Citrus at Bridle Ridge

Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, Riverside, CA is a city with suburban characteristics. With all the conveniences you could need, plenty of entertainment and activities, mountain scenery, and peaceful, residential neighborhoods, Riverside provides the best of both worlds. D.R. Horton offers new homes for sale in Riverside, CA, all featuring spacious, open floorplans, modern features like smart home technology, and brand new appliances. Our new construction, Inland Empire homes for sale, are a great choice for homebuyers looking for an upbeat, convenient location outside LA.

Why choose Riverside, California

Riverside, CA offers a balanced lifestyle with plenty of outdoor recreation, entertainment, and job opportunities. The area has a great cultural scene that places high importance on art and history, with plenty of museums, restored historic buildings, galleries, and festivals. Plus, Riverside is surrounded by stunning mountain views, making every outing beautiful.

Riverside, CA also provides easy access to a wide range of nearby attractions, ensuring you’ll always be within reach of your favorite places and activities in California. Centrally located in the Southern California Inland Empire (SCIE), Riverside is just about one hour to Los Angeles, Orange County beaches, the San Bernardino Mountains, Coachella Valley, and Palm Springs; and an hour and a half to Santa Monica and Joshua Tree National Park.

Things to do in downtown Riverside, CA

Downtown Riverside, CA is a hub of entertainment and activities and a great place to hang out any day of the week, with loads of pubs, coffee shops, boutiques, shops, restaurants, and more. Whether you want to sit out on a patio and enjoy the weather, buy your new favorite artwork, or just need to run some errands, Riverside’s downtown Pedestrian Mall area has you covered. The city provides a walking map of downtown’s over 70 restaurants and bars and approximately 80 spots to shop, explore art, or find services at places like hair or nail salons, so you can easily explore and walk or bike from place to place.

Riverside also has a thriving arts culture, which is showcased through downtown’s many galleries, museums, and murals. The Fox Performing Arts Center, also known as the Riverside Fox Theater, hosts many artistic experiences throughout the year, like concerts, symphony and ballet performances, comedy shows, and more. Built in 1929 and restored to its original appearance, the Fox Performing Arts Center is a historical and cultural landmark and an entertainment center. Another downtown arts hub is the Riverside Art Museum, which showcases contemporary art from artists both near and far. You can admire sculptures, paintings, photographs, and more, or participate in an educational program or event at the museum. If you love art but a festival is more your speed, you can check out the annual Riverside Arts and Music Festival, which takes place downtown and offers a creative day full of music, art activities, vendors, performances, art installations, and more.

If you’re more into history, downtown Riverside offers plenty of opportunities to explore the town’s past. In addition to the historic Fox Performing Arts Center, the downtown area has multiple historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If you want to see and learn about them, you can follow a self-guided walking tour past over a dozen buildings. You can also indulge in the area’s history in the Mission Inn Museum downtown, which is owned and operated by the area-famous Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. The museum details the construction and history of the Mission Inn, built in 1876, and its impact on the surrounding community over time.

Today, the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa exists not just as a historical site but as a cultural icon in Riverside, hosting the beloved, year-end Festival of Lights annually. Similar to a Christmas tree lighting, the event kicks off with a Switch-On Ceremony, where all the area’s holiday lights come to life, immediately followed by a fireworks display from the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. The festival is centered around the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, which is located on Main Street downtown, but the millions of lights and holiday decorations take over the entire downtown area for more than a month. You can enjoy live music and entertainment, food vendors, a holiday-themed art market, opportunities to meet Santa, rides, children’s activities like a mini train ride, an ice rink, plenty of photo opportunities, and more throughout the season.

Several other festivals take place in the downtown area of Riverside each year, like the Riverside Dickens Festival. Residents gather at the Riverside City Hall building to celebrate the life and literary contributions of Charles Dickens. This event typically occurs in February, the month of Dickens’ birthday, and is intended to be both educational and entertaining for all ages. A bit more upbeat is the annual Panana Riverside Lunar Festival, which takes over a portion of downtown to celebrate Lunar New Year traditions each January, typically coinciding with the weekend closest to the new moon and start of the Lunar New Year in Asia. The family-friendly event features performances, dancing, food, shopping, a beer garden, a car show, rides, cultural displays, and games.

Things to do in Riverside also expand beyond the downtown area, with several events and activities occurring across the city each year. You can celebrate the area’s agricultural history at the California Citrus State Historic Park, a living museum featuring 250 acres of citrus groves, historic buildings, exhibits, and hiking trails. The Riverside Citrus Festival occurs at the park yearly, with live music, cooking demonstrations using citrus fruits, food and craft vendors, games, face painting, and much more. Or, you can step into the world of military aircraft at the March Field Air Museum at March Field Air Reserve Base in Riverside, CA, where you can learn about the evolution of flight and the United States Air Force over the last 120 years. If you’re just looking for a fun day out, the Castle Park amusement park in Riverside is the place to be, with roller coasters and rides, a water play area with water features and slides, arcade games, mini golf, food, and more.

