While most of the city's land area is devoted to residential areas, Rancho Cucamonga, like its neighbors
Ontario and
Fontana, is a major center for the
logistics industry in Southern California. This is due to its proximity to two
interstate highways and
Ontario International Airport, and the space afforded by the large tracts of former agricultural land in the southern section of the city. In the area around Milliken Avenue, between Archibald and Etiwanda Avenues, Foothill Boulevard, and Fourth Street, about seven square miles of land are primarily occupied by numerous massive distribution centers, and even more, smaller manufacturing companies. This area is ringed by office parks, mostly along Haven Avenue, and shopping strips, such as the Terra Vista Town Center (part of a nearly two-square-mile master-planned community in the center of the city), and malls, such as
Victoria Gardens, and the
Ontario Mills, across Fourth Street in
Ontario. The city is also home to a
CMC Steel (formerly Gerdau, formerly TAMCO Steel)
minimill, the only producer of
long steel in California. This mill recycles ferrous scrap, such as junked cars and appliances, to produce
rebar. The city hosts
LoanMart Field (formerly known as The Epicenter), a minor-league baseball stadium, home of the
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The Quakes' mascot, Tremor, is a "Rallysaurus."
Victoria Gardens Victoria Gardens is a
lifestyle center near the eastern end of the city, at the intersection of Foothill and Day Creek Boulevards. Since the city had never developed a traditional commercial
downtown like neighboring cities Ontario and
Upland had, efforts were made in the design of Victoria Gardens to bring elements of more traditional and urban town design to what had historically been a suburban city. While retaining many characteristics of traditional
shopping malls, such as large anchor stores, a food court, and vast parking lots and garages, the smaller stores are arranged as city blocks in a grid of two-lane streets, featuring lush landscaping and metered "teaser parking" in front of the stores, which open onto the sidewalk. There are two "
Main Streets", which run from west to east across the center. Running from north to south between them is a pedestrian axis leading from one of the
Macy's anchor stores, through a "town square" between a pair of mixed-use office buildings, to the
Victoria Gardens Cultural Center, which contains the Lewis Playhouse (a 570-seat
theater) and a branch of the city library. The east side of the development has Southern California's first
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World superstore; the facility includes a Tracker Boat Center and the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant. There are restaurants throughout the center, both well-known chains and unique eateries. The center also features a 12-screen movie theater.
Top employers According to the city's 2023 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers in the city are: ==Government==