With the majestic San Bernardino mountains as a backdrop, the thriving city of Riverside is an exciting, diverse, urban center situated in the heart of Southern California. Riverside’s estimated 305,255 citizens are proud of the city’s unique character born from a tradition of careful planning, including a wealth of sites and buildings that provide a link to the city’s past and the notable Downtown Mission Inn Historic District. Palm-lined avenues, Victorian mansions, and 28 family-oriented neighborhoods, peppered with fragrant citrus groves, Riverside was featured by Money Magazine in 2006 as one of the nation’s best places to live. Home to lakes, parks, distinguished schools and several institutions of higher learning, Riverside is also conveniently set close to recreation opportunities in the mountains, desert and beach areas.