Vicki

topping....(still curious)

Barbara

vicki, as far as I know the air quality in Canyon Lake is OK. Nobody has said it isn't. It's further north, towards that the quality becomes much worse.

Maria

Hi Ben,

I grew up in Riverside and now live in Orange County. My parents still live in Riverside, in the Canyon Crest area. This is a very nice area and with your budget for a house, you'll have no problem finding a big, big house.

Riverside can be very hot in the summer, so I would stay away from any of the desert communities in the county. Personally, I wouldn't go any further east of Riverside. Plus, some of the communities I'd avoid, like Hemet, Perris, and some of the places others have mentioned.

Temecula is also pretty warm and quite a drive to Riverside.

Definitely rent someplace first before settling down. I would recommend Canyon Crest in Riverside since it's a central location and a very nice community. Good luck.

lisa

Note to posters. Ben mentioned he can't rent first because of the housing differential. We need to quit telling him to do so.

Rebecca

Another vote here for the Redlands area. My brother recently moved there and loves his choice. Good schools, a large luxurious home for the money, and a true sense of community. I attended a few musical events with him at the Redlands Bowl and was very impressed by the community pride and involvement.

EllenPorter

Riverside (the city) has some nice areas but their electric bills are not from the same as the other southern California cities, so their power bills are already higher and will be going up soon, I think. In the city north of Riverside, Jurupa Valley, there are two beautiful neighborhoods called Jurupa Hills and Indian Hills. Some other cities you might like are actually in neighboring San Bernardino County, Redlands as a few people have said above, Chino and Chino Hills and Rancho Cucamonga. Stay out of San Bernardino! If you're going to be working in all of Riverside County, you also will be visiting the Palm Springs area a lot, which is nice but a hot place to be in the summer.

dbdurand

I wonder how the OP likes where they settled back in 2002.

logandog

Probably bought a house in Riverside, borrowed heavily against the equity as prices rose through the early two thousands.
Now living under a bridge in Colton after losing everything.