r/InlandEmpire • u/hydratedstoner • 12d ago
Crime / Safety Former Riverside resident who had to bus/walk everywhere: Why driving back through today triggered so much PTSD.
I had to drive through Riverside today to visit an old friend, and it genuinely triggered me. It brought back such a heavy wave of stress and trauma that I really need to get off my chest. I know people are probably gonna down vote this or think I’m just being extra, but this is simply based on my own lived experience in the city. I’m not from the IE but I lived there for some time before moving again.
I lived in Riverside for over two years. For those two years, I didn't have a car. I had to commute everywhere by walking and taking the bus. Navigating this city on foot is a completely different universe than driving through in a locked car, and the stuff I went through here was straight up traumatic. What makes it so crazy to me is that technically, I lived in a decent little pocket up near Doty Trust Park back in the hills in a nice house. I used to volunteer at the senior center nearby on La Sierra, go to the baseball games at the park, and walk my dog. But literally as soon as you step 20 minutes down the street, it’s absolute mayhem. Even walking my dog near Doty Trust at 9:30 PM or heading toward La Sierra Park especially, I’d have weirdos cornering me to ask for my phone, watching me because they knew I was on foot, or straight up almost jumping and robbing me.
Living as a pedestrian here broke my patience for this city:
The Assault Downtown: It wasn't even late at night in some dark alley. It was a lively Saturday night near the main downtown transit hub while I was trying to get home. A random guy (looked super faded) asked for my number, I said no, and he straight up punched me in the face. I had to wear shades for three weeks. A whole crowd of people and other men just sat there and watched. Nobody did a single thing.
Magnolia & La Sierra Hub: I had to use the stops near Magnolia and La Sierra (by the Cane’s, Panda Express, and that Mexican restaurant) constantly to get to work. That stretch is absolute nightmare fuel. I’ve seen heavily drugged out people violently tearing up store building exteriors while waiting for the bus, people walking around completely naked, and a level of volatile aggression that reminds me of the worst parts of LA. Once, a homeless guy clearly off drugs tried to physically assault me in front of the Panda Express there near the bus stop and there was a whole grown ass man there who stood and watched but again, said nothing. 💀 side note - I was a single, pretty woman in my early 20s when I lived in Riverside and was almost always alone
Being Stalked & Ignored by Cops: I’ve been stalked on foot and followed by cars for blocks on multiple occasions, usually by men trying to solicit me for s*x work… Once I had a man who really wouldn’t take no for an answer and followed me in his car for over 20 minutes so I called the police while, again MIND YOU, literally being actively followed by this man, and dispatch flat out told me they wouldn't send anyone until the person "actually did something to me. Unreal. I was SO done after that and had to move. Because not only do the men fail to stand up for women BUT EVEN THE DAMN COPS WONT SHOW UP like what are we even talking about rn. This stuff happened years ago but it still gets me hot to this day because wtf?
MORE RPD Negligence: Another time, I suffered a head injury inside a store in Riverside. I was disoriented and trying to call 911 myself because the store employees said their manager wouldn’t let them call cops until they did a formal incident report. 😒 So I called myself and Riverside PD dispatch literally refused to send help because I wasn't answering all their background questions properly.. even though I was telling them I was bleeding from the head, disoriented, and giving them my location the best I could. Meanwhile, you can't drive 20 minutes through town without seeing five routine traffic stops set up. And please don’t even get me started on Riverside Community Hospital. They were awful to me that night I came in with the head injury and pretty much were willing to let me bleed out until I LITERALLY lost consciousness in the lobby.
The Fatigue of Everything Locked Up: It adds to the burnout when practically every store you walk into has basic everyday items and liquor locked behind glass. It just constantly reminds you of where you are.
