is LA after all.

And just for a source of reference. My friend was raised in Riverside. Her family had money so they could afford to live in a gated community, but even she conceded there was some really bad parts. She even got held up while working at a Blockbuster one time! And that was in one of the nicer parts of Riverside. So yea, I think she knew the city.

And traffic happens pretty much all the time in LA. The only time you can expect not to hit traffic is like at 3 o'clock in the morning. Its not just during rush hour - its also road work, and accidents.

~Melissa

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by LizCab44

And just for a source of reference. My friend was raised in Riverside. Her family had money so they could afford to live in a gated community, but even she conceded there was some really bad parts. She even got held up while working at a Blockbuster one time! And that was in one of the nicer parts of Riverside. So yea, I think she knew the city.

I'm really glad you mentioned what I put in bold above.

No amount of money, gates, security system, etc., will keep you entirely safe from crime, those things can only keep you safe at home.

I don't doubt your friend's experience, not one bit, but bad things (the Blockbuster incident) can happen anywhere. I suffered through a few criminal incidents when I worked at a Denny's in one of the "nicer" parts of Corona. I personally don't think Riverside is any (or that much) more ghetto than anywhere else in Southern California, or Modesto.

[SouthSideModesto]

Reignman, this is coming from somebody who has lived in Modesto most of his life, and has stayed in LA County for long periods of time. Modesto isn't considered the Worst City in America for no reason. It has been the card theft capital of the nation 5 of the last 6 years. Crime here is horrible, and most of it goes unreported. You can definitely avoid living in the ghetto by buying a house for over $200k, but remember, you still have to go shopping where everybody else does.

The southern part of Modesto is VERY BAD by any standards. Below Yosemite Ave and Maze Blvd, there are no good areas. If you decide to buy in Modesto, head as far North-East as possible. Modesto is by no means a "small town." It is a metro area of over 500,000 people. What most people don't understand is that even people in neighboring counties, like Ripon (San Joaquin) and Delhi, Livingston (Merced) come to Modesto for a lot of things, so it is more like a metro area of over 600,000.

Lately, crime has spread to North Modesto, and places that were once considered safe, like the Vintage Faire Mall and Red Lobster, are no longer safe. Just do a search on google news for Modesto gangs, Modesto shootings, Modesto robbery, etc., and you'll get a little taste of what you're in for. Don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself.

[SouthSideModesto]

*car theft* (not card theft)