Moreno Valley that bad?? (San Francisco, Santa Ana: sale, apartment complex, renters)

[JV in the IE]

Well let's just put it this way :-) If any of us IE people had any money we would be in the OC. There is a reason we all come out this way. Cheaper housing. The farther out, the cheaper it is and the lower the average household income. 'MoVal' in general, has never been or will be a desirable location. Not saying that it doesnt have nice homes. Just not a nice location in terms of jobs to sustain the 400-600k homes. I dont know too many families pulling in 100-150k a year to support that type of home.

[that1guy]

That's true.

[Future Mrs]

There's an exit of off the 60E called Central Ave, it is a few exits before the 215 freeway, which is when the City of Moreno Valley pretty much starts, the area is called Canyon Crest and it is a very nice part of the City of Riverside. Plus you get to beat all the traffic that people deal with going west at the 60/215 intersection. Anyways, if you absolutely need to live in Moreno Valley, consider apartments located east of Perris Blvd, which includes Nason St and Moreno Beach Dr, it's farther east but it's also the newer part of town. Hopefully this helps

[tay423]

I registered for an account just so I could respond to this! I grew up in Moreno Valley. My parents moved there in the mid 80's to escape the ever increasing OC real estate market. Although I had a wonderful childhood, Mo Val was a terrible place to grow up. Businesses were constantly shutting down, nice neighborhoods were run down in no time, schools were over crowded. I would never want to live there again or subject children to being raised in that terrible city. Its just a low class of people.

An annual household income of 63k per year is nothing in Southern California! Thats an average income of only 31,500 per income earner, now who can afford to buy a house with that low of an income? And there is also the fact that you have to have a good car to commute to any decent job, as there are none in Moreno Valley.

I grew up in an average area that is now below average. I was never involved in any gang type stuff, but I saw it from a very young age. The air quality is poor, there is tagging constantly, its just an ugly city all around. Anyone who actually has their house fixed up nice is most likely up to their eyeballs in debt.

Oh and don't get me started on the teen pregnancy and the acceptance of it!!! I had 5 girls in my 8th grade class end up with babies and I went to a small Jr. High! Not to mention dozens and dozens more when I went to high school! Why on earth does the school system not put the smack down on birth control education?!

The bottom line is that Moreno Valley has been bad for a long time and it will continue to get worse. Yes they are putting up nice fancy apartment complexes everywhere and there are some decent Neighborhoods such as Sunnymead Ranch where my Dad used to live, Moreno Valley Ranch and Box Springs where my Mom currently lives. If you are young and single, there is nothing to to and if you have a family it is not safe, if you are an empty nester, you will have to seek out other places for any type of recreation like my parents have to. Don't move to Moreno Valley!!!

[that1guy]

One has to remember that the real estate market increases faster than wages. This is why the average family income in nice areas are 80K plus (think Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills). 5 girls pregnant?! okay, thats weird, since in my middle school, there NO people pregnant. BTW that happens everywhere. It's not the school system it's families and friends. The average family income in California is 43k or so. That's 20k less.

I grew up in Moreno Valley and turned out fine. I go to college, my parents are upper middle class, my brother grew up in the city and went on to college and makes a good amount of money.

I'm not stating that it's not the best area in the world...but really... c'mon. As a psych major, the biggest reason that people focus on the negative is because the negative points are not as prevelant as the positive. Since they stand out, people tend to over-estimate the times that the negative things occur.

Like anywhere in the world, it's what you make of it. Again, it's an average suburb. It's nothing special and it's boring. Dangerous? Not more so than most places. Full of low class people that have no clue? Not more so than any other city. It's not that bad.

[nwraider]

Originally Posted by that1guy

One has to remember that the real estate market increases faster than wages. This is why the average family income in nice areas are 80K plus (think Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills). 5 girls pregnant?! okay, thats weird, since in my middle school, there NO people pregnant. BTW that happens everywhere. It's not the school system it's families and friends. The average family income in California is 43k or so. That's 20k less.

I grew up in Moreno Valley and turned out fine. I go to college, my parents are upper middle class, my brother grew up in the city and went on to college and makes a good amount of money.

I'm not stating that it's not the best area in the world...but really... c'mon. As a psych major, the biggest reason that people focus on the negative is because the negative points are not as prevelant as the positive. Since they stand out, people tend to over-estimate the times that the negative things occur.

Like anywhere in the world, it's what you make of it. Again, it's an average suburb. It's nothing special and it's boring. Dangerous? Not more so than most places. Full of low class people that have no clue? Not more so than any other city. It's not that bad.

Great post.. I grew up in MoVal too (MoVal High, class of '87), lived there about 25 years or so before I moved to Riverside and then ultimately the Pacific Northwest. Drove through town last summer on a visit to see one of my buddies in the south end of town (towards Lake Perris) and yes, it is run down in alot of areas, but there are some pretty nice areas left to live in... It wasn't a "horrible" place to grow up, although it wasn't the greatest place either, but my family and friends all made the best of it before it became too much and everyone bailed anyway to Riverside, OC, San Diego, etc. I'd never live there again myself (after a quarter century, I'd had enough of living there), but for some strange reason I'm actually contemplating moving away from the beautiful Pac NW and getting back to the Riverside area... I spent the last five years of my time in SoCal looking at all the negatives and waiting to get out of there and come up here, but like you said, it is what you make of it.. After 3 1/2 years away, there are certain things I actually do miss- family/friends of course (the biggest thing), palm trees, going to an actual real beach once in awhile, watching all my sports teams (Lakers, Raiders, Dodgers) without spending exorbitant fees in satellite TV charges... Just trying to guage if those outweigh the things I despised when I left- traffic, smog, crowdedness, severe heat in the summer, housing prices... Of course housing has dropped significantly in the last few years, and that may in itself lead me to come back... Just gotta talk the wife into it first, or determine if it's just a phase I'm going through or not...

[DreamworksSKG]

Alternatives I might suggest would be Riverside, Corona, Hemet, Winchester, Sun City, perris, beaumont, banning.
Redlands, Desert Hot Springs, Valle Vista,Cherry VAlley Lakewview, Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley.

-jeff

[melbon7462]

I would deff consider corona, or rancho cucamonga! Moreno valley is not the only option for cheaper housing! Look around, its not going to be as cheap as Mo Val, but deff not as pricy as OC, kinda in the middle!

[RoboCop]

you moval council members stay off this board ya hear

[Moreno Ranch]

Originally Posted by 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.

I might have the answer about the $64,000 question. I live over at Moreno Valley Ranch, I know of a few neighbors including myself where we earn almost $100,000. However, some builders were offering the no money down zero move-in deal to people who definitely earned less than $50K. I am originally from Riverside and have also live Moval , most my adult life, so living here means local for me. All these outsiders are enticed by things like zero down and free breakfast and lunch for their kids at the Val Verde school District, guess what Portero Elementary a newer school is going to be shut down due to the budget shortfall! Anyway now they are bailing out by walking away and foreclosing, guess what they are moving to apartments in Moval. I got a solution, get rid of the free breakfast and lunch in school and we can get better people moving here.