01 / 06$770K · $300
A master planned corner of southeast Riverside, on former citrus groves.
Orangecrest was drawn up under the 1984 Orangecrest Specific Plan and annexed into the city in 1986, so the housing here is almost entirely late 1980s through the 2000s with pockets of newer construction. Most of it is medium to large single family on wide streets with generous lots by Southern California standards, zoned to RUSD schools built for the same growth wave: Amelia Earhart Middle opened 1995 and Martin Luther King High opened 1999. The trade off relative to older Riverside is that you get newer stock and modern schools rather than mature trees. Individual tracts have their own HOAs, so confirm what applies to the specific address before you assume anything about dues.
RUSD, MLK HighOrange Terrace ParkVan Buren corridor
Read the Orangecrest guide →Updated August 31, 2026
02 / 06$924K · $329
Unincorporated Riverside County: horse property, hillside lots, and two school districts.
Woodcrest is not a Riverside neighborhood in the technical sense. It is an unincorporated county Census Designated Place on the southern edge of the city, mostly A-1 or A-2 zoned so horses and outbuildings are allowed by right, and most parcels carry no HOA. The housing runs California ranch, Spanish Revival and Tudor, largely 1970 to 1999, on lots from a quarter acre up to several acres. Two things buyers get wrong here regularly. First, this is unincorporated county, not the city of Riverside, which means county services rather than city services and a different jurisdiction on almost everything. Second, the school district boundary between Riverside Unified and Val Verde Unified runs THROUGH Woodcrest, so the district for any specific address has to be checked rather than assumed.
RUSD or VVUSD by addressHorse propertyUnincorporated county
Read the Woodcrest guide →Updated August 31, 2026
03 / 06$737K · $346
Estates and hillside lots along the Gage Canal, four miles from downtown.
Hawarden Hills is one of the older established estate neighborhoods in the city of Riverside, bisected by the historic Gage Canal and bordered on the northwest by Victoria Avenue. It has ranked among the highest average property values and household incomes in Riverside for decades. Housing is mostly single family on mid sized to estate lots, many over half an acre, with streets that follow the hillside contours; architecture ranges from Tudor and Classical Revival landmarks to mid century ranch and contemporary custom builds. It is not a single planned community, though there is a gated luxury enclave on Laredo Lane and pockets of planned tract along Victoria Avenue. Zoned to RUSD, with Polytechnic High as the neighborhood high school; specific elementary assignments vary by block and should be pulled from the RUSD school locator for the address you actually care about.
RUSD, Polytechnic HighHistoric Gage CanalEstate lots
Read the Hawarden Hills guide →Updated August 31, 2026
04 / 06$748K · $340
Riverside's UC-adjacent neighborhood: mid century tract, hillside customs, and a real town center.
Canyon Crest was pulled together through six separate annexations between 1959 and 1986 rather than as a single master planned community, so the housing tells the story of its era: 1960s and 1970s tract, later hillside customs with downtown views, and dense apartment and condo product oriented to UC Riverside. The defining features here are the terrain, mature street trees, and the Canyon Crest Towne Centre on the site of the 1907 Monte Vista Nursery. Zoned to RUSD, with Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park and the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens on the neighborhood's edges. Most single family product sits in the mid $600Ks to high $700Ks, with condos and small units well below that, so the price range spans a meaningful piece of the city.
RUSD, North HighUC Riverside adjacentCanyon Crest Towne Centre
Read the Canyon Crest guide →Updated August 31, 2026
05 / 06$1.52M · $767
A master-planned city built around a university campus.
Irvine grew from a 1959 plan: the University of California asked The Irvine Company for land for a campus, and William Pereira master-planned a city around it. The city incorporated in December 1971 and is organized as villages, from Turtle Rock and University Park to Woodbridge and the Great Park neighborhoods. School assignment is by address: Irvine Unified serves most of the city, while Tustin Unified serves areas in the west and north, so confirm the district for the specific home.
Incorporated 1971IUSD or TUSD by addressUC Irvine campus
Read the Irvine guide →Updated August 31, 2026
06 / 06$1.22M · $629
Village-by-village new construction in unincorporated South Orange County.
Rancho Mission Viejo is a master-planned community in unincorporated South Orange County, built in villages: Sendero welcomed its first homeowners in 2013, followed by Esencia and Rienda, with Gavilan Ridge for buyers 55 and over. About 17,000 of its 23,000 acres are preserved as The Nature Reserve. Schools are Capistrano Unified, with Esencia K-8 open and Rienda K-8 planned. Budget for HOA dues and Community Facilities District special taxes on top of the mortgage, and confirm both for the specific home.
Unincorporated countyCUSD, Esencia K-817,000-acre Nature Reserve
Read the Rancho Mission Viejo guide →Updated August 31, 2026