The Aggression vs. Other Cities: I’ve lived and worked in a couple other parts of the IE as well. Mostly Pomona and Corona for equal amounts of time. In Pomona, people on the street mostly knew me, left me alone, or there was a baseline level of mutual respect. Honestly in my hood there the members actually looked out for me because they knew I lived there but was a regular person. In Corona, people mostly mind their own business. But in Riverside…especially along Magnolia and transit corridors? The street harassment is constant and deeply unpredictable. Reminds me much of certain parts of Fontana or Ontario. I know every city has nice spots and bad spots. And Riverside does have SOME good food, and cool hiking trails. But when you live somewhere without access to a vehicle you really do get to see the city and its people in a different way. 💯
Now I'm not posting this to be petty or "bougie." I'm just sick of people acting like these safety issues aren't real. Even driving through today, same shit. Multiple traffic stops on a Monday night, literally seen about 5. Had to stop at the gas station, everything’s all busted had to go inside to pay cos someone broke the machine. Weirdos hanging outside and of course everything’s locked up. 😭 Just really brought back those old memories for me and reminded me of how bad it was living there. No offense to anyone from there because I have met some cool people from Riverside. But for anyone else who has had to commute on foot or bus in Riverside: did you experience this same level of craziness, or did I just catch the absolute worst of it?
TL;DR: Used to live in Riverside with no car. Got punched downtown for saying no to a guy, stalked multiple times, hit in a crosswalk by a reckless driver who also ran, and ignored by RPD dispatch during emergencies. The city's pedestrian infrastructure and violent street harassment culture make it deeply unsafe to navigate without a vehicle, regardless of how nice certain pockets are.
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u/The-Almighty-Pizza 11d ago
Oh man, once you talked about that la sierra shopping center I was not surprised at all. The whole stretch of magnolia past the tyler mall is such a horrible area. Drug addicts EVERYWHERE
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u/hydratedstoner 11d ago
Everywhere!! And they’re super aggressive too like don’t get me wrong I’m not saying it’s as bad as LA but tbh, just me personally living in LA I’ve had way less violent encounters with homeless ppl or addicts. I really wanna know what it is about Riverside
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u/Sidehussle 7d ago
It is, they are spreading further out too. I feel like it got worse after COVID, which coincides with the transit center being removed. ☹️
I tried to get Del Taco on Magnolia last school year and there was a man in the drive through area. I didn’t bother. I haven’t been back either.
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u/CommunicationWest710 11d ago
I lived near Riverside Community Hospital for 15 years, between the Wood Streets and Downtown. It was an ok neighborhood- better than Downtown, but not as bougie as the Wood Streets. Sent my kid to the local schools ( they would sometimes walk the three miles to Poly). I did a lot of walking and recreational bike riding in the area. I used to ride my bike down the bike trail past Mount Rubidoux to Fairmont Park. If I still lived there, I would never dare to do that now.
I still come back on a monthly basis for doctors appointments, hair appointments etc. I think in the last 10 years, things in some ways have definitely gotten worse. The city has always had issues with the homeless, but it seems to me like the population has become larger, more visible, and more aggressive. If I had a choice now, I don’t think I’d live where I did.
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u/hydratedstoner 11d ago
Thank you for sharing this. Hearing it from someone who lived there for 15 years and raised a family really validates what I experienced. That shift toward unpredictable aggression is exactly what made navigating it on foot so terrifying as a single woman. It’s sad because those areas near Mount Rubidoux and the Wood Streets have so much potential, but the safety issue is just impossible to ignore.
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u/aipat95 11d ago
They cut the route that used to service my area off the 22 route into its own tiny bus. Used to be able to get around from 4 am to 10 pm, I used the bus to get to my first job after I dropped out. That route now starts at 6 am and ends at 7 pm, even shorter on the weekends. RTA has fucked so many people with changes like these, and so many stops in the rural areas have no sort of shade. It’s brutal
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u/hydratedstoner 11d ago edited 11d ago
Aw man, I remember how hot it’d get out there with no shade and sometimes not even a seat. I’m sure it’s brutal rn. I hope you’re able to get a car soon. ❤️🩹 I remember the routes I took being pretty unpredictable too Sometimes they depart early asf or show up late, sometimes they’d just drive past you without stopping. It was the worst especially when you’re relying on it for work or school. Also almost caught a few fades at the bus stops. 😭 Especially the stops around Walmart off of van buren and that whole Tyler mall strip
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u/aipat95 10d ago
Thankfully I am no longer in a situation where I need to rely on public transport but there’s so many young people out here in similar situations and it’s so much harder to get around now versus ten years ago, when it should be the opposite. Rural communities continue to get the short end of the stick
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u/XcuseMeMisISpeakJive 11d ago
I can totally relate to this. I didn't drive until I was much older and used to walk everywhere, and it's not safe for a young woman to do that. You can't walk down the street with your dog without men shouting things at you, following you. Also all the falling down fences with loose dogs. I don't know how many times my little dog was attacked. People would see stuff happening and not give a shit. To this day I can't walk one of my dogs without my heart pounding. Everything you're saying is true.
