University Village Riverside — Attraction in Riverside

Fall 2018 I was fortunate to spend a few days in class at beautiful University Village, attending professional development courses for the University of California, Riverside 🏫 Plenty of photo-opps, thoughtful quotes, and palm tree & water fountain sightings were available during breaktime 😊🌴⛲ There's even a palm tree covered in vines looking like a Christmas tree in UCR's Lot 60 that I uploaded to this location 🌴🌲

Fast forward to 2024, it is still a nice plaza, now with plant-based fast food! 🍔🌿 When taking classes at UCR my parking permit was via Transportation and Parking Services, but if stopping at University Village for takeout, I understand the first 2 hours of parking is free. This means that you take a ticket upon entry and insert upon leaving, and because of the time limit plenty of parking is available.

"Life is uncertain, eat dessert first," -Ernestine Ulmer

"People who love to eat are always the best...

Parked, got an ice cream, and validated the ticket. After we tried to leave ~30 minutes later, the ticket was 'not readable' by any of the machines. We contacted the attendant via the 'help me' button and tried to explain our situation. Once it was clear to them that we were using the machine correctly, that it was the ticket itself that seemed to be the problem, they just hung up on us without saying anything. We called back and they immediately hung up. We ended up paying full price just to leave.

If you must come here by car, do not park in their...

This place has taken a dive. We have not been in the area for a few months as my daughter is a student at UCR and she was out of class for summer. Between end of spring classes and start of fall classes the cleanliness has declined drastically. There is so much trash and debris on the sidewalks and parking areas. The sidewalks and walkways themselves look like they are not cleaned or washed and don't bother walking by that crab place as it smells like sewage....