Tell me about the Inland Empire, Californians

Hot, shitty, full of meth and strip malls. Traffic. Cheapish housing. Traffic. Low brow. Backwoods mentality. Depressing.

Joan Didion captured it pretty well in one of her earliest essays.

In the Inland Empire everything breathes peace and freedom, and it makes one forget about the world's problems.

The Inland Empire is where you find the Spanish adjacent Californians.

Desert, Vineyards, Mountains, and old gays.

People live there because it is more affordable than LA, not complicated

I have family in Apple Valley and Victorville. Deplorable country, both in politics and life. Beer and guns rule the day. I asked an 11 year old relative (whose father is the loudest Trumper I know) the capitals of the state and the US. She gave me a blank stare. The idea of spending more than a few days there gives me hives.

The Mississippi of California

R7 Does a river run through it?

Meth trumpland

The best thing about it is the desert, which is eerie snd beautiful. Joshua Tree is out that way. Environmental catastrophe Salton Sea is as well. Strange area.

Does Palm Springs count as part of the Inland Empire?

R11, no it does not. Palm Springs is on the far western edge of the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix the far east edge. The San Gogonio pass between the two large mountains is the end of the desert, and then the IE begins. The Mohave Desert is the higher altitude desert that starts on the other side of the mountain ranges just north of PS and continues to LV.

[R1] pretty much said it all. It's a fine place to be from, but not to be...

White Trash for days. It's where poor whites like to live and like someone said above, mostly Trumpeter country even the gays.

Drugs, homeless on park benches, highways, strip malls with closed businesses, tattoo parlors, drive thrus, 80’s style homes, cracked pavem,ents, dust, broken glass. Scene.

It's that rather crappy area that you have to drive through to get from LA to Palm Springs and back. That sums it up. Rancho Cucamonga is considered the "Beverly Hills of the Inland Empire". It still is dreck IMO, but nicer than the areas around it. Also, for some reason it is next to impossible to find gas stations there (to refuel when commuting between cities).

Are places like Amboy, Zzyzx, and Slab City considered part of Inland Empire? Those place fascinate me in a creepy sort of way.

Amboy, Zzyzx, and Slab City are not even small towns, they are abandoned places no one goes to except maybe some curious travelers, squatters and druggies to drop acid. Most people in Ca have never seen them except for obscure road sign.

Methapotamia

Icytown

Funky Teeth

DevinNunesDick Suckersville

The folks upthread are capturing it just fine. I can add that years ago on LA radio, a DJ branded it “Valley of the Dirt People.” It is quite apt unfortunately, but things are slowly changing as many “regular people” seek more affordable housing there. It does NOT include Palm Springs.

R20 I'd have to be BEYOND desperate to move there. Not only is it hillbilly central, there's nothing to do.

There's a reason Fontana is called "Fontucky."

Although, I hear some prefer to call it "Felony Flats" or "Fontalajara."

It’s where hopes and dreams go to die

and It's where meth is born.

Beautiful downtown Slab City, Ca.. They have a beer garden!

Amboy is also very scenic. Amboy Crater, an extinct volcanic cinder cone, is nearby.

Zzyzx is by far the most luxurious of the 3. Zzyzx (formerly Soda Springs, Ca.) used to be mineral springs spa where people would go to take the cure. Cure for what I can't say. Now most of it is the California State Univ. Desert Studies Center.

It’s the home of Treasure Island !!

Yeah, "dreary bland shitholes" pretty much covers it. Well done.

It's not so bad. There's a lot of nice quite neighborhoods and close to everything.

The Mission Inn in Riverside is nice to visit.

All of California is a giant toilet.

Wow - this is the most consistently hated a place has ever been on DL I think. Which is interesting. Because compared to a lot of America, it’s pretty idyllic. Sun, access to CA nature, access to big city, blue state, cheaper housing than most of CA. It’s far, far from being Mississippi - all the benefits of living in the most progressive state in the US. From health care to legal pot. I would like to live there just to be able to live in CA. You all are spoiled.

It's Youngstown, Ohio with nicer weather.

Making fun of that region is a favorite past time of people who live in LA r33.

David Lynch's surrealist epic portrays the IE as a nightmare that drives Lauran Dern insane.

Which is connected to the sewer leading straight to Texas, R32. We flush and rid ourselves of the waste.

The 909. Very downtrodden. It’s a hybrid of white meth country, Mexican ghetto. Someone needs to step in and write a Grapes of Wrath-esque novel about a Mexican family in Pomona circa 2010.

Palm springs is in the Inland Empire. Google it. People don't want to admit that PS is part of the IE so think of PS as an island in a backwoods redneck swamp of white trash

I disagree with some of you. If you dont think Palm Springs isnt IE, you havent been to Morongo. It’s still Riverside County and at the very least 909-adjacent. Palm Desert and Cathedral City are great examples of how Palm Springs is still the IE

Sorry, R39. Didnt see your post and you said it better than I did.

I have to get a vaccination for an upcoming trip ... and the closest place to me to get the shot is in Fontana. Pray for me.

R33 whats idyllic about trailer parks and fat old trumpers on disability

If you watch COPS, you’ll see the IE featured a lot.

I once got a good job offer in The Redlands. I said hell no. I’m not even sure if I could do Temecula, although we had friends from Laguna who ended up moving out there.

Solvang is the only livable place left in California … if you can afford the real estate.

Solvang is wonderful. They call the Santa Ynez Valley the last Mayberry in California. I would love to live there.

The entire state is becoming unlivable for all but the very rich.

IE: you don't live there, you drive through it and shudder.

It's a blend of bland anytown USA suburbia and low-income Dollar Tree rust belt dullness.

But with lots of fucking sand and/or barren land.

Solvang is Dutch/Danish country. Full of windmills and adorable looking houses and Mexican-Danish men with YUGE dicks.

The Inland Empire is home to vines central and strawberry fields. How fucking dare you DL ????

Palm Springs is also Indland Empire.

The only thing I hate about Solvang and some other Southern California cities are the horses that leave fucking turds in the pavement. Ewww, leave that shit in Europe. No one needs to see horse turds in the street.

I would NOT want to live in Solvang. Santa Ynez or Los Olivos are nice to visit but unless you have a big ranch type of lifestyle there is NOTHING to do up there but drink wine and have horses or livestock. The town is a Danish mecca but it's very kitschy. IE is not anywhere near Solvang or like it.

R31 agreed. The mission Inn is beautiful. And haunted. Stayed there on Halloween weekend on our way out to Vegas. Lots of locals wandering around the grounds hoping to see some ghosts. Pretty much the only classy thing in Riverside.

[quote] People don't want to admit that PS is part of the IE so think of PS as an island in a backwoods redneck swamp of white trash

Palm Springs is a satellite outpost for retired eldergays looking for a slower pace and a reasonable second home -- surrounded by a sea of desert weirdos. Think of it like West Berlin.

Palm Springs is NOT the IE, no matter how much you cunts say it is. Anyone who has been to Fontucky and Palm Springs would NEVER confuse the two. Sweet Jaysus, some of you queens are delusional. R54 says it well.

Don't forget the Klan!

[quote]The Redlands

It's just REDLANDS, not "The." Probably one of the nicer IE towns, because of the university.

Solvang is nowhere near the Inland Empire, you dunce! Solvang is in Central California!

The Confederate Shitholes of California

R51 - the horses in your pic are wearing diaper bags - when they shit it drops into the bag, not into the sidewalk as you state.

Same R17, I've always had a fascination with desert towns especially in CA, like Barstow and IE. They are creepy but appealing to me. I spent several years in LA, and now reside in the midwest. I think I'd rather live in a shit hole CA desert town than anywhere in the "middle west" with winters, corporate BS and family values. Almost moved to Palm Springs which is obviously not included here, but couldn't pull the trigger.

Since some of you are so retarded. Palm Springs IS IN THE INLAND EMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why's it called an "Empire"?? Who rules it?

