Moreno Valley that bad?? (San Diego, Anaheim: real estate market, apartment complex, house)

[melbon7462]

I lived there and went to high school out there....lets just say i went down a very bad path...this city has alot of drugs...not the best area for raising children...I now have a son and would never rais him there. I ran the streets so I know alot more then what the average person would know...I knew a drug dealer almost on every block..even in the nicer areas...I would reccomend corona. It may seem nice on the outside, but not the greatest area in my opinion.

[nwraider]

Grew up there, spent 25 years in freakin MoVal. My grandparents knew each other as teenagers there in the 40's.. Bailed to Riverside in '96, moved out of the IE altogether for Seattle in '04.

I personally would never live there again, but there are some decent areas left. Visited a friend of mine down in the SE part of town (near Lake Perris) this past August and it seemed like a nice area, and he's lived in different parts of town for the better part of 25 years and has no problem living in the particular neighborhood he's in. I know some parts in the north end of town are still decent (toward Reche Canyon), you just gotta search them out, ask around, go on I.E. forums, or whatever..

[RoboCop]

Once you move here, you will not be able to leave. Do not move here. Let me tell you a little about "MoVal". It's a a great place for low class people, there are some very honest nice people here mixed in with alot of crap. If you have a family with kids, then stay away, far away. The school district here, and there are two actually, is sub-par. I can not stress enough, if you have kids, and care about them in the slightest...do not put them into this environment. This used to be a Airforce/Military town, and for good reason, it's a valley, hot, good for an air base. It was never intended for people to live with families. You will increase your chance of lung disease with all the particulates that get trapped within the valley, you will turn 10 shades darker if you are fair skinned, and you will have cheap poser gangs tagging up your neighborhood. And another thing, if you have kids....don't move here.

Nothing against truck drivers, but the mayor that runs this city( even though it's council elected mayor, and the mayor has no other additional powers from other council members) is a former truck driver. Seems to fit the general mentality of this city really, some council members like bringing in fast food cups to council meetings and sit them so the whole city can watch it on the MV-3 Government Access channel.

This city sucks, the inland empire sucks.

[country pride]

Moreno Valley and Riverside have gone so far downhill over the years, and Ive lost all interest in ever living in that big bowl of brown yukkie air. From the high desert, you can look towards the direction of the cities 'down the hill' and its amazing how some people can live in that stuff, yikes!
Its not only about the air quality but if you look at the crime rates, theyve also skyrocketed in comparison to some areas.

[that1guy]

Is it that bad? No. Just like any other suburb in the general Southern California region. It's crime rate is slightly below the national average. It's average income is slighlty above the average income for state. The school system is ranked average. If "bad" is an average city in terms of crime, income, schools...then it is bad. But in all honesty it is an average city on almost all scales. Crime in general is on the rise. Just like the economy, crime is cyclical. As the economy falters along with consumer confidence, crime generally increases...that's why nationally there is an increase in crime. The main issue with the city is traffic. There needs to be better roads getting in and out of the city. Other than that...I would say that it is an average place to live.

Again, please look at the figures and go by stories heard from your great aunt Sally, or "I saw...." these stories depict one incidence out of several million over the course of a day. For example a person is more likely to remember a murder (rare occurrence) than a quiet neighborhood day (common occurrence). Memory tends to pick up the rare and report it as more frequent than what actually happens.

If moving here, and want to live in an above average area, stick to Sunnymead Ranch and adjecent (where I grew up Northridge Elementary School) and Moreno Valley Ranch and adjecent.

[ltdesh33]

For years I have heard so many negative things about Moreno Valley. The city has gone down and it's not safe to drive thru. I have seen a dramatic change in the city since I have lived here (1992).

I have lived in the rough areas of San Francisco, Washington DC area and grew up in Santa Ana one of the hardest crime areas of Orange County and I have family that live in LA. Moreno Valley is nothing compared to those areas.

Personally the only reason why I would move to Moreno Valley is because I wanted more home for less. At the time This was the place for good deals.

Our family didn't leave those areas because of crime we left because of job changes and the desire to get a larger home for less. We fought back when we lived in those places

If we work together in numbers and tell city council what we as a community want, things would change. It may sound corny and I'm not talking about a few people I'm talking a whole community. City council would listen if we showed a great interest in our city and community.

The city will do what they want want if we don't take a stand. For them it's all about making the city grow by bringing in more revenue. Building homes and shoppings centers with no considerations for more schools and rec centers for school age children doesn't help either.

