Which of these California cities is the best place to live?

Question

San Diego, West Covina, Escondido, Riverside or Pomona? I am being offered a job and have a choice of these cities. Any advice?

Answer 1

As others say, depends what you are looking for. I've lived my whole life in So Cal (50+ years) and can only tell you what I'd prefer, but I'm not you, of course.

First off, Riverside and Pomona are quite a ways inland, have a lot of problems with extreme heat in summer and bad smog, and no offense to those cities' residents, but they are kind of ugly cities as well. Riverside has some considerable crime problems as well. They'd be the worst choices in my book. They used to have an advantage of having less expensive housing but in recent years they've gone up in price, so there's no advantage now. Also, they are sufficiently urban in density to feel crowded, without the corresponding exciting nightlife that provides an advantage to city living. And they're not real close to any natural areas worth visiting. Not to mention a long way from the beach.

West Covina is nearer to Los Angeles, and a better choice than Riverside or Pomona. Still hot in summer and smogy, but this is a much better choice because there are some nice areas to live in that are about 20 miles or less away from work. Almost everyone drives at least 20 miles to go to work in southern California, so this is no big deal (I live 26 miles from my work, for instance).

Good areas to live in would be in the Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, and Monrovia communities (Monrovia would be closest to West Covina). They are in the foothills area of the San Gabriel Mts. If you like hiking and recreation in the mountains, these communities are in easy access. Pasadena has a very lively restaurant/shopping district that is very fun for nightlife. I use to live in Altadena and loved it...use to hike up Mt. San Gabriel on Fourth of July to watch fireworks from the Rosebowl and the whole Los Angeles basin....what a blast! Just make sure you live in a residence that has air conditioning, and you'll be in great shape when the dog days of summer come. Also, this area is maybe an hour's drive from the beaches, so not quite the treck it'd be from Riverside/Pomona. You'd be using the 210 freeway to the 605 to get to work in West Covina.

(By the way, I never watched the TV show Beverly Hills 92010 or whatever the zip code was, but the house they used for the main characters is actually in Altadena, not Beverly Hills!)

I don't think Escondido is as bad as others have suggested. This would be my number 2 choice of the 5 you've listed. There are a lot of nice areas in the Escondido region, and not just in the San Pasqual Valley area. There are poor areas with immigrants, but that doesn't mean the whole area is bad. There's the California Center for the Arts which is a nice arts and entertainment complex. Also, if you are on the west side of town you'll be near Hwy 78 which you can take to the north county beach area....or you can live in the beach area of Oceanside/Carlsbad and take the 78 to work in Escondido. Beachfront condos in Oceanside are not as expensive as other areas in San Diego so this might be a good option. Also, areas of Carlsbad and Encinitas, which are on the coast just south of Oceaside, have nice beaches, restaurants and nightlife.

Regarding your San Diego job offer, the city is pretty big geographically, so I'm not sure where you'd be working, therefore not sure where you'd be living. San Diego is a wonderful community that has pretty much everything, unfortunately 2 downsides: expensive housing and crowded freeways. If you can swing the housing costs and resign yourself to the commuting time, this might be your first choice. Escondido and San Diego both have access to similar climates and similar housing options. You might want to check out some real estate sites to see what the housing costs are; our local newspaper is the San Diego Union Tribune (website http://www.signonsandiego.com/) which will have not only housing information via the classifieds but also can tell you about the region.

Answer 2

Depends on what you're interested in.

Escondido and San Diego are both close to the beach, but the cost of living is high.

West Covina isn't bad, but again, cost of living is high.

Riverside and Pomona both are up-and-coming cities, Riverside probably being the "safer," of the two. Riverside is close to the 91 and 60 so you're pretty central to the mountains, beach, and desert.

I would take into account how the job pays, and whether or not you plan to rent or buy. You haven't mentioned if you're single or married, have a family or not.

I'd check some of the local realtor listings, the city websites (usually you can type in "City of San Diego homepage" or something similar in a web browser) and get either the city's official page, or the chamber of commerce page.