Just because cultural Palm Springs is different, geographically it is in the Inland Empire. It just is.

Palm Springs is the very definition of Inland Empire !!!

Who are these idiots that don't know California??? Listen up DL dwellers! You better recognize the Motherland: California.

Redlands can be nice, lovely old houses, but it’s 90 miles from nowhere.

It's called an empire because of the Klan.

Clearly some of these demented dolts are from the Valley of the Dirt People and think that if they had PS in the IE they’d be “upgraded.” Lol…oh my. You would have to be retarded to say that Blythe or Needles was in the IE.

r32 is an idiot Trumper. The coastline from Balboa Island to Crescent City is beautiful. Mt. Shasta, the Sierra Nevadas, Yosemite, and the redwoods - staggering beauty. Even Death Valley has a beauty of it's own. People see the LA freeways and homeless camps on TV and think that is all there is to California. Wrong.

R69, yep. Their notion of California is clearly defined by FOX.

This thread is dedicated to the sweetest gay "gosh darnit" all american guy Huell Howser!!! He would be thrilled that we're gushing about California!!! or as he called it "CAL-EEE-FOOOOUR-NEEE- UH."

Resting in peace, Huell?

(Right now, you know he's at a raging heavenly Circuit Party filled with gorgeous dead gay porn stars from yesteryear!!!!)

R40 is an idiot. Palm Springs is not in the IE. Palm Springs is in the Coachella Valley.

And the Cochella Valley is in the Inland Empire!!!

R72, Ya STOOPID FUCK!!!

Just looking at real estate. Even In the IE the decent size houses are $500k. How do people afford to buy houses in CA. Where do the poor people live?

In tents or their car, R74

[Quote]the decent size houses

[Quote]Where do the poor people live

Poor people aren't looking at decent houses to buy.

The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region in Southern California, inland of and adjacent to Los Angeles. The term may be used to refer to the cities of western Riverside County and southwestern San Bernardino County, and sometimes includes the desert communities of Palm Springs and the rest of the Coachella Valley; a much broader definition includes all of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.[2]

Whether or not you consider PS part of it, the Inland Empire is otherwise a shithole.

Does this include Bakersfield? Fresno? I thought Riverside was wealthy.

Where do people who live in IE work?

r78 Bakersfield and Fresno are in the San Joaquin Valley. Nowhere near the Inland Empire.

R79 Walmart. The gun store.

Palm Springs IS NOT

nor will it EVER BE

in the INLAND EMPIRE

R82 True. I've lived in SoCal all my life, and nothing beyond the San Gorgonio pass is in the Inbred Empire.

R79 The methadone clinic.

There are a lot of people that do the long, awful commute from the IE to LA for work r79.

How's the gay scene in the Empire?

R85 my relative does the commute because her kid has special needs and all the good doctors are here. I'd rather die than do it every day and go back to the IE to boot.

R86 Grindr is "faces of meth" and "blank married profiles"

Thank you R82 and R83.

Wow, old uppity little queens in PS are trigger realizing they live in the Inland Empire. Sorry girls, your little oasis is part of white trash land. Why do you think the property was so cheap to let your kind in to live in the first place?

I know several people who commute from Upland, Fontana, and Redlands to the LA coast for work, and I cannot imagine spending that many hours on the road, in heavy traffic, everyday.

The Inland Empire used to refer strictly to the communities immediately adjacent to the LA Metropolitan Area (Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Area), as these were marketed as the bedroom communities "inland" from LA. Now, I guess, the term applies to the whole of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

I grew up in LA and for a time in the OC. Had some family members who lived in Rancho Cucamonga. We'd spend the occasional Thanksgiving there. I remember the heat. The Inland Empire was just hot. Just hot all the time. I'd rather be homeless than live there to be honest.

A bit off topic, but everyone thinks California is a liberal bastion. It's not save for LA and SF. The rest of it is pure flyover trash. The IE is a perfect example of that.

Lots of people living in trailer parks in the Inland Empire. I stayed, one night, in the highest-rated hotel in Barstow--it shared its driveway and pool with a trailer park. Barstow also has the highest murder rate in California.

Still better than Needles.

R91. Not true. The entire coast now votes blue as does Fresno and Sacramento. The northeastern part of the state is Trumpland as is the Inland Empire (mostly).

The Inland Empire is not some right-wing Trumpland place.

Both Riverside county and San Bernandino county went blue in 2016.

I stand corrected. My bad. R91. That's good to hear! Had no idea Fresno went blue!

Even the demos in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are changing enough to turn them blue on occasion. Both counties went for Clinton in 2016. Democrat Newsom won San Bernardino County in 2018 governor's race.

Oops that was supposed to be R93! I am just a moron today!

And thanks for even more info R94.

R94 the percentages were close. And the amount of Confederate merchandise I saw there...ugh.

Riverside's U.S. Representative is a gay man, fwiw.

R94 Was typing while you were posting. Didn't mean to duplicate.

Laughing my ass off at the poster upthread who is jumping through all sorts of geographical contortions to explain against all logic why Palm Springs is NOT a part of the inland empire.

When a cursory look at any map of the state plainly shows that it is.

Can someone explain what is so "imperial" about it?

The eastern part of Riverside county has a strong Democrat in the U.S. Congress (Raul Ruiz). That Trumpette, Kimberlin Brown Pelzer, didn't come close to beating him.

Dear Palm Springs trolls...no one gives a fuck. Plenty of nice places have shitty neighbors.

R102 well, ancient emperors were known for being inbred. All I got.

R102 The Imperial Valley is different. It's an area in Imperial County east of San Diego.

What's all this about empires?

People of the High Desert

R102 The Inland Empire developed such a bad reputation for all the reason's listed above that New Home Manufacturers tried to "rebrand" it and make it desirable. Riverside always had a reputation for being scummy and for poor people.

R102, once upon a time, there were miles and miles of orange groves stretching from Pasadena to Redlands. And in the middle was good old Pomona, named after the goddess of fruits and orchards. Pomona was nicknamed "Queen of the Citrus Belt," and thus, her realm was called the Orange Empire, and the easternmost portion, by extension, was marketed as the Inland Empire. Beyond the Inland Empire was desert.

Salton Sea, Imperial Empire = Kingdom of trash.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Even the fish cant survive there.

Salton Sea is the gem of the Imperial County.

Years ago, the tourist board and chamber of commerce offices of Palm Springs and Palm Desert made an effort to lead people away from thinking it was all part of the Inland Empire and began referring to the communities as the "Desert Empire". I remember every station break for KESQ-TV would announce "Serving the Desert Empire, this is KESQ-TV, Channel 6". Technically, it never occupied channel 6, but channel 42. More people had cable and channel 6 was it's cable designation.

It's so horrible, nobody wants to be part of the Inland Empire.

My impression was that it was a place for people who'd moved to LA to do something else, and it didn't work out for them, and for people who had failed elsewhere and saw the IE as a place to start over.

So not a lot of asking people about their pasts.

It's now the Meth Capitol of Southern California, so that should tell ya something! Mmmmyeah.

If I haven't missed a response, "Inland Empire" was a boosterism slogan from the early 1900s (taking off from "Orange Empire" because of the famous groves already mentioned) that tried to set a positive image for the east-of-LA area.

I wouldn't want to live there but have enjoyed exploring during cooler times of the year. But I like American corners and less-popular places (except Oklahoma and SW Kansas, which are inexcusable to me). The Inland Empire mountain areas are lovely, a little less arid-feeling than other SW US mountain areas.

People who insist that Palm Springs (or Temecula Valley, or Coachella Valley, or Palm Desert, and on and on) are not part of it often are boosters of their own, seeing "Inland Empire" as a pejorative term or thinking that they're above an area that is more diverse than bias usually accepts. But they're also right in that the original term wasn't applied for such an expansive region.

