About Moreno Valley

Moreno Valley is a city located in Riverside County, California and is part of the San Bernardino-Riverside Metropolitan Area; the city is 19 miles south of downtown San Bernardino, while Riverside lies directly to the west.

A relatively young city, its rapid growth in the 1980s and the first decade of the 21st century made it the second-largest city in Riverside County by population, and one of the Inland Empire's population centers. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 193,365. Neighboring Riverside, California, is the county seat and largest city in the county and the two cities are closely tied.

Located just north of Lake Perris, Moreno Valley shares March Joint Air Reserve Base with both Riverside, California, and the city of Perris.

Moreno Valley was originally inhabited by hunter-gatherer Native Americans of the Shoshone tribe. The first Europeans were Spanish scouts, sent from Mexico to explore the area. These Spanish scouts blazed a number of trails in the area, including the Anza Trail, which runs through the Edgemont area of present-day Moreno Valley. The relatively dry portion of the city was largely ignored by these earliest settlers.

When California entered the United States as a state in 1850, Americans began to move into the area. The Tucson-to-San Francisco route of John Butterfield's Overland Mail Company passed through Moreno Valley. Some farmers began to occupy the area. They relied upon Frank E. Brown's Bear Valley Land and Water Company to provide them water, which was collected and pumped from Bear Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains to the north. Brown began performing this service in 1883. In 1899, the city of Redlands won a lawsuit in which the city claimed eminent domain over the Bear Valley water; the resulting loss of service forced most of Moreno Valley's inhabitants to move. The valley first acquired its current name, "Moreno Valley," at this time; the name is derived from Frank Brown's name.

Moreno Valley is located at a geographic crossroad. To the east lie the San Gorgonio Pass and Coachella Valley; to the south are Lake Perris, Perris, the San Jacinto Mountains, and the route to San Diego; to the north are the San Bernardino Valley and San Bernardino Mountains. To the west lies neighboring Riverside, as well as Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The heavily-traveled routes of State Route 60 (locally called the Moreno Valley Freeway) and Interstate 215 both pass through the city. It lies under approach paths for Los Angeles International Airport, John Wayne Airport in Orange County, LA/Ontario International Airport and San Bernardino International Airport.