A Neighborhood That's Just Right

Magnolia Center called stable, sedate and very middle-class. Some Magnolia Center residents have difficulty describing their neighborhood without sounding like the narrator in "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." It's not too rich, not too poor, not too urban, not too rural, not too peaceful, not too noisy, not too friendly, not too aloof. It's middle class, middle-income, middle of the road, middle America. And it's in the middle of Riverside.

Mansfield characterized Magnolia Center as "not a close-knit neighborhood, but stable," with little violent crime, not much residential turnover, peaceful streets populated by many long-time homeowners, few renters and a mix of young families and retired elderly residents.

"Convenient" is probably the single word most used by Magnolia Center residents to describe their neighborhood, which is bordered by Hillside Avenue on the west, Jurupa Avenue on the north, the 91 Freeway on the east, and Arlington Avenue on the south. The neighborhood also includes a few streets south of Arlington between Madison Street and Shamel Park. Because Magnolia Center includes schools, churches, banks, indoor and outdoor shopping centers, a public pool, several parks and a medical clinic and surgery center, as well as quiet residential streets, it's almost a city unto itself, residents said.

Most Magnolia Center homes can be described as "middle class," priced between $95,000 and $150,000. Compared to the rest of Riverside, Magnolia Center hasn't had much residential growth in the past few decades, and it's lagged behind many parts of the city in commercial building as well, said Steve Whyld, the City's principal planner. "There hasn't been much new construction, because it's been an urbanized portion of the community for so long," Whyld said.

The history of Magnolia Center is the history of Riverside - it was part of the city when it was incorporated in 1883. One of the neighborhood's former residents helped shape the history of Riverside County as well. In fact, Magnolia Center was home to some of the city's and county's most important pioneering families, including Luther and Iliza Tibbets, who built a house near the corner of what is now Central Avenue and Navel Court in the 1870's and Henry M. Streeter, who built a house near what is now the corner of Streeter and Central avenues in the 1880's. The Tibbets family are credited with planting the state's first navel orange trees in their front yard, thereby shaping Riverside's agricultural future and putting the young city on the map. Magnolia Center is a very stable residential area.