Today people from the cities that are within the IE, often say the are from the "Inland Empire" or the I.E. because they are embarrassed they come from one of those cities. No one would brag they're from "Cathedral City" or "29 Palms". But it is okay to brag to be from Palm Springs, Palm Desert, or Rancho Mirage. Any place else, they say Inland Empire.

R119, I don't know about that. People from Chino Hills and Rancho Cucamonga don't seem to have a problem telling you where they're from.

Not technically the Inland Empire, but still worth sharing

Dust Bowl migration brought people from middle America to inland California (& other places). Inland CA is populated by Dust Bowl descendants. Being in certain places in inland CA, you almost forget you're in California.

[quote] How's the gay scene in the Empire?

A bit lamentable. I graduated from UC Riverside in the mid-2000s. Back then, there were two gay bars in Riverside -- VIP (which was located in a shopping complex) and Menagerie (which was in downtown Riverside). They're OK places. They just feel about ten years behind the times vs. LA. In fact, after driving eastbound on the 60 Freeway, the entire vibe of being in the "Los Angeles area" ends precisely after Diamond Bar. Once you have reached Pomona and Chino, you have entered the western-most edge of middle America -- Palm Springs being an outlier.

There are a few nice places of interest in the Riverside -- the Mission Inn, the Olmsted-designed Fairmount Park, the California Citrus Park, the row of Victoria Avenue homes, the UC Riverside campus. But most of it is forgettable.

I thought they all wound up in the Central Valley R122 or in the area around Bakersfield.

Inland Empire seems to have been settled later.

Though it is entirely possible that the IE was settled by the descendants of the Dust Bowl Okies.

Plenty of Okies settled in Los Angeles county, especially once-agricultural parts of the San Gabriel Valley. You could still see their presence/influence up until around the late 80s/early 90s, when Asian immigration pushed them due east towards the Inland Empire and beyond.

Well at least the I.E. doesn’t have the same level of industrial prison complex that they have going on in the Central Valley right?

R126, the worst bulk of California's prisons do seem to be located in the Central Valley -- including such lovely prisons like Corcoran, Folsom, and Mule Creek.

If you had to move to either one of the IE cities, Fresno, Stockton, or Redding, which would you choose?

None of those 3 cities are in the Inland Empire. All are far away from it.

My sister lived in the Inland Empire (specifically Jurupa Valley, near Riverside) for many years. Very suburban. My niece lived in Redlands for a few years, in a pleasant neighborhood but also suburban.

The Inland Empire is generally hot for half of the year. If you like sunshine, there is plenty of it. The whole region was mostly citrus groves and dairies decades ago, but now primarily housing tracts built as the population of southern California exploded and there was no more room in Los Angeles County or Orange County.

There is almost no gay life, except I'm sure it's all on Grindr now, and the occasional cruisy spot such as Mt. Rubidoux Park in Riverside. Gays will typically gravitate to West Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Palm Springs, etc. However I am sure there are tons of gay men in the Inland Empire, or at least horny men.

I could not live in the Inland Empire, due to the heat and suburban boredom.

The Mission Inn in Riverside does an elaborate display of Christmas lights, all over the building, with animated figures on every balcony. Worth the drive over there if you happen to be in the area between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

Barstow is in the Mojave Desert, not the Inland Empire. Barstow seems to be deteriorating, with crazy people walking around.

Zzyzx was formerly a health spa, as mentioned in a reply above. Now a University research center. It's in the Mojave Desert.

Slab City was made famous in the film "Into the Wild" and now attracts some tourists and visitors. I've never been to it, but I read one report on TripAdvisor from a guy from New Zealand who went there and had a great time. Slab City is in Imperial County, in the lower Colorado Desert of California.

The Salton Sea is awful, except the Sonny Bono NWR does afford good bird watching. I saw a gigantic flock of what had to be at least 50,000 birds fly over. Other sights of Imperial County include the Calipatria Mud Volcanoes, Salvation Mountain, East Jesus, Painted Gorge, Glamis Dunes, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and my favorite, the High Line Hot Well (sometimes called Holtville Hot Springs), which is free, relaxing, healthful and sometimes cruisy at night. This is in the desert area of Imperial County, not in the Inland Empire.

I'm surprised a discussion of the Inland Empire here hasn't mentioned Idyllwild; in my opinion it's the gem of the whole Inland Empire area. A forested mountain town, very artsy and definitely gay friendly, sitting between Riverside and Palm Springs. Completely different from the rest of the Inland Empire. The only part of the Inland Empire I could live in.

[quote] I'm surprised a discussion of the Inland Empire here hasn't mentioned Idyllwild.

Probably because it's set apart inside a National Forest.

Idyllwild is nice -- a 30-degree reprieve up the tram from Palm Springs when it gets too hot down there.

For your consideration.

Why is there a separate weather report for the low desert? Are you telling me that since I live in Palm Springs I have been mysteriously living the wrong weather report? Can it be that it is actually say 80 and not 100? Or is it possible that it is raining or has clouds and not sunny?

The dividing line of the IE is the San Gorgonio Pass. If you are directionally challenged, you can actually see where the clouds stop like a wall of glass and it becomes sunny and hot. We do not even share the same climate. Nobody in Blythe says they are in the IE, nor anyone in the Coachella Valley. They actually have a music festival. Wait, maybe it's the IE festival.

Not in the IE, for climate, geography, everyday weather, nothing. That was an old an outdated thing from the past. Nobody in LA says they are "going to the IE." LA people go to the Desert, or they go to Joshua tree, or Coachella, or Other Desert Cities. They pass through the IE to get there.

The Coachella Valley is desert and will get hotter than the Inland Empire, as it is farther from the ocean, and the San Jacinto Mountains block the potentially cooling effect of the ocean from reaching the Coachella Valley. The area is called "Low Desert" as it is generally lower in elevation - Palm Springs is only 479 feet above sea level. "High Desert" can be many places, such as Victorville, which is at 2,726 feet and is thus somewhere between 5 and 10 degrees cooler than Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. I live in a "high desert" location in Nevada in the Great Basin at an elevation of 5,647 feet above sea level, and it's 35 degrees right now. The California weather forecasts will give different temperatures for coastal, inland, mountain and desert areas, because the local climates vary so much, depending on distance from the ocean and geograpical featires such as mountains.

[quote]Nobody in LA says they are "going to the IE."

This is because nobody in LA goes to the IE, unless they are going from their place of work in LA to their home in the IE. It's a 2 hour drive each way, every work day - a sad fact of life for many sothern California commuters.

R134, So NBC LA officially says that the "Inland Empire" ends at the low desert, or the far west edge of the Sonoran Desert. That is geographically the San Gorgonio Pass.

I am a native of Northern CA and have never been to any of those towns, Op. I imagine the natural scenery is beautiful where it's untouched but the towns, I have no idea.

I grew up in San Bernardino is a kid. You couldn't pay me to live there now. It's so rundown and crime ridden. Dirt and trash.

If you want to see traffic, check out the 91 Freeway going west in the morning from Riverside and Corona into Orange County. (Or eastbound in the afternoon.)

Asa a non -CA resident, it is comical to hear how “horrible” IE is. You people are spoiled. Conservative CA is nothing like the Deplorable South. The base line is so far left, it just seems that way. Most of the country would be grateful to live there. And people are paying double what they would pay in the Deep South - which means they are earning much more.

Look, if I was a bitchy, single queen, I wouldn’t want to live in the Inland Empire. It’s boring and a lot of it is trashy. That being said, there are numerous pockets of newer suburbs and communities that attract upwardly mobile families and diverse ethnicities. Places like Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga, Alta Loma, Corona and Eastvale have cookie cutter tract homes, sure, but many of them can be quite impressive and well appointed. There’s plenty of national chain shopping, lots of great mom-and-pop ethnic restaurants and outdoor activities, particularly if you like to hike or birdwatch. But to be fair, the good parts are predictable, safe and lack charm but plenty of regular folk are happy to be there.

