Moreno Valley, California

1882 Valley First Settled: Frank Brown established the first settlement in the valley, which served as a small agricultural community growing grain and raising livestock for decades.

1918 March Field Established: The U.S. Army established March Field as a WWI aviation training base. It grew into March Air Force Base during WWII and the Cold War, dominating the local economy.

1984 City Incorporates: Moreno Valley incorporated as a city with about 50,000 residents. The affordable housing boom of the 1980s had already begun transforming the desert landscape into tract housing.

1990 Population Explosion: The city's population surged to 118,000, more than quadrupling in a decade as families priced out of coastal Southern California moved to the Inland Empire.

1993 March AFB Realigned: March Air Force Base was realigned to March Air Reserve Base under BRAC, reducing the military's economic footprint but freeing land for civilian development.

2000 Logistics Industry Arrives: Major logistics and distribution companies including Amazon began establishing enormous warehouses, taking advantage of cheap land, proximity to the ports of LA and Long Beach, and highway access.

2006 Housing Bubble Peak: Moreno Valley was among the hardest-hit cities in the subprime mortgage crisis, with home values crashing and foreclosure rates among the highest in the nation.

2012 World Logistics Center Proposed: The controversial 40-million-square-foot warehouse complex was proposed, sparking intense debate about jobs, air quality, and truck traffic in the community.

2019 March Field Air Museum: The March Field Air Museum continued drawing visitors to see its collection of historic military aircraft, preserving the valley's aviation heritage.

2023 Population Exceeds 216,000: Moreno Valley's population continued to grow, making it the second-largest city in Riverside County and one of the largest cities in the Inland Empire.