What do you think of Riverside?

[SidneyCarton]

I post this in response to a post I read a while back in which the poster (responding to some idiotic scandal at one of our Christian Schools) implied that Riverside is the butt of jokes among Angelenos, is this true?

I'm not a native Riversider, I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, but I live, work and go to school here, and the town isn't really all that bad. While Riverside County has a reputation for conservatism, it went blue in 2008, and much of that notoriety may be laid at the feet of Temecula and Murrieta (There is a giant statue of Ronald Reagan in cowboy garb in a park in Temecula :scared:)

So let me know what you think, and I'll see if I can clarify any of the mess.

[Mr. McD]

1. I have not heard anything negative about Riverside

I work in Riverside and live in East San Gabriel Valley. I am not all that familiar with the city as I really don't spend much time here outside of work. The people I do know from around here tend to lean liberal. I have not met any hard core conservative's though I am sure they are around.

[SidneyCarton]

2. Where about in the East SGV?

I grew up in Glendora and Covina. I miss it over there.

[Mr. McD]

3. Hacienda Heights

[Throd]

4. Bashing Riverside is something of a sport in parts of LA

[SidneyCarton]

5. How so?

And on what account?

After all, in comparison to some of our less-savory neighbors (San Bernardino, Colton, Highland, Perris, Lake Elsinore anyone?) We're really not all that interesting.

[Throd]

6. Subtle and not-so-subtle ways

Often in conversation there is the implication of "why would anybody in their right mind want to live in such a horrible place"? They are obviously all meth-head tweakers who filch any thing metallic to sell for scrap. They drink Keystone Ice and smoke GPC 100's paid for by welfare checks. We all know the stereotypes so I need not go on.

The snobby Angelenos don't make a distinction between Riverside and Colton. It is all the same to them. It is basically "They live someplace I don't care for so they must be stupid".

[Kajsa]

7. I've never heard anything negative about Riverside either.

I grew up in Santa Monica, lived there and West LA.

Honestly, I never heard anything negative outside of
the fact that it's much warmer in the summer, and ( at that time) smoggier
in the IE, than further west.

Hey,snobs exist everywhere.
They really are very out of touch with the real world.

Don't pay attention to them.

It sounds like they conveniently forget all about UC Riverside and the historical
areas downtown.

[bemildred]

8. A fine town, if you like the desert.

With a lot of history. And I do like the desert. But not a bastion of progressive politics.

[SidneyCarton]

9. Riverside County went blue in 2008.

And the conservative bastions of the county are considerably more conservative than Riverside itself.

But point taken.

[bemildred]

10. Anybody can learn.

Conservatives are not necessarily bad people, the lack of good jobs can affect anybodies attitude. But you are correct about Riverside, it's not a conservative hot-spot either. College town for one thing.

[ColbertWatcher]

11. The only negative thing I've heard about the "Inland Empire" ...

... which I'm guessing includes both Riverside and San Bernadino counties is that they're breeding grounds for white supremacists and cultists.

They worst rumors I've heard make them sound like a mix of Utah and the Deep South.

[SidneyCarton]

12. Interesting.

Actually, I lived for a while in Crestline, a town founded originally by Mormons, and settled by White Bikers.

I would imagine in the case of White supremacists, this was truer in times past. In the case of San Berdoo, the 215 freeway was put through town intentionally to isolate the black parts of town, the area has never truly recovered economically. Riverside saw a nasty police shooting of a black girl in her car about a decade ago. (Riverside PD used to get a lot of LAPD's rejects) but there has been considerable retraining and community work in that regard since. I would assume that a lot of the implied, and real racism attributed to the region comes of the fact that these were the communities that received the "white flight" from Urban LA. That said, the region is far more diverse today, and we're hardly the deep south.

As to cultists, I can tell you (with authority as I am one) that Mormons are no more numerous here in the IE than they are anywhere else in Southern California. You will never see the strip clubs common throughout San Bernardino county, in Utah.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. LOL @ strip clubs!

But, as far as how current these rumors are, I haven't heard them for at least 2 years.

Regarding the cultists: because both counties are so large, there's lots and lots of places for people to start their own "religion" using their family members to test stuff on.

I guess a similar thing happens with the whities.

It has more to do with how spread out the population is than anything else.

[litlady]

14. Grew up in LA, and almost never heard about Riverside County...

Eventually heard more (in college) about Riverside and San Bernardino counties as "redneck" and "racist." I have seen some rural areas of both counties and would concur with that assessment in certain cases (some areas did remind me of when I lived in the South). However, as I work in Riverside city, I can say that it is diverse and similar to any city (nice downtown area, research university, built up, crime, etc.) I have actually met quite a few progressives here and attended events etc with some major progressive voices that live here. The county is very split (half Dem, half Rep). It is indeed hot here but more livable in Riverside city than in other more desert cities. I find living here much easier than living in Orange County, where I found the conservatism and arrogance very stifling.

[CreekDog]

15. It's not much to look at, and has some of the nation's worst air pollution

other than that...oh. :(

[eridani]

16. What I saw of it from 1973-1979 was mainly from the university campus

Smog was not good, but good days when the Santa Ana condition kept it at bay were nice. Avocado Street really did have avocados, and our department always cured a big batch of olives from various trees on campus. Just about everything I needed was within walking or biking distance.

[Tommy_J]

17. Comments about the air pollution are true

It seems to collect there.