Where do you live? City/State/country?
Riverside, California, USA. To be more specific, I live in the Orangecrest area of Riverside, which is the southeast corner of the city, just a few miles away from the border between Riverside and Moreno Valley (which used to be part of Riverside years ago) and the March Air Reserve base. My area is one of the newer parts of the city. It used to be nothing but acres and acres of orange groves until around about 10 years ago when farmers decided it was more profitable to sell their land to developers looking to build middle class tract homes and McMansions.
A big thank you to Wikipedia's entry on my city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside%2C_California for vast amounts of information.
Prominent language spoken? Other languages/dialects?
Most people speak English, but there is a large Spanish-speaking population as well.
Is this rural or urban? Rough size? I live in the suburbs. Wikipedia says the area is 78.4 square miles. Riverside is part of the Inland Empire, which is part of Southern California. Many people would say that we're just the place that people move to when they can't afford to live in Los Angeles or Orange County.
What do you like most/least about where you live?
I love the affordable housing. I live in a 5 bedroom, 2 3/4 bath home with 3755 square feet, which I bought brand new in 2001 for a fraction of what it would have cost had it been located in San Diego, Orange or LA counties. I love that within a two-hour drive I can be swimming in the ocean, skiing in the mountains, relaxing at a desert spa, visiting a foreign country, attending a tv taping, or shopping 'til I drop - the possibilities are truly endless. I hate the traffic - that two hour time frame can expand exponentially during peak rush hours or if there's a major freeway accident. Our annual Santa Ana winds and wildfires are scary. I'm not concerned about earthquakes, though Southern California is overdue for a major one.
Most historically significant points about your town/country?
I live a few miles away from the Riverside National Cemetery
http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/riverside.asp#hi and the California Citrus Historic State Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Citrus_State_Historic_Park .
According to Wikipedia, Riverside is home to the world's largest paper cup, but I've never heard of such a thing! If you asked this question to most people, I think they'd mention the Mission Inn
http://www.missioninn.com/hotel-history.php because famous people have stayed there.
Climate? We're actually in the low desert, so summer can get hot (can reach over 100 F) and in the winter, nights can get cold (but only rarely does it ever get cold enough to even frost, much less snow). Usually, we're in the 70s or 80s. The Inland Empire is well known for its smog - pollution that blows in from Los Angeles and settles into our valleys.
Type of government? Name of current leader? We are a representative democracy, despite the abysmal voter turn-out rates. Our mayor's name is apparently Ronald Loveridge
http://www.riversideca.gov .
What are the major industries? Hmmm…I'm not sure. Like many suburban cities in the Inland Empire, a large number of people commute to Orange County or Los Angeles for their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if more people were employed in education or service industries than any other fields due to sheer numbers.
Major religion? Judeo-Christian…Catholic, Protestant (of many varieties), Jewish, non-denominational
Diversity of education? Do most people graduate high school? College? I don't know the statistics, but I would venture to say that many people graduate from high school and a good number go on to higher education. Riverside is home to a large number of K-12 schools
http://www.rusd.k12.ca.us/ , Riverside Community College
www.rcc.edu , the University of California, Riverside
www.ucr.edu , and California Baptist University
http://www.calbaptist.edu . We also are home to the California School for the Deaf
http://csdr-cde.ca.gov , which teaches students from 7th-12th grade.
Most popular sport? Most sports fans here support an Orange County, Los Angeles, or San Diego team because we don't have anything of our own to speak of. Kids enjoy baseball, basketball, football, and soccer - our AYSO (youth soccer) league has a huge set of fields for the games
http://www.ayso47.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=37 .
Most popular trend at the moment? Complaining about traffic (always a popular topic of conversation)
Most popular food? You can just about eat any kind of food from anywhere on the planet if you look in the right place. But honestly, any place you can drive through is probably the most popular.
What do you feel is the most interesting/exciting thing about where you live? I think our city's commitment to alternative energy is exciting
http://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/comm-gp.asp . Riverside Public Utilities is a recognized leader within the state for its Green Power program.
Are there any urban legends associated with your town/state/country? (My son's enquiring mind wants to know!) If you want ghost stories, there's a web site that lists a bunch of them
http://theshadowlands.net/places/california1.htm . Scroll down to the Riverside listings to check out what may be lurking around my corner.
