FACTS

Riverside is a rapidly growing city of 259,738 that currently ranks as the 11th-largest city in California. Riverside has a large and diverse economy, with the Inland Empire's largest number of businesses and total jobs.

The city is an important financial and professional center with numerous legal, accounting, brokerage, architectural, engineering and software firms. Riverside's banking institutions have holdings exceeding $3 billion in total deposits.

Riverside's light manufacturing base includes such sectors as electrical instruments, plastics, wood and metal fabrication, food processing, and recreational vehicles. Technological and manufacturing companies are supported by educational institutions offering specialized training and research partnerships.

Businesses benefit from excellent freeways, rail access, high speed fiber optic telecommunications, reasonable land and building costs, city-owned electrical and water systems, and a large general aviation airport.

Riverside's prime industrial land is located within redevelopment or enterprise zones that offer tax incentives to expanding eligible companies.

Pacific Bell, Nationwide Credit, Fresh Start Bakery, and IEM Furniture are just a few of the companies that have recently selected Riverside as a location to expand their businesses.

The Inland Empire led Southern California in climbing out of the mild recession of the mid 1990s. In 1999 the City of Riverside led all other Inland Empire cities in the following economic indicators: total population, total city income, total taxable sales, and total college enrollment. For many indicators that assess the cost of doing business (wages, land prices, rents, etc.), balanced with the advantages of having a healthy economy, Riverside is comfortably within the desirable mid-range for the Inland Empire.

Among 17 cities in the Inland Empire, Riverside surpasses all but Ontario and Corona in total industrial space, and the cost per square foot in Riverside is lower than in those two cities. Riverside has more than 3.24 million square feet of commercial office space, which accounts for 28.5 % of the region's total office space.

Riverside History:

The first residents of the Riverside area were Native Americans. Some of their beautiful baskets and other artifacts are preserved in the Municipal Museum, and members of the Cahuilla and Serrano tribes still live in the county.

Spanish colonists followed soon after explorer Juan Batista De Anza came through Riverside in 1774. De Anza reported finding water and good land for a rancho along the Riverside River. Spanish influences are still visible in Riverside today in much of the architecture, the cuisine, and in the rich cultural life of the Hispanic community.

A period of rapid Anglo colonization in the 1880s started under the leadership of John W. North, a New York idealist and abolitionist. North laid out plans for the central part of the City of Riverside, and began enticing people from the eastern states to come to sunny California. Another early developer, Indiana banker Samuel Evans, expanded the community.

Citrus orchards, particularly oranges, rapidly grew into one of Riverside's biggest sources of income. The Parent Navel Orange Tree, the source of all of California's multi-million dollar navel orange industry, is preserved in a Riverside park. Among the other early agricultural ventures were vineyards, other fruits, wheat, and mulberry trees for feeding silk worms.

For a while, the "colony" had a decidedly English flavor, with polo grounds, tennis clubs, and Victorian style homes.

The City of Riverside was officially established in 1883, and the County of Riverside was carved out of portions of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties in 1893.

Frank Miller, master of the Mission Inn from 1880 to 1935, played an important role as a community leader and Riverside's foremost booster. The eclectic, spectacular hotel he created is still a centerpiece of community activities in Riverside.

The Riverside Chamber of Commerce started in 1900, and throughout the 20th century the organization has been a positive force for development, commerce, education, and improving the quality of life. Especially in the developments since World War II, Riverside has moved toward greater diversity in its economy, with a wide variety of enterprises rather than one dominant industry.

The presence of March Field, now March Air Reserve Base, has been an important aspect of Riverside since World War I. Another of the community's defining institutions has been the Citrus Experiment Station, which started in 1907 and expanded in the 1950s into a general campus of the University of California, Riverside.

Riverside has a "strong city manager" form of government. Authority resides in a very involved, seven-member city council, advised by the mayor. Riverside is increasingly recognized as the legal, financial, and educational leader in the Inland Empire.