<p>I don’t know much about the CS departments, but I can tell you about the general feel of UCR, and bit of UCI. UCR is my home UC, and I have many friends who go to that college. The campus is decent, and it’s fairly quiet. There’s restaurants and a movie theater nearby, and a few small malls maybe ten or fifteen minutes away (if you’re driving), but for anything else fun, you’ll have to drive on the freeway to get to. At night, the area does get suspicious, and it’s probably wise not to venture outside your dorm/apartment unless you’re driving somewhere. Riverside is basically a half hour or a full hour car drive from anything really fun (amusement park, beaches, snowboarding). I also have friends who go to UCI, and they seem fairly happy, as long as you have access to a car/bike to go to fun, off campus places on the weekend.</p>