New job in Moreno Valley, moving from Phoenix, where to live??? (Riverside: rentals, HOA)

[DesertRattt]

So I just took a job in Moreno Valley, I will be moving from Phoenix in about a month or so...

My question is, what are the best areas to live in around here???

I'm not so much concerned about commute times as long as they aren't more than about an hour, so that gives me some flexibility on location.
I'm in my late 20's, single, cool with roommates, and as long as I'm not spending 2 grand a month on rent I'll be happy. I would really like to be able to have some garage space though as I wrench on my truck and bike a lot. That's my biggest concern really.

I've read a lot on here about the different areas in the IE, and it seems real hit or miss on "good" spots. I'm not overly concerned about being in a "safe area" but I don't want to be where I'm dealing with people breaking into my garage or car to steal stuff.

Any suggestions or simply info on the area from locals would be greatly appreciated!

[vincentwu817]

Live as close as you can to work is a good rule to abide by in Socal. You can look for rentals in the eastern Riverside area called Canyon Crest. Good views, safe, and fairly accessible to shopping. There are not many spots for young people within good commutable distances to Moval so it really depends on what you want to be close to.

Which part of Moval specifically is your work at? What kinds of things do you want to be close to?

[jtsigma]

Originally Posted by vincentwu817

Live as close as you can to work is a good rule to abide by in Socal.

This is terrible advice. Usually you do want to live near where you work but not when it is Moreno Valley. Moreno Valley is a hellhole of a city. If I were you I'd look into Rancho Cucamonga it's about 30 minutes away and is not a hellhole.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by vincentwu817

Live as close as you can to work is a good rule to abide by in Socal.

Just like cell phones in cars or speed limits, just another rule most people ignore.

[Dub D]

Originally Posted by jtsigma

This is terrible advice. Usually you do want to live near where you work but not when it is Moreno Valley. Moreno Valley is a hellhole of a city. If I were you I'd look into Rancho Cucamonga it's about 30 minutes away and is not a hellhole.

Rancho Cucamonga is definitely not 30 minutes away during rush hour. I occasionally need to drive from Redlands to Corona and the 215/60 junction is a mess. It doesn't get much better until it breaks away to the 60/215 several miles later.

The Canyon Crest area of Riverside is a good option. Riverside IMO is a very hit or miss city. Its too spread out for my liking.

[vincentwu817]

Originally Posted by jtsigma

This is terrible advice. Usually you do want to live near where you work but not when it is Moreno Valley. Moreno Valley is a hellhole of a city. If I were you I'd look into Rancho Cucamonga it's about 30 minutes away and is not a hellhole.

Live as close as you can, within reason of course. Moreno Valley is not a hellhole in its entirety. Sunnymead Ranch and the homes north of the 60 on the west-end of the city are not bad options.

On average, it will take longer than 30 minutes to get from Rancho to Moval and vice versa. The commute time could be more, depending on which part of Rancho you choose to live in and which part of Moval you are commuting to.

Rancho doesn't really have all that much more to offer to justify an extra hour or more of driving a day.

[MountainBiking]

Rancho Cucamonga is very stale. Everything looks the same including buildings and homes. Too corporate and too big box. I dunno.

As mentioned above Canyon Crest is nice but I'm not sure if it's affordable??

[DesertRattt]

First off, thanks for all the input everyone. It's really helpful and much appreciated!

That north west area by Canyon Crest looks pretty solid from what I've seen available on craigslist. Some decent places so far. I've read that the Redlands/Highland/San Bernardino areas can be real hit or miss.

I just found out today that work is by the March Air base. Again, ok with commuting, but only if the area I'm coming from has some considerable pluses compared to the work area. Basically anything within Moreno Valley would be considered close I guess, looks like maybe 30 minute drive or so.

Obviously this is far from downtown LA, I don't expect anything like that, but I'd expect there are a couple decent local bars in the area to go to every now and then. Other than that I will mostly be working in the garage or catching what I can outdoors close by. I like to mountain bike, hike, fish, camp, ya know get outside and all that good stuff. I've read some good things about Box Springs park. Being close to big bear is a huge plus, really looking forward to a good snowboarding season! I'm big into motorcycles, so I'll be doing a lot of riding as well. That will be a whole adventure in itself, finding a group of people to go ride with. I know there are a ton of awesome spots to ride out that way in general.

Again, big thing here is I don't want to be anywhere that's really "run down" or have to drive an hour or more each way to work. Sounds like that north west corner of Moreno Valley before Riverside is a good place to start searching!

[vincentwu817]

Originally Posted by DesertRattt

First off, thanks for all the input everyone. It's really helpful and much appreciated!

That north west area by Canyon Crest looks pretty solid from what I've seen available on craigslist. Some decent places so far. I've read that the Redlands/Highland/San Bernardino areas can be real hit or miss.

I just found out today that work is by the March Air base. Again, ok with commuting, but only if the area I'm coming from has some considerable pluses compared to the work area. Basically anything within Moreno Valley would be considered close I guess, looks like maybe 30 minute drive or so.

Obviously this is far from downtown LA, I don't expect anything like that, but I'd expect there are a couple decent local bars in the area to go to every now and then. Other than that I will mostly be working in the garage or catching what I can outdoors close by. I like to mountain bike, hike, fish, camp, ya know get outside and all that good stuff. I've read some good things about Box Springs park. Being close to big bear is a huge plus, really looking forward to a good snowboarding season! I'm big into motorcycles, so I'll be doing a lot of riding as well. That will be a whole adventure in itself, finding a group of people to go ride with. I know there are a ton of awesome spots to ride out that way in general.

Again, big thing here is I don't want to be anywhere that's really "run down" or have to drive an hour or more each way to work. Sounds like that north west corner of Moreno Valley before Riverside is a good place to start searching!

Now that you confirmed your work location, I believe Canyon Crest will be the best choice. Canyon Crest will put you less than 10 minutes commute to work and all the shopping you need. You can probably even just bike down Sycamore Canyon Rd. to get to work. Night life will be limited as is true for most of the Inland Empire, but there's always retaurant/bars you can hit up close by.

The area will also put you right next to Sycamore Canyon, which is the major mtb spot here. You can bike from your front door to the trails. Jenson USA is also right next door to you for all biking needs. Box Springs has good hiking, as well as biking - tough climb to get up, but a fun downhill. If you like outdoors, you will enjoy the area any time outside of the summer heat.

[des91]

Sunnymead Ranch area of MoVal is fine, but also look into the southeast portion of the city called Moreno Valley Ranch or Rancho Belago. It's in a HOA like Sunnymead Ranch but is newer overall, and is closer to March Air Base than Sunnymead is.

Of course, Canyon Crest would be the best option, so look in to that.