Big Bear has been the scene of more pornos than one could count. And it is right there above the inland empire.

Let's go with Huell Howser to the beach. The Salton Sea beach.

r143 Huell was straight until he saw that woman.

R126 I know The Inmate Empire has state prisons in Norco, Corona, and Chino. There may be others, but those are the three one hears about on the local news often. Someone up above mentioned Victorville. While I personally don't think of that as the IE, it is in San Bernardino County, and it has both high security and medium security penitentiaries and a women's facility.

Big Bear Lake is gorgeously breathtaking every season of the year. Love that area. In my experience, the commute is almost 3 hours one way - so I usually make a weekend of it. Descending the mountains can a bit crazy during the snowy months however.

[quote] Look, if I was a bitchy, single queen, I wouldn’t want to live in the Inland Empire. It’s boring and a lot of it is trashy.

My favorite two opening sentences in this entire thread and pretty much sums up the IE in Datalounge terms.

More!

Yeah - this has been such a nice distraction from Megxit. Who knew there was so much hate towards a suburban LA area. Or is that suburban Palm Springs?

R149 It's semi-rural in many parts.

And...it's a place you pass through, not a destination.

The air pollution in the I.E. is the worst in the nation. Worse than L.A.

Plus, it's the perfect place to dump a body!

Doesn't Scientology have their big prison encampment out there near Hemet?

R153 Yes. Gold Base. It's in an unincorporated area.

The people involved in trouble in Toon Town were from Compton or Vegas.

The bad things said about the IE above are true to a degree. But not universally true across the whole area. And what city doesn’t have its bad and slummy areas? One might have to travel an hour away for better cultural or outdoorsy activities, and four or five months of the year are too hot and dry. Yes, it’s not the perfect location if money were no object. But on balance, it’s not so horrible either. I agree Riverside is better than Berdoo.

Temecula is nice. They have some nice wineries and hiking up there.

A lot of the rest of the IE feels more like Vegas than LA, if you get my drift.

R157 you mean...trash?

A good friend bought his first house in Corona. He and his wife hated it so much they moved to DC for a year to try something new. Then they moved to New Mexico but now they'e back in Redlands! He seems to like it better this go round. Lots of pics in nature and the desert.

[quote]Who knew there was so much hate towards a suburban LA area

It is worth pointing out that the Island Empire is not considered a suburb of LA. It is not part of what the census bureau defines as the LA metro area, unlike say Orange County which is.

The Island Empire is considered its own distinct metro area.

True enough, r160, but the IE [italic] is [/italic] in the same media market as LA. Our television is all the same channels and news outlets as LA. So in a real way, really, the IE is a part of the same LA megalopolis. A little farther away, San Diego is in its own, isolated media market and seems much more removed from LA’s influence.

R161 I've never thought of "LA's influence" when I'm in the IE.

R162, think about it or no, there are almost zero IE news sources independent of the LA local stations.

Trust me they get Fox News

[quote]Sorry girls, your little oasis is part of white trash land. Why do you think the property was so cheap to let your kind in to live in the first place?

What total lies. PS was THE hip hideaway for celebs in the 50s, 60s, 70s. The fact the real estate has been cheaper has more to do with the climate.

Inland Empire is considered part of or within the Greater LA County.

Yes it is considered part of the Los Angeles CSA, but not part of the MSA (which is what is casually referred to as the metro area) r166.

There is a difference. Like Baltimore and DC are separate metro areas, but they are part of the same CSA.

From a practical perspective (despite how the Census Bureau may define things), the IE is generally thought of as being part of the extended LA metropolitan area, like OC. The population explosion in the parts of the IE closer to LA County and Orange County that took place in the 80s and 90s, for example, was primarily driven by commuters who worked in LA or OC and could not afford houses in LA or OC so were willing to do a long commute to achieve the "American Dream" (nightmare?) of homeownership. That is still frequently the case today. Just check the traffic map for the 91 freeway during the morning and evening rush and you will understand.

Yes LA Metro does not include Inland Empire

Breaking Bad was originally going to take place in Ontario, CA (in the IE) rather than Albuquerque. But it is just as methy and shithole-y as Albuquerque, maybe moreso. The Ontario airport is pretty good though—easy to get in and out of and clean. We used to call it “On-scary-o” growing up in OC. Your eyes burn from the air pollution out there. On a bad day when the wind is just right you can smell cow shit—there’s a manure processing facility (or used to be) in Ontario.

My husband and I are both fourth generation Californians. Southern California specifically. I’ve always considered Palm Springs part of the IE. It’s in Riverside County.

Shh r171, you are going to rile the Palm Spring residents that get the vapors if you tell them they are part of the IE.

If we are going to go to the census again, the metro area is San Bernardino and Riverside counties, which definitely includes Palm Springs as part of the region.

r160 The ISLAND Empire? Does that include Catalina, Anacapa and the other channel islands?

Because land was so cheap, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of warehouses and other large commercial/industrial facilities. Amazon has numerous "fulfillment centers" in the area. UPS uses the Ontario airport as a major hub.

[quote] A lot of the rest of the IE feels more like Vegas than LA, if you get my drift.

Which reminds me ... There has to be a half dozen or more very large Indian gaming casinos in the I.E. now. San Manuel, Morongo, Pechanga, Soboba, etc.

Morongo used to be the one that aired those non-stop commercials throughout SoCal which all used the same annoying music.

Hey, R171, my husband and I are also 4th generation Californian. Our families lived in IE back in the 1950s when the price of a new house in Colton cost the same as a new house in Pasadena.

Times have sure changed. Our families left IE before the orange groves all got chopped down.

The A-list residents of Palm Springs only winter there. The residents who stay there during the summer months, when the daytime temperatures are in the range 110-115 degrees F. are known as “desert rats.”

Isn't it cool how the whole metro LA area is really several parts? The Dan Fernando valley "Valley Girls", the shitty Riverside Inland Empire side, the real LA side, the rich part in the Hills, the Malibu part near the PCH, the Oceanside part.

I've only been to LA a few times but it's neat how big it is.

The IE people I know go to Vegas for “city fun”, not LA.

Vegas can keep em

Vegas doesn't want them, they are cheap as fuck and carry ice chest into their hotel rooms...

R178 The Inland Empire isn't on that map. .. On the eastern side of the depiction, they barely show the 605, and the IE is well to the east of that. (Guessing something like 18 miles.)

^^^ Oh mea culpa. I now see where in the upper right-hand corner it says: NORTH AND EAST TO METH HEADS, DESERT RATS, DISEASE INDUCING POLLUTION, FORECLOSURES.

I guess that's supposed to cover it.

R182, north and east on that map is the Antelope Valley and High Desert, which IMO, is more dreary than the Inland Empire.

R183 I agree about North, but if one keeps traveling East on either the 60 or the 10 -- which are seen at the far right side of the map -- you'll be going straight to Pomona and San Bernardino in the IE. That's why those freeways carry those names, respectively.

For those who watched "Enlightened" with Laura Dern: it was set in Riverside, and her mother's hermetically sealed, dated-but-not-charming house captures the town well. Despite the fact it's technically a college town, there are a LOT of older people there.

Ok, sorry. Here is San Fernando Valley

LA general area

Just for good measure, the OC

They need to include the other half of The Valley at R186. There's just as much on the other side of the 405.

Those Judgmental maps are serious fun!!!

Love all of the native Californians on this thread! It's usually so NY centric. (I have lived in NYC and love it, btw). My mom is a fourth generation Angelino. And my grandfather was born on Doheny and Santa Monica and went to Hollywood High! As far as the IE, I am the poster who just said it was hot. So damn hot. That remains my main critique.

[quote]What total lies. PS was THE hip hideaway for celebs in the 50s, 60s, 70s. The fact the real estate has been cheaper has more to do with the climate.

Celebs are your guide for class? Ok Ms. Kardashian. It's still part of the Inland Empire dear which is known for it's white trash inhabitants.

