Moreno Valley, California may seem like a great place to live, but think twice! There are tons of things about this city that make it a not-so-great place to live. Keep reading to find out more!
1. And it is hard to find a good home
When you are looking at the pros and cons of Moreno Valley, California, one of the things that you are most likely to see is the fact that the city is very affordable. “Anyone who has been to California can testify to how expensive things are in this state compared to several parts of the US. But Moreno is one of the cities where things are still relatively affordable. The cost of living is 24% above the national average
, which means it’s 25.9% lower than the California average. Furthermore, living in Moreno gives you the chance to acquire real estate or get an apartment at an affordable price, in Moreno, the average cost of a home is $552,004.”
And while it is true that the cost of homes in Moreno Valley is cheaper than the state average, the vast majority of those homes are small, low-income houses that are located throughout the city. For larger, more traditional houses you will likely be paying around the California average or higher. Along with that, it is very hard to find homes since the growth of the city has slowed significantly in recent years.
2. The job market is very limited
Being located in the part of California called “The Inland Empire” you would think that there are plenty of jobs. And to a degree, this is true as in towns and cities there are plenty of jobs available, but within the city of Moreno Valley, there isn’t much of a job market. The vast majority of the jobs that are available to residents are different jobs within the many warehouses throughout the city. But for those looking for more white-collar jobs, you will likely have to commute to either Los Angeles, Orange County, or even San Diego.
3. Long commute times
Speaking of commutes, this is one of the most common cons you are going to hear about the city. Moreno Valley is located nicely about 1 hour from Los Angeles and most other locations, and this is nice because you are close to everywhere, but it also means that if you want to go anywhere you are going to have a bit of a drive. The average commute time for those in Moreno Valley is 1 hour and 35 minutes if they are going to LA. That means for each trip you will be using over 3 gallons of gas, and a trip to and from work will be costing you around $40.
4. The traffic is bad
If the fact that the commutes were long wasn’t already bad enough, you get to enjoy the wonderful California traffic as well. While Los Angeles is the best known for its traffic, right at the edge of Moreno Valley there is a bottleneck point where traffic often starts. On the western edge of the city, highway 60 merges with Interstate 215. This merging of highways along with entrances and exits into the city leads to a point where traffic can come to a standstill. At the moment of writing this, the traffic at that bottleneck point lasts for 4.3 miles, where the speed ranges from near standstill to around 30 mph at the fastest.
5. There isn’t any public transportation
Within the city, you aren’t going to get any help traveling around either as there is little to no public transportation available. “Just know public transportation here is horrendous, so have a car if you plan to go anywhere in town.” While there is public transportation available within the city, it is very confusing to learn and hard to find more information about. The company that runs the busses is Riverside Transit Agency and finding routes on the site can be confusing. And the cost of a ride on the bus will cost $2, while a day pass will cost you $5.
6. The drivers are not good at all
And if it didn’t seem like there were enough problems when it comes to the road I manage to surprise you with the fact that Moreno Valley has some of the worst drivers in the state according to residents. “I do have to say, some of the worst drivers I have ever seen are in Moreno Valley. I don’t mean unskilled, I mean inconsiderate. The amount of times I’ve seen someone go into the right turn lane, only to floor it and go straight is ridiculous. I don’t know if I’d ever really noticed that before, but I see it just about weekly in this city.” (Source) There are many other stories such as this but simply put, many people within the city find the driver to be the worst, most inconsiderate around.
7. Above-average crime rates
When it comes to understanding the crime rate and how safe a city is, neighborhoodscout.com is a great source as it shows both statistics as well as rates the safety of the city on a scale of 1 to 100. Moreno Valley ended up with a score of 16, which isn’t nearly the worst, however, it still is very low. The chances of you becoming a victim of a violent crime in Moreno Valley is 1 in 250 and the chances of a property crime are 1 in 41. So, while the number of violent crimes is lower than the state average, the amount of property crime is much higher than the state average.
