I have heard very good things about Riverside as well. It is one of my two choices for my professional flight training, and i'm going to visit in a few months time. My instructor offered nothing but praise for Airways (who he trained with).
SoCal App: As for doing JAR training in the states, you can do a JAR-PPL with CAA licenced FTOs and JAR ATPL Theoretical Knowledge, but as far as I know (correct me if i'm wrong!) you cannot do pure JAR commercial flight training above PPL level. So, us Brits come to you in the states to do our FAA licences first and then convert to JAR as it is much cheaper than doing it pure JAR in the UK
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