Love this thread! Thanks for the late night laughs while I couldn't sleep! DL, I love you so!

I think this subject is way too complicated for DL. The IE, and the region around it, is way too complex for DL people who just travel through on their way to circuit parties. There are pockets that are extremely charming, especially in places like Redlands. The population, weather and general geography is very diverse and complex.

Even more misunderstood is the High Desert. Lots of rednecks, but also an area where people go to be experimental and enjoy solitude. This world of social media and noise has made many uncomfortable with being quiet. As a result, they dismiss quiet places like the High Desert as a place for deplorables.

r187 I live very near "Named for a Band" but I have no idea what it's referring to.

They have a Ralph's.

R195 I have no idea either.

[quote] It is worth pointing out that the Island Empire is not considered a suburb of LA.

The Island Empire? Where is this "island empire"? Catalina? Hawaii?

It's the San Gabriel Valley

The San Gabriel Valley is west of the Inland Empire.

The cities around "Named for a Band" are Monrovia, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Duarte, Bradbury, Azusa and Irwindale. Do any of those names have a connection to a band?

I don't get why that tiny sliver of Pasadena is called Bro Town? Because of CalTech?

I'm living in Riverside right now. It's cool to see some others here on the DL that are in this area.

[quote] There are pockets that are extremely charming, especially in places like Redlands.

University of Redlands and the neighborhoods around it are very pretty.

Great education for someone who has only driven through on the way from LA to PS.

It would seem that most of those people work in the LA metro - which would make it suburban. I have a hard time believing anyplace in Southern CA is as horrible as people here seem to think. Maybe not very glamorous and family oriented - but affordable housing in CA seems very attractive.

Is Claremont considered IE? I almost went there for college because I thought it would get me close to LA and let me live the SoCal lifestyle. It can’t be that bad with all those professors and relatively smart, academic types.

Claremont is the easternmost city in LA County, so it's sort of Inland Empire-adjacent. They do have the 909 area code that some of the IE uses. But it's a very nice little college down, with a little village-y shopping district.

R205, I would not consider Claremont part of the IE. It's a very nice place with some gorgeous (and expensive) houses.

Montclair, on the other hand...

R202 Yeah, Cal Tech is located where that "Bro Town" term appears on the map. But it would make much more sense, if the creato(s) had used the term "Tech Bros" or "Tech Nerds." Just referring to them as "Bros" hasn't really caught on, imo.

R201 Guessing they're referring to "Arcadia" which was a side band formed by some members of Duran Duran back in the 80s.

Other than that there's also a heavy metal band from Norway named Azusa. They only formed a couple of years ago. This seems rather obscure, yet people often wonder how Azusa got it's name with the answer being "Everything A to Z in the USA." So maybe they're trying to make a play on that.

R208, agreed. Big Bang Theory would be a good one for that area, too, lol.

[quote]his seems rather obscure, yet people often wonder how Azusa got it's name with the answer being "Everything A to Z in the USA."

That's an urban legend.

r210 This is an actual street sign in Pasadena.

I think I would have branded the Cal Tech area something like "Richter Scale Central."

Everybody knows The Earthquake Lady.

That photo at R205 is postcard quality. Unfortunately, those communities backed up against the San Gabriel Mountains, which hold the smog in usually look more like this.

^^^ typo: should be photo at R206

R212, ha! Between CalTech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, that seems appropriate.

R204 Don’t they film a lot of movies there because it can look very east coast? I think they did Rules of Attraction there?

There are a lot of smaller cities in the LA area that fill in for small eastern or midwestern towns in TV and movies.

I’ve always considered Claremont part of the IE. But it is a very cute town.

4 killed after plane crashes, catches fire near Corona Municipal Airport, authorities say

Claremont might geographically be located within the IE, but it's not culturally the IE. The Inland Empire is as much a location as it is a state of mind. 😂

While we're on the subject, here's a reminder that West Covina is NOT in the Inland Empire.

Both Covinas (West Covina and Covina) are barrios. But theyre firmly planted in the San Gabriel Valley, definitely not IE

Can someone explain the cat piss in the OC map?

How come heroin is misspelled in both of these maps. It’s not hard to spell.

R224, it could be a couple things. Could be a reference to the homeless population, could be a reference to Dog Beach, could be a reference to the stink of the oil refineries or the sewage treatment plant in Huntington/Costa Mesa.

I’ve always loved Redlands, there’s some great architecture there, and it has a nice downtown. The antique mall is excellent. Years ago, I loved going to the San Bernardino County Museum, surrounded by orange groves. You could actually buy oranges and orange juice at a small stand. Wish California retained more things like that.

It could also be white privilege.

Since this thread is so down on the IE -- many of my comments, included -- here's a nice place in Riverside: the California Citrus State Historic Park. You can sample their wide variety of citrus and hybrid fruit there.

R226 are there meth labs there? Meth smells like cat piss, right?

R224 What R226 says (article attached).

Plus. there are times that Bolsa Chica Wetlands can have an "organic odor." Add the two together, and it might smell like cat piss.

Coachella is in the IE

R231 that sounds absolutely awful. Had no idea.

Can I get some clarification on the “molesters” in the OC map?

I lived in Perris and Hemet for several years. The area was known for meth labs, and occasionally a house here and there would burn down. A woman was once arrested while she was making meth in a trailer home and her children were on the premises. At court, the judge reprimanded her for having the children in a dangerous lab. She replied, "No such thing! Everybody knows I'm the best cooker in the Inland Empire."

Speaking of Perris ... Last year's couple of the year.

We'll always have Perris ...

R234 The area looks like part of Santa Ana. .. I don't know when these maps were created, but over the last few years, there's seemed to be a spate of unrelated cases where employees of the Santa Ana Unified School district have been arrested for sex crimes with students. One was a high school science teacher, one was an elementary school aide, and a third was a girl's volleyball coach. There was also another case where some guy came on to school grounds and molested a girl in a school bathroom.

The maps come from judgemental maps dotcom. They have all kinds of cities. You can do a search for your city, too.

I live in "boring apartment dwellers" in my city.

[quote] Can someone explain the cat piss in the OC map?

Orange County is another world. That is the strangeness of Southern California -- it's not uncommon for people here to have lived their entire lives in this region but have never stepped foot in certain areas of the county. I consider myself fairly well-traveled and there are portions of other continents that I know better than places here..

OP, If you're looking for things to do, you might want to check out the "Visit California" travel and tourism website.

The area designated "Inland Empire" there, though, doesn't extend into the "Low Desert" or "High Desert". All of that area is included in a separate region.

Is it really an empire?

R242 If you're on the coast, the term "inland empire" seems like an oxymoron.

When did Inland Empire even get that name? I feel like I don't remember hearing that name used as much when I was a kid.

That TLC reality show "Dr. Pimple Popper" is shot somewhere at her office in the Inland Empire. Upland?

Geez ... the videos are so GROSS.

Lots of Okies, Arkies, and Texans wound up in places like South Gate, S of LA or cheaper parts of the San gabriel Valley between the World Wars or after WWII. Even El Monte, which has always had a sizable Mexican population drew people from the dustbowl or parts nearby. Pomona seems to mark the division between greater LA and the Inland Empire, being the easternmost part of LA County. There are other nice tines in IE besides Redlands, like Diamond Bar and some places in the foothills, but it's also all about towns that support the many warehouses and the like in IE. Because of proximity to LA, OC, SD and to some extent LV and relatively cheap land, it's the logistics capital of southern California.

[quote] There are other nice tines in IE besides Redlands, like Diamond Bar and some places in the foothills,

While 909, Diamond Bar is in L.A. County and part of the San Gabriel Valley.

Diamond Bar has some very expensive mansions. Snoop Dogg lives up there!

The smell in Huntington Beach is Methane. It smells like sulfur or rotten eggs. It's from the process of pumping oil, which still happens in the wetlands. The only people that suffer with that smell are the people in the very wealthy area of the town. It's ironic.

