Have a short term job offer at the airport.
Just wondering how the area is in the vicinity.
Was down around Lake Elsinore about 4 years ago,
Is it anything like that, or more congested?
Thanks

Area varies.  Look up Ontario on Google and map it.  Do satellite.  As you can see, large areas of big tiltup warehousing, etc.  that overtook mostly ag. areas, vineyards and citrus.  Northwest direction closer residential area, older, lowish income, area close to the north side of the airport Holt Bl. is crappy.  Further north, the better.  Note that also not too far north, lots of shopping and mild industry/logistics, etc., Ontario Mills, Victoria Gardens, stadium with minor league hockey and basketball teams.  Go more or less east, the area is changing slowly from the remnants of low income left after the end of the heavy industry in Fontana.

Lots of money in the area now as with economy picking up, the airport, highway and rail traffic feeds in and out of the greater L.A. basin and even San Diego through Cajon pass which feeds I15 to Nevada and Utah and points north and east and east throguh Banning Pass to feed I10 to Arizona and points east.

How short is short term?  Make sure you're accounting for CA's penchant for collecting income tax, vehicle registration, etc - depending on how long the job is you may be considered a resident by the Franchise Tax Board (income tax) and Board of Equalization & DMV (sales tax/vehicle registration)

traffic sucks, it really sucks during commuting hours.  Commuting hours seem like they are 24/7 these days..............

It's a real mixed bag.  Ontario has been around since the 1880s as a city.  Primarily agricultural, grapes, citrus, etc.  Most od that is gone.  As noted the nicer areas have been expanding.  The less nice areas include a combination of low income minority and a lot of flat ;and mountain william areas.  close to the railroads and main through roads the land was cheap and never picked up much in relative value.  As the roads, airport and freeways improved, more modern industries have moved in.  It's within a reasonable (by LA area standards) commuting distance. So lots of new housing developments on former farm lands.

There's several ranges in a short distance.  Driving out to the BLM land in the desert is about an hour and a half, if you avoid rush hour and Las Vegas traffic peaks.  You could easily find worse places.  The ski areas aren't all that far away.  Beaches a little over an hour in good traffic.  San Diego probably a little less than two hours.

If you grit your teeth some, your close enough to go to the Los Angeles professional sports teams, college sports, various entertainment venues for live theater, concerts, several good aerospace museums, east side of the Sierra Nevada about 4 hours.  Put a little effort in to it and it can be a great place, or you can easily make yourself miserable.

I just left California but spent the last five years in Rancho Cucamonga (next to Ontario). My wife also has a couple of aunts/uncles who live in Ontario. There are some really nice areas of Ontario but also some not-so-nice areas.

You can't go wrong in Rancho Cucamonga if you can afford it. A three bedroom house is about $2400/month and a 1 bedroom apartment will run you $1600-$2000/month (my sister pays $2000 for her 1 bedroom but it's a gated community). Rancho is very safe and there aren't really any bad areas. The biggest problem is mail theft. Ontario is similar but the less you pay the worse the area.

One of my wife's uncles is TSA at Ontario Airport. He commutes from Lake Elsinore.

Ontario/RC is accessible to EVERYTHING. Victoria Gardens and Bass Pro in RC and Ontario Mills Mall (which is mostly in RC but parts of it are Ontario) is HUGE. The mall has two theaters with a total of 52 screens and a single lap around the inside of the mall is one full mile. It's on both I-10 and I-15 so a fairly quick trip to both LA and San Diego. LA is about a 2 hour drive and San Diego about 2.5 -3 hours. Six Flags is also about 2 hours away and Disney about 1.25 hours.

BLM land is only about an hour away. The easiest shooting spot to find is the Hodge Road exit off the 15 heading towards Vegas. Lots of yahoos out there so keep your eyes open. Locals will tell you of better areas but they tend to keep them to themselves. Closer shooting areas are Lytle Creek which is public and West End Gun Club which is private but has nice ranges. I was a member of West End until I left.

If you end up staying long term there's good news. Both are in San Bernardino County. Not only is sales tax lower than LA County (8.25% vs. 9.8%...both suck) but the SB Sheriff is extremely pro-gun and pro-CCW. His CCW approval rating is somewhere around 98%.

If you're bringing family be forewarned the job situation is rough. The area is oversaturated. Schools are overcrowded and RC just incorporated 2,000 acres to develop residential housing and trying to incorporate another 5,000 acres with ZERO plans to add more schools. My wife and daughter struggled to find jobs. My wife ended up delivering for DoorDash and Uber Eats and boarding/walking dogs...

As much as CA sucks, it's one of the better areas to live in the Inland Empire. I'm glad to be gone from CA, but I do miss the area.

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to help out.

Make sure that you are well clear of the dairy farms/cattle. My brother lived in Ontario for a few years and even though he was more than a mile away from the dairy, the smell of cow poop/urine was unbearable. The air was thick with a manure smell.