Many other areas keep their community in tact and keep the bad folks out by taking a stand. Cities like La Verne and Temecula are not safer cites for we think. People spoke up and fought for their community. Many communities have gotten together with the city and set different rules that has helped with crime.

Moreno Valley was and I believe still is known as a bedroom city. Many of us work in Orange County, LA or San Diego areas and commute and really only spend quality time at home during the weekends.

A lot of us have school age children that we leave as latch key kids to provide for themselves before and after school during our work hours. Basically no supervision before or after school. This is where the problem is. If we had more rec centers that children could go to before and after school especially for kids who's parents have to leave for work at 4 or 5 am and don't return home until 6 or 7pm that would be helpful.

One thing I do know is that a lot of the intercity programs we didn't have here to take advantage of. I looked for several programs for my son when he was of school age. I found nothing. I took advantage of some programs locally but had to drive to other locations because Moreno Valley did not provide those programs.

Now it seems that the city is providing more which is good. It will keep some kids from making bad choices. It wouldn't help everyone but if we can help a few it would help community.

I remember growing up in orange county and many of the parents looked out for each others kids. It wasn't unusual for the neighbors to make sure that my parents knew if I did something wrong. People don't do that now. They gossip and fight. No neighbors working together.

We also have landlords of apartments complexes and single family home rentals that don't stand their ground when it comes to making sure that their tenants are are respectful It's all about money. We all are to busy just working and taking our life and we tend to forget what brought us here to this area in the first place.

A lot of us came here because the cost of housing was less and we were tired of the high crime in the city. But many of us brought our own issues and problems with us from the city and infected this city with it.

My current neighborhood at least in our tract area look out for each other. We know each other and respect each other.

I live north of the 60 freeway and I do admit we have an association that has set rules that were in place long before I moved in.

I do have relatives that do not live in my area. They live south of the 60 and they don't have set rules but you know it doesn't matter. When they see a problem they fight back. They report it. If they see something suspicious they contact the police. Their not afraid to speak up for a community that they spend their money in.

Fleeing and moving to another community isn't going change anything. All that happens is, crime increases because we bring our issues with us. No supervision for children and no pride in fighting back for our community.

So trying to warn people to stay away and try another city isn't answer.

Every city has it good and bad areas. It's all about what we do help.

[BreaOC]

I'm only 25 and I remember when Moreno Valley didn't even exist. We lived in Rivertucky and my grandparents live in Palm Springs and one day there were houses going up everywhere and then there was a mall and the growth really never stopped. It has an estimated 183,571 people now, making it easily one of the biggest cities in the Inland Empire metro. It has the room to grow into the largest. It will never stop growing and neither will the problems that come with that, crime, pollution, traffic, etc. However I am always surprised with the retail in the city. There definitely isn't a lack of places to shop in Mo Val. It's nowhere near upper-class, but neither are the people that shop there. It's nice to see that there's at least convenience, since it used to be the further you were from LA the further you were from all your basic needs. I agree that south IE is probably the best place to buy right now, but it's all turning into the same thing. Try to get in there while the prices are less than OC's!!! Best of luck!

[that1guy]

It's all the same. The 215 corridor from Moreno Valley southwards is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. It's kind of ridiculous to think that the city is one giant ghetto. It's a huge city that is average in crime on national standards. Check out Morgan Quito. Look at the US census. I mean how can a city with an average family income of $64,000 be a complete ghetto? It puts the city roughly between the nicest suburban communities ($70k and up) and the average cities in California (50k-40k).

[JV in the IE]

'I mean how can a city with an average family income of $64,000 be a complete ghetto?'

Easily when more than 50% of this nations homes make a 'combined' household income of 60k and below. There is nothing special about 'MoVal'. Traditionally its where the the poor people went to own a home. That has not changed. Especially now that prices are crashing down there. back to the ghetto of the 80s.

[that1guy]

JV, you're thingking of median income where 50% is higher or lower. Average is taking into consideration all of the income and dividing. Median takes the very middle.

BTW the median income is $58,000. Since the range is small (between median and average), then therefore the percentage of people having less than $50,000 is lower.
If two numbers were different then there would be a lot of rich people and a lot of poor people in Moreno Valley, but there is not.

Umm... again JV, it's an average town. Average meaning there is nothing special. It's mostly middle class.