R244, around the 1900s.

250 postings so far! I don’t know about you but I’m ready for Inland Empire: The Musical, perhaps done by the South Park guys?

Not sure what the fascination is with the odors of Huntington Beach. It’s a nice place, and a place that most of DL couldn’t afford. It’s also home to one of the most unique libraries I’ve been to.

R252 I don’t recall anything spectacular about the library there, are you thinking about Cerritos instead? It has rooms done in different architectural styles, a giant salt water aquarium with divers, T Rex model, space shuttle, and a First Ladies museum?

Lol the Huntington Beach library is nice but it’s no Huntington Library (and gardens).

People sometimes think Huntington Park and Huntington Beach are adjacent. But Huntington Park is up in Los Angeles while Huntington Beach is down in Orange County. They are both named after the same dude.

Yes, referring to the Huntington Beach library. The library in Huntington Beach is a beautiful concrete structure that is like a garden with water flowing throughout. Many nice moments and details. Redlands also has a great library.

Huntington Park and Huntington Beach are WAY different, one is ghetto, and one used to be ghetto.

Every city has it's ghetto. And yet in Huntington Beach the average single family home is 800,000 to 1,000,000

If Pomona is Inland Empire, isn’t Claremont?

Claremont is considered the Inland Empire. If you drive along the 10 freeway, the divisions become clear.

Clairmont would be considered LA Metro by anyone living in LA, It's in the San Gabriel Valley but right on the border of the inland empire.

Pomona is not in the IE. Among its residents, Kellogg Hill is the dividing line. It is a physical and mental separation.

But ya are Blanche! Pomona is considered in the IE. Come sit by us.

If Claremont is the IE, then it's the belle of the ball.

Cities in the Inland Empire.

This map is from the State of California - Department of Justice

Well that’s interesting - I guess everyone who thought they lived in glamorous Palm Springs lives in what seems to be the universally loathed Inland Empire.

I don't think anyone considers Needles and Blythe to be in the Inland Empire.

I don't think most people consider Palm Springs the Inland Empire, either. Mt. San Jacinto and the Morongo Indian Reservation pretty much separates it from the mishmash of IE cities.

That map was created in a cubicle by a stupid government employee who needed to divide the state up into territories. “I’m just gonna call this whole area the Inland Empire, ‘cause that’s all I know”

R266 That's for what? State court or prison divisions?

They're also lumping Los Angeles and Ventura County together as well as San Diego and Imperial. In terms of what's being discussed here, those areas are separate as well.

Pomona, Claremont and Palm Springs are all IE.

Think of Pomona like an Istanbul linking the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire.

Perhaps the Pomona Waste Water Reclamation Plant can serve as the Bosphorus.

Corona might want to think about changing their name.

[quote]Not sure what the fascination is with the odors of Huntington Beach.

Ah, the sequel to "The Bridges of Madison County" — "The Odors of Huntington Beach."

Or maybe it's a new Tyler Perry show about a bourgie black family named Odor.

Huntington Beach is OC douchebag central. Tons of tatted up wannabe MMA fighters and wannabe porn stars. It was a working class city for decades and now it is home to the $30k millionaire.

I grew up in the IE, and it's not as bad as it's made out to be. Honestly, Los Angeles is a good microcosm for Southern California as a whole. There's a spectrum of classes and cultures, oftentimes all mixed together. It's not as easy as saying all of one location is meth-fueled, although honestly that is true in some places, but you'll find a great deal of beauty in places with lesser reputations. The San Bernardino National Forest is exceptional despite the city it's named after.

But a lot of it comes down to who you are and your experience in any particular environment. I've met some of the most intellectually stimulating people here, but I've also met some fucking dullards in ritzy places like Irvine. Depends on who you are and what you choose to surround yourself with.

The authoritative source to answer this burning question would, of course, be Craigslist.

And there, Palm Springs is NOT part of the Inland Empire.

Smog is bad in the Inland Empire areas, for example, Riverside, San Bernardino, Fontana, Rialto, Ontario, Norco, etc., because prevailing ocean breezes push the smog generated in Los Angeles eastward - inland. And it stops there because mountains (the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains) keep it from going any further east.

Yeah, you just described a valley. It's all one big valley, folks!

Also, sometimes Palm Springs is included in the IE, but no one I know really considers it as such. Once you get past places like Calimesa/Beaumont, etc., it transitions into something else. Something more far and desert-like. It's mainly referred to as the Coachella Valley, and this is where Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, and Indio are. I haven't been out there much, but I find it an intriguing and strange land.

I lived in the IE for 15 years and really liked it. It was central to the beaches, the big city, the Ontario airport, the mountains, Idyllwild, Palm Springs and San Diego. I lived in Hemet, a small city where no one was in a rush.

I lived in the IE for 15 years and really liked it. It was central to the beaches, the big city, the Ontario airport, the mountains, Idyllwild, Palm Springs and San Diego. I lived in Hemet, a small city where no one was in a rush.

Hemet is close to nothing--hours from the beach or real LA in normal traffic, a struggling methed-out town.

Lol, r282 said "central to"not close.

Trying to do clever word play to make it sound better.

Yeah, I don't know about Hemet being great for the beach. You've basically gotta cut through or drive around the Santa Ana Mountains, and there's no elegant way to do that. Excellent access to San Jacinto though! And honestly, you're so close to Temecula, Escondido, and San Diego that I'd just make day trips out there or something.

On the brighter side, Hemet is close to the Scientology Gold Base -- you might get a chance to see some celebrities. Maybe Tom Cruise getting put into the Hole or Leah Remini picketing outside?

I used to travel a lot. Hemet to Ontario Int'l Airport was 50-55 minutes, always. When I lived in Orange County or Los Angeles proper, it used to take me longer, or forever with bad traffic, to get to LAX. I liked Palm Springs, 45 minutes away and stopped at the clothing outlet on the way over.

Dude, that's the ONE notable thing about that area! Besides the easy access to the best range in SoCal, you've also got sinister Scientologyland! So fun and creepy. I want to drive by, but I'm never out there, so I use Google Street View.

Don't forget that Hemet also has the Ramona Pageant!

[quote]Corona might want to think about changing their name.

Sorry -- "Placentia" is taken.

On the Westside, "Inland" means East of the 405.

Visit the notorious Stringfellow Acid Pits!

Off Highway 60 at the Pyrite exit at (formerly Glen Avon, now the city of Jurupa Valley).

And donate to Penny Newman, the "Erin Bockovich" of the Inland Empire.

R2, thanks. I started the essay and am looking forward to reading the entire thing. The funny thing is, Rancho Cucamonga, where the events in Didion's essay take place, is now one of the better parts of the IE (admittedly a low bar), and the specific area she mentions is filled with rather nice houses. For all I know, they could all be meth labs behind the sprawling faux-Spanish facades, but they seem well-cared for. The neighborhood (near Banyan and Carnelian, as JD describes it) looks prosperous.

Oh yeah, Banyan and Carnelian are nice now. There's no bad part of Rancho as far as I know, so things have definitely changed since the time Didion's talking about. If you want to find the meth you gotta head east out to anywhere near or around Joshua Tree/Twentynine Palms/Desert Hot Springs, or the Hemet/Perris area. That's where all the strange and fucked up shit happens. Just a couple years ago some crazy fundamentalists who'd been abusing their children for years was found out in Perris.

Smudge pots are a relic of the times when the Inland Empire had vast groves of orange trees. Oranges and all citrus are basically tropical in origin and are sensitive to frost and freezing. The climate is generally hot or mild, and freezing winters were rare, but still possible. If a killing freeze was in the forecast huge fans on poles would be used and smudge pots would be used to protect the trees and fruit.

