(July 30) Five of the most undesirable places to live in California are in San Bernardino County, according to a website that makes such evaluations.
Claiming to have “used science to determine which places in The Golden State are the real pits,” the creators of the website RoadSnacks has published an online report which purports to identify “the 10 Worst Places to Live in California.”
The survey touches not just on the 478 incorporated cities in the state, but identifies 621 places or communities in California. RoadSnacks says five of the ten worst places to live in California are in San Bernardino County.
Given those dubious distinctions were Lucerne Valley, ranked as the second worst place in the whole state in which to live, followed by Adelanto, the third worst place, Joshua Tree, the seventh worst, then San Bernardino, the ninth worst in the state, and Hesperia, which finished tenth.
Going into the evaluation, according to RoadSnacks, are crime rates, educational opportunities, weather, entertainment choices, and unemployment rates. Nevertheless, the website qualifies its rankings by stating, “This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.”
On its first page, the website intones, “California. The American dream. The state where you can get the sun, surf, mountains and deserts. Where dreams are made and movie stars bask in the glory of their own self worth.”
It then continues, “Where you have to ration your water. Sit in traffic. Pay too much for your house. While California is overall, a glorious state, it has some serious, glaring issues, just like most other states. But most of the people reading this live there, and are already aware of this fact, so we won’t dwell on it. Instead, let’s have some fun and look at only certain areas where things are the absolute worst.”
According to the website’s authors, “After analyzing all 630 cities with a population over 5,000, we came up with this list as the 10 worst places to live in California:
1. Desert Hot Springs
2. Lucerne Valley
3. Adelanto
4. Hemet
5. San Jacinto
6. Clearlake
7. Joshua Tree
8. Mendota
9. San Bernardino
10. Hesperia.”
As if the San Bernardino County seat had not already developed an inferiority complex by virtue of reality, a 2012 municipal bankruptcy filing and a recent Los Angeles Times article that labeled it as the worst city in America, RoadSnacks seemingly went out of its way to rub all that in by choosing it as the one city to reference when talking about the bottom ten cities in the state, delivering a backhanded compliment as it did so. “It looks like San Bernardino (9th worst) actually isn’t as bad as you might think.”
Further down, in its summary of Lucerne Valley, the website says, “Lucerne Valley is another desert town on the fringes of society where there’s nothing to do, residents earn meager salaries, and have long drives to their jobs when they can find them. But when you consider the fact that 28% of the homes in Lucerne Valley are vacant, and the public school system is ranked in the bottom 20% for financial support, a case can be made that Lucerne Valley is a real pit. If you haven’t been here, don’t bother. It’s not even worth the extra 20 minute detour on your way to Vegas to see.”
Adelanto merited this comment: “Adelanto has the exact same problems that Lucerne Valley has, and it’s located only a half hour away. Except, the crime in Adelanto is far worse than it is in Lucerne Valley. Its residents most likely work in nearby Victorville or make the trek through the Cajon Pass to shlep into San Bernardino or Riverside. Most people have only been to Adelanto while driving on 395 on their way up north, or because they got talked into attending a baseball game at Maverick Stadium.”
As to Joshua Tree, the website states, “There’s a good chance you’ve never been to Joshua Tree, unless 1) you were a Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms or 2) you took a family day trip to the far corners of the desert. Who are we kidding? No one takes vacations to the desert. No one takes vacations at all in California.”
The web posting continues, “An idea of a day trip is heading to the beach or, perhaps, a hike in the mountains every now and then. You can see pictures of Joshua trees online, you don’t need to see them in person. An internet search can’t determine exactly what people who live in Joshua Tree do for a living, but there’s a big chance the economy there isn’t booming. And remember, people, science doesn’t measure beauty. It measures facts, and the facts about Joshua Tree speak for themselves.”
San Bernardino is referenced thusly: “Perhaps the only thing surprising about San Bernardino being 9th is that it wasn’t higher. Crime here is horrible, more than 1 in 10 residents are without jobs (and that’s conservative), and well…we could go on and on about San Bernardino’s issues. You’ve heard it all before. When considering the data, the only reason San Bernardino is only 9th is that there are some areas of the city in which residents earn professional salaries, and, frankly, there’s a lot more to do in the San Bernardino region than there is in the desert. And no, dodging bullets isn’t one of them. But as professionals continue to flee into the nearby enclaves of East Highlands, Yucaipa and Redlands, the city of San Bernardino, which saw its glory days spike in the late 1970s, will continue to head down the drain and unfortunately, become an area only for those who have no aspirations to exceed in life.”
As to Hesperia, the site states, “Since Adelanto and Lucerne Valley are on here, it’s not surprising to see Hesperia here as well. Don’t fret, Hesperians, your sublings Apple Valley and Victorville aren’t too far behind. It’s just that Hesperia’s residents have a lower income and its schools are rated slightly lower than their neighbors.” Two other San Bernardino County cities that did not fare well in the rankings were Colton, at 67th worst in the state and Ontario, 80th worst.
The San Bernardino County cities treated most favorably were Rancho Cucamonga, the 453rd worst in the state or 177th best, Grand Terrace, the 436th worst or 194th best and Chino Hills, the 405th worst or 225th best.