Yeah, wind patterns are a thing.  We don't usually get it but a quiet foggy morning, sometimes.  Had a friend from Wisconsin, said it always reminded her of home.

It's not as bad these days.  Used to be that after the rains you could smell it many miles away, even where I'm at in LA County.  It's been years now since the last time I smelled it like that.  A lot of the farms and dairies are closing down and the land going fallow, or are being sold off to developers who then build a bunch of houses or condos on tiny lots all packed together on them.  It's said to see all of that agricultural land being turned into housing.  The area has changed rapidly.  My old SB/Riverside County Thomas Guide from the 2000s still shows a few dirt roads and large tracts of empty land where now there are entire neighborhoods (in what is now Eastvale).

Drive directly north on Archibald and stop south of the 210.  Lots of good places there.

Rancho Cucamonga is a nice place to live.

Thanks for all the  info!
Out here this week looking at  furnished apartments.
How is Pomona?
Found a contender,  but what do you all think it?
Crime, congestion?
Edit-> next to medical university

Western University of Health Sciences?   Crime and congestion?  Well, you found it.  There are some parts of Pomona which might be tolerable.  But,mostly, NO!  Pomona is not on Live PD because they can expect hours and hours of quiet sleepiness.

Thanks,
had the same feeling , and the sketchy people there.
Going to check out Rancho Cucamonga tomorrow.

There are a lot of rentals off of Church St. between Haven and Miliken, or that general area, in Rancho Cucamonga.  Look up Lewis Rental Communities: Santa Barbara, Homecoming, Enclave are a few of their names They are pricey, but it’s a nice area.  Lots of restaurants, shopping and close to Ontario Airport.

Thanks for all the info, again.
Looks like I'll be settling in  Chino Hills, about 3 minutes away from Prado.

That should be good.  New area for the most part.  Close to Prado - shooting and archery.  Not far from Rauhagges.  You can zip up Euclid to Ontario area, etc.  Air museums.  As you drive north up 71, more areas going in with shopping, eats, etc.  Can get a little trafficky, especially if heading south on 71 then east/west on 91.  A couple of indoor ranges maybe 20 minutes (or more) east off the 91 past Corona just into Riverside.

I’m glad you decided against Pomona. My BIL lives there. His neighborhood is full of pit bulls and gang-bangers.

He shot a local gang member who attacked him in his house the week after Christmas. Guess who got arrested? He meets all the requirements for Castle Doctrine but the prosecutor refuses to let it go. He made the mistake of asking for his guns back so they made not-so-thinly-veiled threats to prosecute him. The guy he shot is a two time convicted felon, but that doesn’t matter because they only see my BIL as the criminal (retired Army, emergency services helicopter mechanic, never had any run-ins with the law).

The only good thing to report about the whole thing is that he shot the guy in the dick.

We settled in Rancho Cucamonga but lived in Chino Hills for a while both nice.

Chino Hills is a good choice.

I shot at Prado a lot but West End Gun Club was the best range I ever belonged too.  Bit of a drive for you but check it out.

Thanks for the tip, will check it out.
One guestion I have is about the legallity of reloading.
Guys I work with say your GTG, load as much as you want, guys at Prado tell me 400 rounds max.
Interwebs are blurry to this nwebie, any help would be appreciated.

There are currently no restrictions on reloading.

Also, good luck with West End.  Wait list for membership is a few years long from what I hear.  I think even the limited membership has a wait list now.

West End says full time membership wait is five years.  Limited are available.  Google WEGC Membership for information or getting on the list.  It’s the best deal around at $240 a year.  Getting on the list is free, so it doesn’t hurt to sign up if you think you will be interested sometime down the road.  My full membership took about two years,  but I was a limited member while waiting.

WEGC has matches almost every weekend.  There isn’t a membership requirement to shoot matches.  They are listed on the WEGC calendar.

There are no limits on reloading.  Check out Phillips Reloading in San Dimas.  It’s right up the 57 near the 210.  Great guy, well stocked and good prices.  He is only open Wed-Sat.

Buying ammo is a pain in the ass.  I just had to deal with it because I’m running low on loaded rounds and don’t have my equipment set up right now.  I got rejected because I moved and had not purchased a gun at the new address.  I fixed it, but it was a useless hassle.

I started reloading because of Phillips. That place is a god-send. He always had a good supply of raw lead for casting bullets and always had a great supply of powder and primers during the Obama shortages.

West End is a great club. I have nothing but praise for the range officers. Getting five signatures for a full membership was easy, all I had to do was introduce myself to range staff and they were more than willing to sign the forms.

I went to Phillips the other day for some components and walked out with an xl750 and case feeder.

WEGC has shut down all matches and I think limited members use on Fri-Sun.  The stay at home orders and prohibitions on group gatherings made it impossible to hold them right now.  It’s still open for full time members to shoot 24/7.