I know this had been discussed before, but the old discussions are years old and doesn’t really shed much light on the question, UC Davis versus UC Riverside.
I’m transferring from CC in Santa Barbara in mechanical engineering. I think either school would be a great choice academically. I’m married and 34 years old, so I’m not looking for the “college experience”, so the fact that Davis is more of a college town isn’t a big factor. I guess what I’m most interested in is the environment. Both academically and physically.
So here’s my question to you all: where would you rather attend and why?
Thanks for the input!
One man’s opinion…
At 24, 34, 44 or 54, I’d choose to live in Davis vs Riverside. It is a nice, family friendly community with outstanding public schools, pretty nice weather and Davis has a somewhat better academic reputation.
There isn’t much traffic, and you could easily get by without a car if you live in the student dense area around campus. Rent is surprisingly high in Davis, you could rent a place in Woodland, West Sac or Vacaville for much less = but, then you’d need a car. Sacramento and the east edge of the Bay area are big employment centers so, your spouse probably could find work readily without a big commute.
Riverside is part of the LA megopolis which translates to traffic, lines and smog. There are many places to live and for your spouse to work if he/she is so inclined. If you plan to stay in SoCal after graduation, local internships and jobs would be attractive.
Davis for its academic reputation and living environment. I much prefer a smaller town like Davis than the congestion of Riverside.
UCR’s campus is very nice along with very good academics but given the choice, UCD definitely. As @NCalRent noted, Davis is a very family friendly town. Great downtown with restaurants and shops. Close to Sacramento and easy access to places far and wide with SMF airport. Very good job opportunities in the surrounding area. 1-1 1/2 hours to the Bay area and 2 hours to Tahoe so plenty of outdoor activities along with Wineries and microbreweries (if you are into these) to visit.
Traffic in town and near Sacramento is not great but in comparison to Southern California, definitely bearable. My husband and I visit our older son often (4th year at UCD) and love the area. We actually liked the area so much we recently acquired property about 45 miles North east of Davis for our future retirement.
Good luck with your decision.
Another vote for Davis!
CUrrently at Davis for the dd2’s graduation.
Beautiful trees and town! My mother is along for the ride and loves the growth of the trees.
Davis definitely has the stronger ME reputation in the bay area. I looked at both when I was picking a ME school and thought Davis was a much better choice for me.
I agree with those who posted above; Davis is definitely better than Riverside.
Although I am only a high school student, I can definitely tell you that the Davis area is more family-friendly, as @NCalRent mentioned above. I’ve visited both areas and have friends in both areas. Those who live in Davis are definitely happier than those in the Riverside, for the aforementioned reasons. 
Davis is a much better place, at least in my opinion; although I am only a teenager, I must say that I would prefer Davis over Riverside anytime. 
I would agree with the others that UCD is the better choice. UCR itself is a very nice campus but the surrounding area and smog aren’t very great to those looking to live near UCR. A couple of other aspects to consider is which school is giving more financial aid and what are the student to faculty ratios for your major. I don’t know if UCD has a large amount of ME students but I do know that UCR has a very strong and small engineering department. I’m inclined to think that there aren’t very many ME students as well at UCR so that might be something to consider. Since you’re transferring from a CC though, I doubt you’ll have that much debt so I say UCD. I go to UCR and although I love this school, I have to say I think UCD has the edge.