Honest Pros and Cons of Living in Hawarden Hills

Pros of living in Hawarden Hills

1. The multitude of single-family homes gives it a homey suburban feel. This is not a neighborhood of high rises and has more open spaces. The streets follow the contours of the terrain, breaking up vistas and providing variety.
   
   
2. The southern portion of the neighborhood is dominated by the Alessandro Arroyo, which contains rich and varied wildlife. The arroyo and its natural hilly terrain have been protected from development. This results in a beautiful haven.
   
   
3. The schools are above average, with well-reputed public schools and access to private schools.
   
   
4. There are some amazing places to hike without even leaving the neighborhood. The Gage Canal path is an easy, paved trail suitable for running, walking, and road biking. It makes a great sunset trail and ends at Citrus Park. Victoria Avenue also has beautiful walking and biking trails, which weave along the scenic, tree-lined road. If you want to travel further, Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park is not far, with hiking, biking, and horseback riding available. There are guided nature hikes on the first Saturday of every month and family events on the second Saturday.
   
   
5. It's a perfect distance from downtown LA. At 50 miles, you can easily get into the city, but the open nature of the neighborhood and its quiet location in Riverside mean it does not feel like there is a lot of urban sprawl here.
   
   
6. Riverside was home to Southern California's very first golf course. That original golf course was laid out by the Riverside Country Club in 1893. It had nine holes and was at the base of Box Springs Mountain. The club, now called the Victoria Club, currently operates a course built in 1903, but there are several other golf courses in Riverside, including some excellent public ones. It's a great place to golf.
   
   
7. Riverside is also known for its art galleries! A quick trip to downtown Riverside gives you access to the Culver Center of the Arts (with its film screening room), the University of California, Riverside's California Museum of Photography, and the Riverside Art Museum. This means you don't have to go far to experience some fantastic culture.
   
   
8. Transportation out is also relatively easy. It's an easy route to LA International Airport, although John Wayne Airport (in Anaheim) is closer and has a solid number of domestic flights. You can also avoid LA to head north towards San Francisco, south to San Diego, or easily hit the road northeast to Las Vegas. Whether you want to leave or not, you have options to get wherever you need to go.
   
   
9. You can enjoy a reasonable cost of living. By Southern California standards, Riverside, in general, and Hawarden Hills, in particular, is quite affordable — without having to live in the middle of nowhere.
   
   
10. There are fun festivals, like the Festival of Lights, which takes place from mid-November to the end of December. It's not just a holiday lights display but involves a variety of events and downtown businesses. Riverside also has an annual tamale festival, Halloween ghost tours (with different spookiness ratings), a Greek festival, and the only permanent Renaissance Festival site in California: the Koroneburg Old World Festival.

Cons of living in Hawarden Hills

1. The weather: Some people love Southern California weather, but it’s not for everyone. Riverside has hot, arid summers with an average temperature of over 89 degrees for three months. The advantage is that it doesn't get that cold in the winter. However, it does get hot and stay hot, and temperatures well into three figures have been recorded — something to consider for Southern California in general. As a result of its dry climate, the temperature drops significantly after dusk.
   
   
2. Traffic: Hawarden Hills itself is quiet, and you might not always want to leave. If you do, however, you will likely run into traffic. With over 314,000 residents, Riverside is the most populated city in the Inland Empire metropolitan area, and like any larger city, it can experience gridlock. The journey to LA can take a remarkably long time, as can driving to the airport. A lot of people in Riverside commute to LA for work. If you don't have to do that, you can avoid all the traffic.
   
   
3. Air quality: The other disadvantage of being so close to LA is smog. There's also some local smog. Air quality can get nasty at times. It's easy to get out into more rural areas to get a break from it, but if you have health concerns that the pollution might aggravate, then living in this sprawling part of Southern California may not be ideal. Fire season, which is getting longer because of climate change, can also affect air quality. Riverside is not considered in danger from the fires, but wildfire smoke can still travel to it. The biggest problem is the prevailing winds blowing smog in from LA proper.