Corona isn't a bad place to live in SoCal. It's the first city just east of Orange County. It's only about 20 miles/30 minutes from the Big A. It's part of the IE, but it's sort of an outlier, IMO. Doesn't seem to have all the methheads and shit like Riverside. I moved here from Huntington Beach because it saved me about $500/mo in rent. It's still not cheap, by any means, but it's relatively close to all the major cities and attractions and it's cheaper than most places in Orange and LA Counties.