Smudge pots are a relic of the times when the Inland Empire had vast groves of orange trees. Oranges and all citrus are basically tropical in origin and are sensitive to frost and freezing. The climate is generally hot or mild, and freezing winters were rare, but still possible. If a killing freeze was in the forecast huge fans on poles would be used and smudge pots would be used to protect the trees and fruit.

When an area has both an MSA and a CSA, the CSA is the better metric to use.

Sorry, I don't know why it posted twice. I only clicked once.

Claremont is lovely if a haul from L.A. The neighborhood around the college is beautiful and obviously wealthy. I had no idea it’s Inland Empire. My Dad had to go to San Bernadino in the 40s to do some top secret jet stuff and he said it’s a shithole. I’ll never forget that. I’d like to explore parts of the Inland Empire.

R294 Does he have a brother?

R302, did your dad happen to call San Bernardino "San Berdoo"?

Gee, looks like Palm Springs is NOT in the IE.

See Visitcalifornia.com and look at the map.

Bitches.

The San Gabriel Valley is NOT the IE. Not even close. It's eastern LA County! (I'm a few hundred posts behind but had to state my boundaries. Literally)

R304 Yeah. Hotels and Travel dot com shows a similar map for the Inland Empire.

As does the Inland Empire Workers Association.

Driving from Palm Springs to LA, you go up and over a pass - Banning Pass - (elevation 2500 feet, with 10,000 foot mountains on either side) - and then descend steeply into a very long valley. You're passing signs directing you to places like Riverside, San Bernardino, Redlands, and then you start passing through many many small towns with no identifiable boundaries - Ontario is approximately in the middle of this stretch. All of that is the Inland Empire. Finally you go over a hill and travel into another valley that goes on for about 30 miles or more - that's the San Gabriel Valley. It's also filled with small towns with no identifiable boundaries. Claremont and Pomona are on the east end of this, West Covina in the middle, and then you go over another hill and you're definitely in the LA basin and can see the skyscrapers of downtown LA in the distance. Geographically it's very obvious, when driving, that ranges and hills separate these regions into discrete entities - you can't really see that on a map. I would say that on a drive by , you'd definitely form the impression that most of the Inland Empire is not affluent, although there must be a few exceptions. The San Gabriel Valley is more mixed - some communities appear nicer than others from the road.

Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley feel very different from the Inland Empire. For one thing, Palm Springs is a tourist destination in the winter and many very affluent people from all over the northern parts of the US winter there. Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage have the reputation for that, but Palm Springs itself also has a lot of wealthy residents. Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, and Indio are the "poorer" cities of the Coachella Valley, with Indian Wells and La Quinta falling somewhere in the middle. There's an International Film Festival, fancy museums, a performing arts center that gets nationally known shows and musicians, and other attractions nearby like Joshua Tree. For another thing, the mountains to the west of Palm Springs block most of the smog and clouds from LA, so the air is much cleaner there. I can't think of a single place in the Inland Empire that would attract tourists from all over the US or entice them to spend a winter there.

R308 is spot on. Anyone who has made the drive from LA to PS and back (or vice versa) can clearly see exactly what he described. The areas are very distinct. My only thought is that Idyllwild is definitely a TINY, serene little tourist destination within the IE - with some of the most beautiful hiking anywhere. That said, to your point - few would want to spend the winter there. The Palm Springs Tramway is a great way to check out this mountain town (mentioned by a poster above):

We have plenty of mountain towns in the I.E.: Idyllwild, Forest Falls, Big Bear, Running Springs, Mt. Baldy. My personal favorite is Wrightwood though. Quaint, but alive, and on the way to some of the finest trails in the San Gabriel National Forest. I'm an avid hiker, so I mainly think of Southern California in relation to its mountains, which I think is a much healthier thing to focus on than how much houses cost in whatever city.

Also, I'd say the only real I.E. tourist traps are Christmas related. People from all over come to see the Mission Inn lights in Downtown Riverside, which turns lively, but relatively chill city center into a yuletide madhouse. I avoid it during these times. People also seem to like this neighborhood in Rancho Cucamonga that lavishly decorates an entire street. The night I tried visiting this last season there was a 45 minute string of cars trying to get in so I u-turned out of there.

Our major peaks, like Mt. Baldy, San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto get tourists as well. The mountains in general, I'd argue, tend to attract people from all over. Unprepared people especially. Our boys always have to rescue inexperienced fucks off Baldy, and if they're not tourists, they're always from the OC.

I have a hard time taking the map at R306 seriously since they misspelled San Bernardino. Twice.

I'm going to Corona this afternoon. Should I bring my passport? Or do I need a face mask for that corona virus?

Big Bear mountains and ski resort up there is nice.

I don't like snobby LA people.

Is Big Bear Inland Empire?

I had a friend who was born and raised in Ontario, and he had nicknames for several of those IE communities. Ontario was Onterrible, San Bernardino was alternatively San Berdoo and San Burnaghetto, Pomona was Scumona, Fontana was Fontucky, Riverside was Rivercidal, Redlands was Deadlands, Hesperia was Despairia, Victorville was Victimville, and Rancho Cucamonga was Rancho Cucaracha.

We visited his parents several times in Upland, which seemed like a nice community with craftsman homes and spacious ranch houses on big lots. Nothing really special, but then one time we visited in spring on a rainy day and when the clouds parted and the skies cleared, I was dumbfounded. Right in front of me were mountains there that weren't there before! I was amazed that they were so close and grand, yet they were always hidden by smog.

[quote] and then you start passing through many many small towns with no identifiable boundaries

Declezville

Fedex just told me my package is en route from there.

R315, Big Bear is in the San Bernardino Mountains, but it's not exactly a place that comes to mind when I think of the Inland Empire. Big Bear is where Angelenos go when they want to rent a cabin in a woodsy area and see snow.

R318 Yeah, and the federally-designated "San Bernardino National Forest" (1893) pre-dates the term "Inland Empire." In fact, at one time it had been combined with the San Gabriel National Forest and Santa Barbara National Forest to form the Angeles National Forest.

Claremont feels more like the "Foothill cities" than anywhere in the Inland Empire --it actually feels pretty similar to another city, Sierra Madre, IMO.

Sierra Madre is another cute little town. No fast-food franchises. Very old-school. Cute old movie theater that's become a playhouse. The original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was filmed there.

[quote] Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley feel very different from the Inland Empire. For one thing, Palm Springs is a tourist destination in the winter and many very affluent people from all over the northern parts of the US winter there. Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage have the reputation for that, but Palm Springs itself also has a lot of wealthy residents. Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, and Indio are the "poorer" cities of the Coachella Valley, with Indian Wells and La Quinta falling somewhere in the middle.

I don't disagree with most of this, but Cathedral City has changed or is changing - I've noticed it accelerating over the last several years. It *is* still very working class and/or poor in a lot of neighborhoods, but there is a pretty big section of newish real estate where either previously undeveloped land is getting pretty high end houses (gated communities, of course) or older neighborhoods are being gentrified. CC used to be known more for its very industrial/blue collar feel, but that's changing. The whole area is changing a lot.

I shpent shome time in the I.E., Ontario to be exshact filming the Shterile Cuckoo in shixty-nine. Shweet town for the opening shcene! Whee!

The Sam Maloof Home and Gardens are in Alta Loma (part of Rancho Cucamonga.)

I've lived in I.E. most of my life and now it's getting some DL fame! Go I.E!

Pomona, Claremont, and La Verne are actually part of an area known as "The Pomona Valley." And way back in 1893, there was a State bill to form a new county around Pomona Valley cities, with its proposed name being "San Antonio County" (after nearby Mount San Antonio aka "Mount Baldy"). It passed the California State Assembly, but failed in the State Senate due interests from Los Angeles County putting the kibosh on it.

And when the Los Angeles Times recently developed it's wonderful "Neighborhood profile" resource for L.A. city and county communities, they still show The Pomona Valley as a designated region with these cities being part of it on the L.A. County side.

Well, I just turned to my partner at this very moment and asked him about Claremont's status and he very definitively declared that it was part of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments. So there ya go!