You also don't say where you're from, but if you're in California and have the time, I'd spend a weekend looking at the cities. San Diego and Escondido are fairly close together, and Riverside and Pomona are close together as well.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Again it depends on what you are looking for. I am a San Diego Native and after living there 20 years I still love the city. Everything you could imagine wanting is there. From the beach to the opera, San Diego has it all.

Escondido is considered part of San Diego County and about a 30 minute drive north of downtown. You will find that in Escondido there is the very nice and the very ugly. On the side that overlooks the San Pasqual Valley there are alot of very nice large homes but on the other side is what my friends commonly refer to as Esconghetto.

Riverside is what I like to call the armpit of America. The summers in Riverside are absolutely miserable. I personally think Riverside is a wretched place and I don't know why anyone would live there on purpose.

I don't know much about Pomona but its location is decent. It is about an hour outside of LA which means traffic can be horrendous (I was caught in it twice last week). Its not altogether tragic but I would avoid it

Answer 4

in my opinion, Riverside and Escondido are armpits. Escondido is half ghetto and frequently has triple digit heat. It's a miserable commute on the 15 or the 78 unless you're working there.

The city of San Diego is very large. It's more than just downtown and it's divided into neighborhoods. There are some great places to live in San Diego that won't break the bank. It really depends on what you're looking for and also consider where in San Diego you're working.

Answer 5

Well, Riverside and Escondido are rather hot in the summer time, so if you like heat or can afford high utility bills to pay for AC, then you're good there.

The cost of living is high in all the places you mentioned, but San Diego's probably the most expensive...Covina and Pomona probably have higher gas prices though, and since you'd be sitting in traffic for a good portion of your commute, this may not be the best choice.

Given your selections, I would have to say San Diego.

Answer 6

Oh my God, these cities are so different. The absolute worst is Riverside! People in other parts of California make fun of Riverside because it is so terrible. I would choose San Diego because it is wonderful and close to the beach. San Diego county has lots of wonderful cities to live in, so I would suggest choosing a move there, and then seeing which of the surrounding cities fits you best. Pomona and West Covina are inland, that's all I know. I would pick West Covina over Pomona, but your best bet is San Diego, it's great!

My choices would be in this order:
1. San Diego
2. West Covina / Escondido
4. Pomona
5. Don't even move to CA if you have to live in Riverside

Hope this helped! Good luck to you! :o)

Answer 7

San Diego would be my number 1 choice. It's the best city in Southern California. The other choices really pale in comparison.

Answer 8

Having graduated from high school in Escondido and having lived there recently and moved to El Cajon, I can tell you that Escondido is not a good place to live unless the job is high paying and you can afford a nice home. It has a ghetto feel to it and is primarily Hispanic (absolutely no correlation intended there - the ghetto feel is because the city has a lot of crime from people of all races). Additionally, to commute to San Diego, if you want to, you have to travel on Interstate 15, which can be a very long commute during heavy traffic, which is often the case. Without traffic, the commute is about 35 minutes.

I've never been to Pomona so can't give an opinion, but I have been to Riverside. Riverside is a good place to live and to work and is not a bad place to live, but it can be in places. It is down the mountain sort of from Idyllwild Mountain, which is beautiful and has many places to rent cabins.

I'm also not familiar with West Covina so can't offer an opinion there. As for San Diego, I've lived in various parts of San Diego and I will say that depending upon the area of San Diego you want to live, I highly recommend it. San Diego is a beautiful city with a lot to do. Living in downtown San Diego is quite expensive. If you are offered a job in San Diego, I would consider taking it and then living in one of the suburbs east of San Diego (East County) such as El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Jamul or Rancho San Diego (part of El Cajon). Each of these cities are within about 15-20 minutes of San Diego on the freeway and have ready freeway access. They are also far more reasonable to live and decent in terms of crime rates and schooling.

Congratulations on having so many job offers. You are quite blessed!! My advice, based on the cities I AM familiar with, is to move to San Diego.

Answer 9

Out of those options i'd prob have to say Riverside . Its really blowing up out there . SAnd deigo is also a good chose but everything is much higher and the cost of living is crazy . Now i guess it depends on how much the pay is . West Covina is also nice .

Answer 10

Starting off I'd go with Escondido because you're pretty central to LA and SD and can see how you like either of them, but there are some rough areas and gets super hot in the summer.