It’s that time of year: college is back in session! Every year, thousands of students choose Riverside as the place to take an important step toward their future.
Some 60,000 students are in our city on any given day attending UC Riverside, California Baptist University, La Sierra University or Riverside City College. Some have come from across the country and around the world, and others are Riverside kids who grew up here.
I know what that feels like because I was one of them.
I grew up in Riverside. I was born here, chose to attend UC Riverside and raised my family here. My siblings, however, took a different path. They left Riverside to pursue their careers and never returned.
For example, my brother had to leave Riverside to attend medical school and become a doctor. Now that UC Riverside has a medical school, I often wonder whether he would have made the same choice to leave for college if he were a student today.
My other siblings have similar stories. They were talented, ambitious people with dreams for their futures, but they did not necessarily see a place for those dreams in the Riverside of our childhood.
That has stayed with me.
I did not want my own children to feel like they had to leave Riverside to find their future. And I don't want that for the next generation of Riverside kids, either.
I want a young person who grows up in Riverside or chooses to attend college here to be able to look around and see opportunity at every turn — a great education, a good-paying career, a place to start a business, a home they can afford, and a community where they can build a life.
And I want the students who come to Riverside from somewhere else to discover those same opportunities and decide that Riverside is home, too.
Our colleges and universities give us an extraordinary foundation to make that possible. With UC Riverside, California Baptist University, La Sierra University and Riverside City College, we have an incredible range of educational opportunities developing the talent for a diverse and future-proof economy.
At UC Riverside, its innovation park, SoCal OASIS, is set to open in February 2027. SoCal OASIS is a regional economic development strategy to connect research, entrepreneurship, industry and workforce development, helping turn ideas developed in our universities into technologies, companies and jobs.
At California Baptist University, the National Security Agency (NSA) recently designated the university as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD), and students from the College of Architecture, Visual Arts and Design are working with my office on the upcoming 2027 State of the City.
La Sierra University has a strong tradition of advancing social mobility, reflected in its recent launch of a $2 million endowment to provide debt-free college education to young people aging out of the foster care system. That commitment has also earned national recognition, with the university ranked No. 1 among regional universities in the West for social mobility in the U.S. News & World Report 2027 Best Colleges guide.
And at Riverside City College, students are preparing for some of the most essential careers in our community — nurses, electricians, automotive and EV technicians, IT professionals, first responders, skilled tradespeople and many others.
Our work as a City cannot stop with educating the workforce; we also have to build an economy that gives that workforce a reason to stay.
That is why we are working to attract the industries and companies that will create the jobs of tomorrow — from clean technology and advanced manufacturing to research, healthcare, cybersecurity and other emerging fields. Riverside has already attracted several companies, such as Ohmio, Voltu and CHAEVI, to establish their manufacturing headquarters here, bringing new investment and quality jobs to our community from the electrical engineer to the automotive mechanic.
We are not just preparing people for the economy; we are building the economy for our people.
That means making sure a Riverside student can see a pathway from the classroom to a career without having to leave the community to find it.
But if we want people to build their lives here, Riverside has to be a place where they want to spend their lives.
That is why quality of life is economic development. We need great parks and recreation, vibrant arts and culture, restaurants and entertainment, gathering places and experiences that make people proud to call Riverside home.
This year, we are creating one of those experiences with the launch of the Crosstown Showdown, a new citywide tradition celebrating the friendly rivalry between UCR and CBU.
Riverside is now one of only a handful of cities in the country with two Division I universities competing in the same conference. The Crosstown Showdown gives us an opportunity to turn that distinction into something uniquely Riverside — bringing together students, alumni, residents, businesses and fans throughout the academic year.
Throughout the academic year, head-to-head matchups across multiple sports will earn points toward the Crosstown Showdown Championship Trophy, with one university ultimately crowned champion.
So as our educational institutions invest in their students, Riverside must continue investing in the community and economy those students will inherit.
That is the Riverside I want to build — a city where a young person can earn an education and build an entire life here, too.
I know what it means to leave a place because you do not see your future there. I also know what it means to stay.
I chose Riverside.
I want to build a city where more people make that same choice.
I want today's students to graduate and find opportunity waiting for them. I want them to build careers and companies here. I want them to buy homes here, raise families here and enjoy their weekends here. And I want them to look back years from now and realize that Riverside was not simply where they went to college.
It was where they found their future.