8. The drug problem
A major reason that crime is so bad in Moreno Valley is likely the fact that there is a drug problem in the city. “I’ve seen many cases with stealing, drugs, and vandalism. It does not surprise me in rating the crime and safety as ‘bad’.” (Source) The drug problem is so large, that in 2020 it was in Moreno Valley that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration announced their biggest domestic bust of meth from several homes throughout the city. In this bust, the DEA agents seized about 2,224 pounds of meth, nearly 900 pounds of cocaine, and 13 pounds of heroin. The DEA believed that the drugs were valued at a total of $18 million. (Source)
9. Understaffed police department
This problem comes from a statement a policeman told someone concerned about the high amount of crime. ” I had the opportunity to talk to a Moreno Valley police officer yesterday and he informed me their force is severely understaffed because they can’t find qualified candidates for officers and they are almost overwhelmed. He told me they receive over 500 crime-related calls a day, there are only 8 motorcycle patrol officers and at any given time in the city, which is 42 square miles, they only have about 5-8 officers patrolling.” From this, you can understand why there is such a high crime rate, however for someone who is considering moving there, it should be a large concern that a police force is understaffed.
10. The large problem with homelessness
Homelessness is something that nearly every city in the world has to deal with, and in most cities, there are constant efforts to reduce the number of people who are homeless. In most cases, their efforts are successful, however, in Moreno Valley, it has quadrupled between 2019 to 2020. It is assumed that the numbers have continued to increase, and if they increased at the same rate the amount of homeless in Moreno Valley is about 2,640. This would place the amount of the population that is homeless at around 12%which is very close to what the U.S. Census Bureau found which is 14%.
11. The is tons of litter throughout the city
A fact that often comes along with being a larger city and high homelessness numbers is the fact that there is going to be a fair amount of litter. Different cities go about it in different ways to try and solve the problem, but Moreno Valley has been unsuccessful in its efforts. “Crime is non-stop, just look at the Ring Doorbell notifications, porch pirates, cars broken in, homeless everywhere here throwing trash wherever they stop.” The fact that California wildlife already has to struggle with the heat, adding trash into their environment has slowly started to affect the environment and it looks like it will continue to get worse.
12. Lots of factories causing smoggy air
Because of the large number of factories that have been set up in Moreno Valley, the air quality has started to suffer. One of the most noticeable things is the sky sometimes will be brownish-grey because of all the smog coming from the factories. The air quality also suffers as typically the air quality is rated moderate from 10 am to 10 pm and from 2 pm to 8 pm is rated as unhealthy. And over the past month, the air quality has reached very unhealthy levels 4 separate times. Though, during the late fall and winter months, the air quality does improve and stays within the healthy range.
13. Hot and humid summers
Nobody should be surprised that when you live in California that you are going to have to deal with some very hot days. When you get into summer you can expect days ranging from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to upwards of 130 degrees. Around 80 days each year are going to be hitting highs of over 100 degrees, though you will only have to worry about 5 days being below freezing temperatures. The humidity tends to be around 50% but will be at 100% at times and 0% at other times throughout the year. (Source)
14. You get the California droughts
Along with the hot temperatures, you aren’t going to have to deal with rain almost ever. But this does lead to the negative that is the California droughts. Because of the droughts, you are limited in your water usage and this often leads to your lawn turning brown and dying. “The past few years California has received less than the usual amount of rain and more importantly less snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. This has seriously reduced the amount of water available for import to Southern California. Local precipitation has been less than normal as well. This has affected the groundwater replenishment, reducing supply and making pumping more expensive, as the groundwater level drops.”
15. There isn’t much to do in the city
While there are plenty of fun hiking and nature activities just outside the city, along with the ocean around an hour away, within the city many residents find that there is very little to do. “The best attraction you’re going to see here is the movie theater.” “Ghetto area with nothing to do. Typical food/restaurants, but not much else.” Overall there are restaurants, but besides that people find that there aren’t activities for them and their families/ friends to do.
16. The people are very rude
Every city has some rude people, but it seems like Moreno Valley has more of these than usual as it was something that many residents noticed. “The environment is poor and people are extremely rude. If I were you, I would not live here.” This is people’s opinion but the fact that many people claimed that the people here were extremely rude should be a concern for anyone who is planning on living here.
17. Subpar education offered
The last reason, but certainly not the least is the fact that Moreno Valley has a subpar education for elementary, middle, and high school students. Students within the Moreno Valley schools only have a 29% proficiency in both reading and math, which is far below the national average of 45%. A major part of this may be that around 76% of the population in Moreno Valley is Latino and English isn’t the first language all the time, but other factors could include a student-to-teacher ratio of 22:1. Another reason of concern for this lack of success in classes is the fact that Moreno Valley is providing their school with a higher budget than both California and the National average.
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