"Like any large, Riverside is both a community and the home to many smaller communities, such as extended families, neighborhoods, schools, religious institutions, ethnic organizations, youth groups and diverse affinity associations.

A key to Riverside's future will be our ability to develop a balance between unity (a collective sense of community) and diversity (the inevitability of smaller communities)" -- Building an Inclusive Community

Providing a city that offers comfort and opportunity for all is a core community value and to this end Riverside recently developed and published "Building A More Inclusive Riverside Community Statement," which is currently endorsed by 47 community organizations and embraces the principles of inclusiveness for all peoples. Committed to distributing the city's economic wealth equally to all city residents, Riverside has many innovative programs in place using its city libraries. For example, in order to give all its residents a chance to compete in the new economy, the city developed Cybraries.

These unique community computing centers are helping to reduce the digital divide by providing computer access to low-income children and their families and by certifying applicants for computer ownership through the Riverside Computer Investment Program. Cybrary programs also bring together college students from the city's three local universities and low-income youth needing help with school assignments and computer instruction. At the Casa Blanca Family Learning Center, the Teen League, a cadre of teen volunteers, learn how to use library resources and assist staff with maintaining the facilities. The Libraries are Safe Places program provides refuge and referral to youth in need of assistance. The County Nutrition Services Women Infants and Children program promotes library use and provides client incentives to attend library story hours and parenting classes. And County Medical Association pediatricians hand out books and prescriptions " To read to your child" provided by the public library's Let's Read program.

Riverside is an active partner in the sister cities movement, maintaining strong and active relationships with six international cities: Sendai, Japan; Ensenada, Mexico; Jiangmen, China; Gangnam-gu, Korea; Cuautla, Mexico and Hyderabad, India. Activities include connecting the University of California-Riverside campus with a Korean satellite.