Not a family-friendly city
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10/25/2008
Riverside has several great universities, but I wouldn't call it your usual university town as the cultural side of this fairly large city is poor. And it is definately a city in which you need a car. Though Riverside is by far the largest city in what is affectionately termed The Inland Empire, many of the major stores are anchoring themselves outside of Riverside as there is the mentality that residents will drive to shop. This is problematic as the traffic is always bad and with gas prices high, fewer people are chosing to make these drives. Then there is the problem with the schools. In the middle school, for example, there are 250 kids on the playing field with only 5 adults to supervise them. Schools are horribly under-funded and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight to change this long-running problem. The schools are over crowded (over 32 kids is many 4th grade classrooms with only one teacher and no aide) and there are nearly 3,000 kids attending MLK high school with only 1 school counselor. Then there is the issue of few jobs that pay a living wage. There are very few professional jobs in the City of Riverside and its outskirts and when you read that there is high job growth in the area, notice that they are really talking about service / retail jobs. Most professionals have to commute over an hour to a major city to find a job that pays what a professional should be paid for their educaton and experience. I cannot recommend this city to anyone outside of California, though inside California it is quite a steal for home prices - particularly because of the number of foreclosures on every block.
Lily | Riverside, CA