It took 34 years for me to finally leave the city I learned to love, defend and fight for. I was born, raised and tested by the surroundings of Pomona, but my family and I bought a house in Riverside. For the first time in my life, I will call a different city my home, and it makes me feel like a transplant.
We went from the 39th most populated city in California to the 12th, according to California demographics. Our new home is still a stranger to our sense of direction. My best friend is still a GPS, and I still need to find a dentist.
Through writing for The Raincross Gazette, I’ve slowly gotten to know Riverside, its policymakers and its people. Yet, if I were traveling and someone asked me where I was from, it’d be hard for me to say the Inland Empire’s heart.
Growing up, I defended Pomona as a member of an elite city group like my life depended on it.
“You’re from the IE, huh?”
“Do you know how to read a map? Pomona is an L.A. County city — we host the county fair!”
Karma is a dish best served cold, because now I have to serve a life sentence telling people I’m from one of the biggest cities in the IE.
Riverside. The Side. Rivvy. The city of arts and innovation.
It’s an uphill battle, but I will eventually get there.
The other day at the “Cheech” Marin Museum, I met a lovely lady who wanted to take a picture with me and other writers from The Riversider and The Raincross Gazette.
She kept saying, “I want to take a picture with Riverside, this is Riverside,” as if I personified the city. It felt like she tattooed the raincross on my neck and baptized me with the water from the nonexistent river in the city.
Ouch. The little Pomonan boy inside of me was crying. I can feel the Pomona Queen grabbing her cornucopia and whacking the crap out of me. With every blow from her, she’s beating the P-town out of me.
I still visit Pomona. My family is still there, but something shifted. Every time I make a trip to the city that raised me, it feels a little less like home and more like a layover on my way to my destination. The distance from the city has created a feeling of disconnect.
Pomona taught me everything I know through its educational system and the streets. I learned to advocate for myself when the district made an error that would have stopped me from going to college. I learned to walk the streets and avoid gang territory. I learned to talk to the cops when being stopped for no reason.
Now, my kids will live a different life. My kids will be from Riverside.
On my birthday, my wife and I took a trip to downtown Riverside and the Cheech art museum. There was an exhibit called Echo en Park Avenue, which is a neighborhood in Riverside.
“This art would mean more to us if we were from here,” my wife said.
As we settle in and create our nest here, the art will mean more to us. But for now, I’ll continue to be a transplant.
Anthony was born and raised in Pomona. After a decade in education, he now writes for Southern California News Group, LA Times, and LA Taco. He recently moved to Riverside with his wife Evelyn.