R326 La Verne! That’s where they filmed the church sequence in the Graduate!

R325. I'm so sorry.

Wait. Growing up, the local paper referred to Upland, Chino, Ontario as the West End. Now I'm wondering...the West end of what? San Bernadino county?

R318 Just because Big Bear predates the idea of the Inland Empire, that doesn't mean it's not included. It's part of San Bernardino County and encompasses the Inland Empire... can't see how it wouldn't belong just because people from LA like to spend money there.

R326 I love the idea of the Pomona Valley! Pomona, Claremont, and La Verne have all felt like weird transitional cities for me... not quite LA, not quite the IE, though they're in LA County. I just feel like they're far enough from either that I get them being their own thing. Too bad it was never made official.

R330 Yeah, the west end of San Bernardino County sounds right. I've never heard them referred to as such, but I was born in 89, so the phrase may have fallen out of fashion by the time my generation got here.

LaVerne is quaint and has the grossly mismanaged University of Laverne (begging the question of where Shirley's university is). Both the IE and San Gabriel valley have their bits of glory, but often adjacent to places of more nodescript or unsavory repute. The older towns grew-up as rail stop/market towns for the surrounding agriculture. Upland may have Craftsman bungalows, but it's probably better known for its meth cooking bikers.

It’s fascinating how the amateur geographers and sociologists of DL go through this crazy analysis of any area presented to them. Bringing up migrations of people from Oklahoma, discussing income levels and pollution levels. The IE is like every place that’s discussed on DL, there are nice places and some ghetto places. Some examples: In Beverly Hills, there are areas that are really ugly (especially with the rampant horrible architecture). In Manhattan, there are disgusting areas that appeal to the lowest classes (Times Square), but also very wealthy and beautiful areas.

From this 1985 article in the L.A. Times (link), it sounds like when the term "West End" first started being used, the cities on the western side were trying to set themselves apart from the entire county. But later on, cites on the east side of the San Bernardino Valley started referring to themselves as "East Valley" (i.e. Redlands, Loma Linda, Colton.) And now, there are county agencies in the area who use these terms to describe service areas. One example is the San Bernardino County School Board where they use "West End" and "East Valley", with everything further to the east and north being "Desert-Mountain."

And 35 years later, the last paragraph of the article still holds true .. lol!

If Datalounge was an Inland Empire town, which would it be?

[quote]If Datalounge was an Inland Empire town, which would it be?

Laverne, of course.

The other springs .. Murietta Hot Springs .. what a weird history.

Funny factoid. ... In the latter part of the 19th century, The Murietta Steam Laundry Company used to transport dirty laundry from San Diego by train to be washed in the Murietta Hot Springs.

In the 20th century, the thermal springs became a popular resort. (Gee, with all the spa activity, private mud bath rooms, cottages, etc., it seems like this could have been a good place for gay hookups. .. lol!)

The resort changed hands more than once, with legal problems developing in the 70s and 80s.

In 1987, a group called "Active Polarity" (sometimes described as "a cult") bought the place.

And by the 90s, a Bible school bought it, and it's now a Christian conference center and retreat.

There is still Desert Hot Springs in eastern Riverside county.

Perhaps of DL interest: Joan Crawford's "Strait-Jacket" exteriors were largely filmed in the then-rural Inland Empire, and the scene where she goes shopping for a new frock with Diane Baker was in downtown Riverside, which still looks pretty much the same.

My BF grew up in Corona, which is the first city you hit after leaving Orange County into the I.E. via the horrible mess that is the 91 freeway. Corona looks just like OC, but its a bit cheaper and you get more square footage for the same prices in OC, so the homes in Corona are on the large size. But like OC, Corna is boring without much to do, very much a typical suburban development.

Where my sister lived, in Jurupa Hills near Rubidoux, you could look northwest and see the San Gabriel Mountains (Mt. Baldy), look north and see the San Bernardino Mountains (where Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear Lake, Snow Summit and Mt. San Gorgonio are) then turn to the east and see Mt. San Jacinto, where Idyllwild is. These mountain ranges, plus to the southwest the Santa Ana Mountains, and due south Palomar Mountain, basically surround the Inland Empire, which lies in the center of this ring of mountain ranges. It is a vast area which was traditionally agricultural, primarily orange and other citrus groves, but also dairies. As time went on, and available land in Los Angeles and Orange Counties became scarce and expensive, housing tracts, business centers, shopping and other growth spread eastward into the Inland Empire. Now agriculture is pretty much gone and it's endless urban and suburban sprawl.

Your assessment is mostly correct, especially in regards to the ways mountains surround us, but our agricultural past is alive and well. In both Redlands, Highland and Riverside you'll find streets lined with orange groves. Citrus State Park in Riverside is a testament to this. I'm sure it's a mere echo of what it was like, but it's definitely not gone. Also, drive anywhere in Norco, Eastvale, or Chino, and tell me agriculture is dead as the smell of manure from nearby dairies wafts through the air. Agriculture may not be what it once was, but it's far from pretty much gone.

I’m confused is Citrus State Park a working grove Producing money for the city or is it just open seasons for visitors to scoop up oranges, lemons, grapefruit and tangerines?

Citrus State Park, as far as I know, is open year-round, and is basically a testament to the city's history with Oranges. It's a rather large park, and they have their own museum, venues for events, as well as your traditional tables and benches and greens for picnicking, and trails for hiking. They prohibit the picking of fruit, but they do hold tastings and provide tours. It's a nice little ode to Southern California's agricultural identity.

Choose your gang territory wisely!

I also have Hutschenreuter dishes, but they’re my good ones. Post this in my everyday dishes thread, though.

La Verne is in Los Angeles County, so it's not in the Inland Empire. As to which Inland Empire city is Datalounge, I would pick Grand Terrace, so you all could come over and see how grand my terrace is.

Old Riverside is pretty neat to go through, and see all the 100-year-old mansions on tree-lined streets filled with massive eucalyptus and palm trees. Maybe visit the Mission Inn to take a look, then maybe swing by Fairmount Park or Mt. Rubidoux Park to see if there are any hot guys hanging around in interest. Much different from the newer suburban areas of the Inland Empire.

Riverside's not really known for its hot guys... I mean, there are hot guys in the IE, but they're less obvious than the ones by the coast.

Vintage post card illustrating the view of Redlands and the San Bernardino Mountains as seen from Smiley Heights... way back when the Inland Empire was a kind of paradise.

Thanks for sharing that, R350! I love Redlands and am very familiar with that view. I was just in Redlands and Highland earlier this evening. Honestly, these views haven't changed all that much if you know where to look.

The way the Inland Empire used to look! A very long time ago. Orange groves before urban sprawl took over. The mountain in the center is San Bernardino Peak, east of Redlands. Mount San Gorgonio, southern California's highest mountain, with an elevation of 11,503 feet at its summit, is in the far distance on the far right. Both mountains are within the San Bernardino National Forest. UP photo ca. 1940s. John Signor Collection.

Lol, the view's not all that different nowadays. I just took this back in December.

Believe it or not, much of our past and visual beauty has been preserved.

With the Pacific Plate sliding northward from the North American Plate what will happen to the "Inland Empire"? Will the Sea of Cortez extend northward and make some of the Inland Empire not so inland? The San Andreas fault run goes right through Riverside and San Bernardino counties. They say Los Angeles will eventually be across from San Francisco. Where does that leave San Bernardino? Next to Oakland?

The Inland Empire will become oceanfront property. Rubidoux will become Malibu. Invest now, it will only take a million years to pay off!

I prefer heat death thanks

I saw an earthquake movie a few years ago where, after a giant earthquake the coastline of California broke off and fell into the ocean. The last scenes showed the Pacific Ocean lapping at the new coastline in Barstow. Of course, Barstow is 2,175 ft above sea level. They didn’t explain how the earthquake made sea levels permanently rise over 2,000 ft.