Moving to Riverside from England (Los Angeles, Ontario: real estate, to rent, homes)

[RICHIE BOSS]

Hi All,

I hope you can help me?
I am looking at moving from England to Riverside and I have a little girl of 9 and a wife. I have a job over in the UK however I have been offered a job in Riverside (CA 92518). I really need to know the best places to live in Riverside and a little bit of what its like, schools, cost of homes, cost of living - just a general run-down!
As you can imagine its a big change in my life and anyone's help would be good.

My work nip code is CA 92518 however I can travel by car to work so thats not a issue.

Thank you in advance.

RICHIE BOSS

[WannaGoHome]

Hi there. I'm pretty familiar with Riverside. I know it is highly intrusive to ask, but I'm only asking to help. What type of budget are you looking for (pounds is ok. I can convert it)? 92506 has good schools (Victoria Elementary, Gage middle school, Poly High School). That area is safe, family centered and will have plenty of kids close by for your daughter. Nine is a rough age to move for a kid though, so I would say to really think about it. 92518 is also close to Woodcrest, which is more rural (if you please) Van Buren at Washington St. to Mockingbird Canyon Rd. is good for that type of thing. Really quiet, quite nice. I will warn you though that the heat in Riverside can be unbarable. So, if that's not your thing, it won't work. I'm talking 100F+ heat for weeks on end. Let me know if you have more specifics so I can recommend a little better. Cheers!

[RICHIE BOSS]

Thanks for the advice WannaGoHome, looking at renting short term and can spend about $2000 a month on rent. Have thought about it alot and still confident, looking forward to it. I have searched on the internet over the past few weeks to find somewhere nice and safe to live, but without knowing someone who is familiar its hard to know. Anything else you can le me know is good.

[harahap]

Riverside is a college town, but it doesn't feel like one because, like most of South California, it's connected with the rest of the Los Angeles sprawl.

If you're willing to commute about 30 minutes to work (and, if you're going to live in this area, you really ought to be), and want more of a family-oriented area, I would recommend Rancho Cucamonga to the north, though I'm not sure that's doable with $2000 for a family home/unit. If that's your budget, there are pockets of nice family living neigbourhoods in Ontario to the west, Redlands to the east, and even in Riverside itself. You just might need to scout ahead and look at the places you're going to rent.

[WannaGoHome]

Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario would put him on some nast freeways. The 15 even for a few miles is more than most people can possibly stand traffic-wise. Though going south is better than going north, i'll give you that. Hmmm. . . I think your best bet would be to get ahold of a real estate agent in the area that might have a better idea of what's out there. Good luck!!! Cheers!

[Tim-mac]

Originally Posted by WannaGoHome

Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario would put him on some nast freeways. The 15 even for a few miles is more than most people can possibly stand traffic-wise. Though going south is better than going north, i'll give you that. Hmmm. . . I think your best bet would be to get ahold of a real estate agent in the area that might have a better idea of what's out there. Good luck!!! Cheers!

I agree! RC is way over rated. It is nice but no nicer then many places in Riverside. The zip your work place is in, is close to newly developed area in Riverside over the last ten years. The residential areas there are clean, safe and close to many new shopping centers. There are how ever many bad places in Riverside too. But this area is not one of them. Let me know if you have more questions I will try to answer them HONESTLY. I was born at March AFB to the east a few miles and grew up in the area.

[impala666]

Hi Richie
First off don't be too worried about your daughter adapting to life over here my guess is that she will probably settle down faster than yourself or your wife.
Dont rush into buying anything until you have been here for at least six months, the housing market is dropping like a stone and I don't think it has anywhere near bottomed out yet.
When people tell you the cost of living is high in California...make your own judgments after the UK everything (even the property looks cheap) but don't tell anyone that they will think you are mad.
If you want to compare consumer product costs have a look at
www.vons.com you will be pleasantly suprised.
Use the archives and search on City Data, the info for the most part is very good and will save you hours of independent research.
All the questions you have and a few thousand more will be answered there.
I`ve been here with my two kids (12 and 16) for just over a year now and all things considered it`s great.

If you need any help just ask..

[TonyPaloma]

Access to Ontario airport is worth the location. Going in to LAX is bloody awful. I know this bird Samantha Hensington who lives near Santa Monica, and with the time it takes her to motor from her flat to LAX, you could have travelled half across the pond flying direct from Ontario.

[Jay100]

Dude, the city of Riverside and much of the IE is ghetto fabulous. If you want to be ghetto fabulous then that's the spot but I must admit there are a few nice little out of the way towns in the area. Good luck living the high life though on 2Gs. Just my opinion.

[Love2dive]

I would look into Redlands too, its a very nice bedroom community with good schools, but Riverside is a nice city to live in too; don't listed to the naysayers.