Victoria Gardens is the general name over the Victoria Gardens shopping center and the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center located next to one another in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
The Shopping Center is an outdoor mall owned and operated by Forest City Enterprises. The architecture reflects an older period when the Rancho area was primarily farmland and speakers throughout the mall play 1920's era Jazz. Like many shopping centers, Victoria Gardens has stores for clothing, technology, candy, food, jewelery and furniture. Included on the edges of the mall is a movie theater, a Toby Kieth's bar and a steakhouse by the name of Lucille's which features live music in it's lounge. As with all malls, Victoria Gardens also has a few retail black holes. The shopping center is filled with customers of all ages but is primarily visited by people in High School. Recently it seems to also attract crowds of Middle School students as well. Hidden away in the Main Plaza are office spaces. The Plaza itself is the location of various events including a family movie night. It also has a rotating set of landscape decorations including a massive Christmas tree. In the event of trouble the City Police have a small station within the mall and can be seen patrolling the streets on occasion. As with many places, the mall offers free WiFi to all patrons but it seems to have a data cap for each user.
Before it was opened in late 2004, the only other mall in the area was Ontario Mills. Since then, each mall has developed its own place in the larger county area. Victoria Gardens is known to people in a wide area as being the best mall to hang out and walk about in. Ontario Mills is generally seen as a better place to do actual shopping.
Connected to the mall on it's north side is the Cultural Center. The Cultural Center features one of the cities two Libraries as well as a Performing arts center which hosts a variety of theatrical productions. Also connected is a Celebration Hall, which is available for rent. While in the same colors as the mall, the Cultural Center, owned and operated by the city of Rancho Cucamonga, does not mimic the older style of architecture. In between the mall and Cultural Center is an open area which also hosts events, including an annual Star Wars day. The Library offers WiFi under the guidance of the city and does not seem to have a per user data cap.
On a more personal note, Victoria Gardens can be a lovely place to spend the day. The ambiance is pleasant, the mood relaxed and much of the mall is pretty to look at. For those over the age of 21, many of the restaurants are open after the mall's normal hours and serve alcohol on the premises.