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hey there. the goal is to live as close as possible to whichever school you choose to go to. one reason, for traffic/commute time, and another for socializing.

personally, i would completely rule out csu san bernardino. it's not the worst school on earth, but san bernardino is simply one of the worst areas of the inland empire. however, if that is the one you choose attending, then i STRONGLY suggest that you live in loma linda, redlands, or in san bernardino immediately surrounding the campus.

for calpoly pomona, there are great options close by. pomona itself is a great city, as is diamond bar. you'll be relatively close to ontario (10-15 minutes), plus there are PLENTY of shopping centers and malls around the campus. calpoly is one of the best calstates, so if you get into it, you should spend a good amount of time considering it.

csu fullerton is another great school in a great area. it's orange county, and further away from the other two campuses (which i'm sure you realized). fullerton itself is a great city (and relatively affordable) to live in, and i can't imagine that you'd be forced to push yourself far from the city. if so, i suggest anaheim or brea. the college area is very walkable, and there are plenty of things to do around there (not to mention disneyland is about 10 minutes away).

to answer those specific questions:

ontario, luckily is surrounded by some genuinely nice places. my first suggestion for you is rancho cucamonga. if you liked the ontario mills, you'll LOVE victoria gardens in rancho cucamonga. the city has been around for a while, but it's recently constructed a lot of new apartment/condos, homes, and shopping centers. so the entire city has a very clean feeling. not to mention, you have gorgeous mountains directly north of the city. it's very nice.

upland/montclair/claremont are all also very nice, clean and "homey" places. my favorite of these is claremont. it's home to the claremont colleges, some of the most prestigious schools in the u.s., so there are plenty of cool places in the area to hang out and go to. plus, overall, it has a very upscale feel... a feeling not so normal in the 909 area.

rancho cucamonga as a whole is very nice and affordable... i mean, you can rent a house there for ~1400 bucks. as you move further north, it becomes more and more residential with single family homes, so your best bet is to stay around the city center. around foothill and vineyard is very nice, and right there near all the action.

ontario's crime rate, is... higher than average places, but i suppose lower for inland empire standards. hopefully you wont be hanging around sketchy places at night by yourself or making yourself unnecessarily vulnerable. also, a good portion of the apartments in the area are gated. try your best to move to such a place.

--san dimas: i really never go there. so i have literally nothing to say about it. sorry.

--upland: nice. i'm trying to convince my brother that it would be a good place for him. it's not a rowdy or exciting place, but it's rather peaceful and residential. not much else to say about it.

--pomona: if you get into calpoly, move HERE (in close vicinity to the school) or diamond bar. it has a very cool downtown, and a lot of great shops. it has lower than average crime rates there. i've never felt threatened or uncomfortable walking around the city. it's a college town, so there will be plenty of eyes open watching out for the students... another reason why you should live as close to your college as possible.

--rowland heights... as a prejudice rule of thumb, i would not choose to live anywhere in the san gabriel valley. for ME, i do not like it there. it's just too hot, and too asian (nothing against asians, i go to ucla for heaven sake), and everything is kind of old.

--diamond bar, i like. it's clean, it has diverse terrains, low crime rate, and well, i just enjoy being there. keep it simple, it's a nice place, close to calpoly.

--fontana and rialto: just don't live there. JUST DON'T. trust me. living there won't be unlike hell.

good luck!

I live in San Bernardino. It is horrible. Redlands is a really good city. Loma Linda is the healthiest city in the US. Upland is great. Ontario is one of the best places to live. Polytechnic Pomona is good, so go there and live in Upland, maybe. The University of Redlands isn't that great, but it's a great city, so if you don't mind the commute to Pomona, than try that. CSUSB is not a good college. My dad went there to be a director, and after 6 years of college, no one hired him because he didn't have good enough credentials. It isn't a good college. Pomona is great. Fullerton, well I've never been there. Rialto is all ghetto. It sucks. Fontana is okay, I guess. Diamond Bar isn't good, Rowland Heights isn't good, San Dimas isn't good.

DO NOT GO TO RIALTO. Anyways safe areas around Ontario would be more like chino.. Montclair.. rancho cucamonga.. and the other areas you named. rancho cucamonga has nice affordable apts off of foothill road. i dont know the crime rates out there but i know rialto is really bad. almost all of rancho cucamonga is nice and Ontario's nicer areas are more north of the mills.Upland is really nice to :). Pomona has a bad side. stay away from the area south of the 10 freeway. if you go to Pomona make sure its north of the freeway by the hills and the fairplex. idk about Rowland heights. diamond bar is very nice to :). Fontana is nice but it has a lot of trucking company's so you might have a noise problems depending on where you go out there.. and San dimas is a little far.

I recommend Upland or Rancho! I used to live in Upland. Very nice, quiet town. Like Nan said, it has a 'homey' feel to it. Very residential. I want to move back there again someday or somewhere surrounding it.

Montclair is okay too. Some parts of it aren't so great though. But hey you've got the Montclair Plaza though.

Claremont is nice too but WAY expensive.