san bernardino

Inland Southern California’s mid-century architecture

A recent trip to Palm Springs reminded us of that city’s sizable collection of mid-century modern architecture, including the former Coachella Valley Savings & Loan building pictured above. Designed by E. Stewart Williams, the building is an excellent example of modern bank design from the 1960s. We’ll explore some of these desert gems at a…

Bookshelf: A look at local history books

Recently, local historian Hal Durian’s weekly “Riverside Recollections” column spotlighted several local history books, including the very popular photo history books from Arcadia Publishing. The Arcadia series includes several topics, including Images of America, Postcard History Series, Then & Now, Black America Series, Images of Sports, and Campus History Series. Locally, several communities have been…

Forever 21 at Riverside Plaza

This weekend marked the grand opening of Forever 21 clothing stores inside former Gottschalks/Harris’ buildings at Riverside Plaza and Hemet Valley Mall. The stores are part of the Los Angeles-based retailer’s aggressive growth plans that includes new large-format stores, many of which are currently taking up residence within former Mervyn’s and Gottschalks stores. In excess…

The future? More vertical, more density — less housing tracts

After decades of nearly unfettered sprawl, the time has come to seriously begin changing the basic developmental patterns of Inland Southern California. 2006Corona PointeCorona 2006Crossroads Corporate CenterMurrieta Ontario Downtown RiversideMetroPacific Properties, LLC Gone should be the days of leap-frogging, low-density development. In its place, should come more balance, both in densities and in types. More…

Riverside Roundup – 03/20/2009

Familiar name eyeing Gottschalks 2009Riverside Plaza In January, Fresno-based Gottschalks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, raising questions on what might come of the chain’s 58 department stores spread over six states. Seven of those stores are located at malls within Inland Southern California, including Riverside Plaza. Less than two weeks before a March 30…

Region’s retail market still expanding

Since 2004, Inland Southern California has seen an influx of large-scale retail developments, redevelopments and expansions. From new malls in Rancho Cucamonga (Victoria Gardens) and Corona (The Promenade Shops at Dos Lagos), expansions (Galleria at Tyler) and revivals (Riverside Plaza) in Riverside, continuing growth within the periphery of Ontario Mills, to a number of “power…

Kudos to KNBC

Los Angeles-based KNBC-TV wrapped up a week-long “Road Trip” this past Friday in downtown Riverside. The NBC-owned station spent the entire week broadcasting a large portion of its 5 p.m. newscast from 4 different locales within Inland Southern California. Paul Moyer and Colleen WilliamsKNBC-TV LA/Ontario Int’l AirportKNBC-TV Live from the Mission InnKNBC-TV The week kicked…