I lived in the area for 6 years (and worked at LLU). I rented a place at "Parkview Terrace" in Redlands. It was really nice, one of the nicer complexes in the area. It was off Barton Road just on the Redlands side, and LLU is about a 10 minute shot straight down Barton. Downtown Redlands was a 10 minute shot straight down Barton in the other direction, so it was pretty convenient for me.
I think Redlands is by far the nicest community in the area, it's got the most stuff to do and has a lot of good places to live. Most of the faculty and other staff I worked with at Loma Linda lived in Redlands, if that means anything.