Redlands, California

Approximately 65,000 people, majority of them white, urban sophisticates.  

Not only is Redlands a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a very large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. That's because Redlands is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Redlands a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Unlike some cities, Redlands isn't mainly white, nor it isn't entirely blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Redlands are a mix of both white and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Redlands is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers.

The historic downtown district has a lively restaurant and nightlife. Known in years past as Deadlands by teenagers, it is clearly not dead today, as there are many local spots for dining and shopping, as well as good places to wet your whistle.

Redlands – known in 1900 as “The City of Millionaires,” and later as “The City of Beautiful Homes” – welcomes you! Founded in 1881 and incorporated in 1888, Redlands is a quintessential “big town” with a “small town” feel. For much of its history, it was the “Washington Navel Orange Growing Capital of the World,” with the citrus industry as the main focus of its economy.

Through the years the economy may have changed, but that special feeling of community in a small town hasn’t. This is clear as you take a look around Redlands. Tree-lined State Street is still comprised primarily of beautiful historic buildings and locally-owned shops and boutiques. Some of its most famous buildings, like A.K. Smiley Public Library, a Moorish-style library built in 1898, and the Redlands Bowl, built in 1930 and home of the oldest continuously free outdoor concert series in California, are merely steps from historic downtown.

Just to the west, one can stroll through the Smiley Park neighborhood, filled with turn-of-the-century bungalows as well as landmark homes. With a short drive, one can cruise by some famous homes, like “America’s Favorite Victorian,” the Morey House, on Terracina Boulevard, see the stately homes of Olive Avenue, and Highland Avenue, the “Butler Belt,” so known because at one time that was the most dense population of homes employing butlers in the City! You can visit Kimberly Crest House and Gardens, a home museum featured on the PBS series “America’s Castles,” and don’t miss a walk through Prospect Park, just next door.

Redlands’ parks are perfect for picnicking, and are designed with this in mind. While you’re at it, the beautiful campus of University of Redlands, founded 1907, is worth a seeing.

Here is a temple in Redlands.