Finally got a chance to peruse the Jan 05 edition of the Inland Empire Magazine. They had a best of list for 2004. Best new car of 2004: Mini Cooper! Yay! Not that many of us out here, but it's nice to be so well loved!

 

what is inland empire??

 

Its the arm pit of California. About 60 miles east of LA, includes San Bernardino, Riverside etc. I went to college there, glad I was able to move out. They get all the smog LA produces.......

Nik

 

Actually, there are better armpits in California.

The Inland Empire also includes the desert region of Redlands, Temecula (wine country), Murrieta, Menifee, Hemet, Idylwild, and the Palm Springs areas. It's not so bad if you don't live in San Bernardino or Riverside.

 

Is there a mini club in the I.E. . I will get my MINI in 4 weeks and would like to meet others in the I. E. . I am in the central armpit (moreno Valley).

 

I am not sure if there is a local club or not. I work all the time and barely am able to go to regional stuff. There is a good club SCMM that is for all SoCal MINI owners. My reluctance to join (because of the fee) keeps me out of the loop. Check them out, I hear they have fun events.

 

I guess things have changed since I lived there. This would have been Riverside's favorite vehicle back then:

 

Luxury cars were also big back then.

 

True Moreno Valley is the center of the pit. I lived in Yuckie-pie (Yucaipa) while going to college.

Hey at least its not Bakersfield.

Just playing Bakersfieldiens

Nik

 

Things have not changed that much . Just housing prices are going up.

 

Inland Empire is a commonly accepted name for a geographical region of Southern California much like the term "Chicagoland" is for Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

 

Yucaipa has changed. A lot. Homes in the area are now very expensive especially in the hills toward Cherry Valley. There has been so much building going on most people who haven't seen it in five years wouldn't recognize the area anymore.

Still some farmland in the area, which is good. Not all of us appreciate the concrete jungle. It is a well known fact that there are few motoring roads in concreteville.

 

I cannot believe all the building they have done in Fontana over the past few years. We used to call it "Fontucky" when I lived in the IE. Rancho Cucamonga is also pretty nice and I love the old town areas of Ontario, Upland, and Claremont.

 

Fontucky.. That's funny. My daughters were all born there. It was the Kaiser hospital way back when... I always tell them they were born in the capitol of KKK country in California. What a thing to be known for??? Then the capitol moved to Fallbrook.

 

When I was a kid the KKK used to have their annual "lighting" in Fontucky. What an event - bring the wife and kids to watch men in sheets burn a cross.

My mom used to work at that Kaiser hospital and Quicksilver (who is on this board from time to time) is the IT person there.

 

Nothing like a bonfire to get that community spirit up! Makes ya get all Cumbayaee.

Well, your mom probably had something to do with processing of records for me (at least programming the system that kept it all in order). The thing I remember most about that hospital was their security. They were very cautious back then and have become even more so now. Kaiser, really led the way for all the others.

 

My mom was actually in the radiology department takin' pictures. My friend Quicksilver (Emmanuel) works in IT.