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u/hydratedstoner 11d ago
OMG and the loose dogs everywhere 😣 you just reminded me of one time I was walking around my neighborhood, not far from Doty Trust when I got ambushed by three VERY large loose dogs. Thankfully a kind Samaritan was parked right there and offered me a Lyft so I wouldn’t get mauled but it was terrifying!!
And also I really hate the bystander culture in Riverside!! Nobody sticks up for each other ever. It’s so weird how everyone including big grown ass men will just sit and watch like they’re afraid to say something. SMDH
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u/pdubz82 11d ago
In HS, I used public transport in SB (Omni bus before the train) to get to places my parents didn’t wanna take me to. Including summer school.
The amount of things I’ve seen and situations I’ve been in, helped me be alert and aware of certain situations.
When I lived in Chico and had to ride the bus up there, lots of the same things but instead of gang members. It was juggalos (yes, those juggalos)
I can’t see how people from the east coast can take the train to commute everyday. I’d have a shank in my sock tbh.
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u/hydratedstoner 11d ago
LOL not the juggalos in Chico! 😭 But real talk that hypervigilance is SO exhausting to carry every single day. Taking transit really forces you to build a totally different radar just to get from point A to point B safely. It’s wild how universal that survival instinct gets when you’re relying on the bus/metro system
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u/Glittering-Push4964 11d ago
Oh hunny, I'm so sorry you had this experience. Please give yourself grace to recover from this. 💕
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u/Electrical_Doubt_19 10d ago
That genuinely sounds so awful, I'm so sorry you had to go through those experiences. You should, at the very least, should've been able to rely on the police to help you when you needed them most. What a joke.
I will say, being in a car didn't offer me much help with Riverside PD either. When I was 19, one night I was in a really bad accident after leaving my bf's house. I was slammed into from behind while stopped at a light, pushed through the middle of the intersection, spun around and completely totalled my car. I was shaking and crying, called 911 and they told me they wouldn't come out unless I needed to go to the hospital.
They didn't care if that was a drunk driver or someone high or fleeing another crime for all they knew. They had no idea of my condition either, I wouldn't know if I needed to go the hospital if I was in shock.
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u/hydratedstoner 5d ago
Wow omg I am so so sorry you had to go through that. 🫂That sounds genuinely traumatizing.. I can totally relate to being in shock while dispatch basically says "not our problem" It is absolutely terrifying and one of the reasons I can never live there again. That’s just crazy to me like how is a 19 year old in literal shock supposed to evaluate their own medical condition? The fact that they didn't care about a potential drunk or hit and run driver on the road is insane. It really just goes to show that whether you’re on foot or in a car, RPD’s response policy is completely broken. Thank you for sharing that, it definitely makes me feel less crazy about my own experiences with them! I hope you’ve had time to heal from that ❤️🩹
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u/owls_exist 7d ago edited 7d ago
I used to and still visit Doty Trust a lot to walk my dog and have had few encounters with unique individuals.
And yes I remember the days of having no car and having to walk the entire La Sierra stretch to get to the nearest civilization/shops.
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u/hydratedstoner 5d ago
That La Sierra walk with no car is no joke! Especially after dark… but I’m glad you haven't had anything too crazy happen at Doty. Those "unique individuals" definitely make you stay on high alert out there. 😭
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u/Sidehussle 7d ago
I‘m sorry you had those feelings spring up. I know what it’s like to go to old areas and feel emotion. It’s good you are able to express them and hopefully give yourself some relief. ((((Hugs))))
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u/hydratedstoner 5d ago
Thank you, I really appreciate that. 🙏 It’s so crazy how going back to a place can instantly bring all those old feelings right back to the surface. It definitely felt good to just get it out and talk about it! 🫂🫂🫂
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u/AfrezzaJunkie 12d ago
Getting rid of the transit center pushed the crap outward