Moreno Valley

views updated

Moreno Valley (mərē´nō), city (1990 pop. 118,779), Riverside co., S Calif., inc. 1984. In 1990, Moreno Valley was California's fastest-growing city, with a population increase of more than 300% between 1980 and 1990, but major reductions in the military and aerospace industries brought an abrupt halt to growth in the mid-1990s. The city's economic situation has since improved. Industries include recreational vehicles, rolling steel doors, modular structures, home construction and improvement enterprises, and retailing. March Air Force Base (now March Air Reserve Base), which employed a large proportion of the city's workers and is the oldest base in the W United States, experienced a major manpower reduction in the 1990s. Part of the former base is now under development as an air cargo port. Moreno Valley is the seat of a branch of Chapman Univ. Nearby is a state park with recreational facilities.