WHAT MAKES A COMMUNITY HEALTHY? First let’s define that community. For the Inland Empire, the U.S. Census Bureau includes all of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, an area of more than 27,000 square miles—nearly three times the size of Massachusetts—with 4 million residents. More conservative definitions limit the region to portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, while the most expansive descriptions include both of those counties in their entirety as well as substantial portions of the deserts beyond. Further disputes arise over the meaning and origins of the name “Empire.” Given this context, thinking about health and wellbeing in terms of “neighborhood” is quaint. Yet, as a new poll from the California Wellness Foundation demonstrates, residents of the Inland Empire, however you define it, take community health seriously. We talked to people across the region about their experiences living and working in communities from Temecula to Riverside and Perris to San Bernardino. Underlying all of the responses was a forward momentum, a shared desire for a healthier future.
Interviews and photography by Bianca Almada, Hattie Hayes, Emma Jones, and Jessica Suerth.