Get outside in Riverside, CA

Riverside, CA offers plenty of opportunities to get outside and enjoy the area’s scenery. Mount Rubidoux Park is a community favorite, providing about 3.5 miles of paved and dirt trails up to an elevated oasis overlooking Riverside and the nearby mountains. Several vendors also sell refreshments at the park, so you can grab a drink or a snack on your hike. Mount Rubidoux Park is also the launch site of the annual Riverside fireworks show on Independence Day.

Riverside also has many city and community parks with attractions such as athletic fields, playgrounds, hiking trails, and gardens. The Sycamore Highlands neighborhood park features a playground, open space for a relaxing picnic or a game of catch, scenic pathways for walking and biking, mountain views, and a 3-mile hiking trail. With high elevation spots offering 360-degree views, the park is popular for early morning walks or enjoying the sunset. Fairmount Park is another popular spot in Riverside, right off the Santa Ana River. The park has a serene atmosphere, featuring rose gardens, lakes, pedal boats available for rent, and a band shell designed in 1920.

If you’re athletic, the Ryan Bonominio Park in Riverside hosts a 5K ParkRun every Saturday morning. The park also provides athletic fields and courts, a playground, workout equipment, healthy food and drink vendors, picnic areas, and access to the Santa Ana bike trail. If you prefer your sports to be a little more adventurous, you might enjoy Bobby Bonds Park or Hunt Park, both of which offer skate parks for all ages. Bobby Bonds Park features an above-ground skate park spanning 14,000 square feet. The park includes a half pipe, grind bars, rails, and launch ramps. Hunt Park, on the other hand, offers a 25,000-square-foot skating environment more focused on bowls and curves.

You can also explore nature at several locations in and around Riverside. The Box Springs Mountain Reserve is about 10 miles away, giving residents access to 3,400 acres of beautiful land and mountains just minutes from their home in Riverside, CA. The mountain climbs to 3,000 feet, providing sweeping views of the surrounding scenery and the town below. You can hike or bike across almost 17 miles of trails at the Reserve, with trail difficulties ranging from easy to difficult.

Another great opportunity to escape the hustle and explore the natural Southern California landscape is the San Bernardino National Forest, just 30 minutes from Riverside. The National Forest covers nearly 824,000 acres and features hundreds of miles of multi-use trails. Mountain biking is a popular activity at San Bernardino National Forest, with trails for every level, from easy to very difficult. One favorite among bikers at the National Forest is the Cougar Crest Trail, a 5-mile out-and-back trail with views of Big Bear Lake and an elevation gain of roughly 1,200 feet. The Cougar Crest Trail is also popular among hikers and equestrians, as it connects with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

If you don’t choose to use San Bernardino National Forest as a gateway to the PCT, hikers can still enjoy over 300 miles of trails in the national forest. You can come and hike for a day, or strap on a backpack and make it a multi-day adventure. You can grab a trail map on your way in from the local ranger station to choose the path best for you, but no matter if you choose a low elevation stroll or a more difficult, high elevation hike, you’re sure to see spectacular views of the wilderness and maybe even a waterfall.

San Bernardino National Forest is also an excellent place for off-roading, with miles of trails allowing motorized vehicles. It is commonly claimed to be one of the best spots in the area for off-highway vehicles (OHV) riding. If you’d rather stay on the road, two beautiful scenic roadways run through the forest, both part of the National Scenic Byway System.

Businesses and economics in Riverside, CA

Riverside, CA offers a wide range of significant employment opportunities. Top industries in Riverside include healthcare, education, and local and federal government. Many residents work for major private employers like Kaiser Permanente, healthcare; Riverside Community Hospital, healthcare; Cal Baptist University, education; Collins Aerospace Systems, aircraft components manufacturing; Riverside Medical Clinic, healthcare; Doctor’s Hospital of Riverside, healthcare; and more.

There are plenty of opportunities with public employers as well, and local school districts employ many residents, as well as the University of California, Riverside, and city or county offices. The County of Riverside, for example, employs over 20,000 people in various government operations positions. With the March Air Reserve Base, a US Air Force Reserve, just over 10 miles from Riverside, many residents are employed by the military, either as active duty or civilians.

If you’re willing to commute, other cities are within reach for additional employment opportunities. Los Angeles, California, is about an hour away, and it provides opportunities in top sectors like entertainment and media, technology and innovation, aerospace, fashion, and more.

New construction homes in Riverside, California

Riverside, California provides a central location in the Inland Empire perfect for those who want to be within reach of places like Los Angeles or Palm Springs while maintaining a balanced life at home. With its own range of entertainment, culture, outdoor recreation, and employment opportunities, plus access to many other nearby attractions and bustling locations, Riverside is a place to settle into a new construction home in the Inland Empire region. Browse our Riverside home listings online, visit a model home, or contact us today to learn what we can offer you as one of the top new home builders in the Inland Empire and Riverside, CA.