Temecula CA., the EDGE of the Empire!
Written: Aug 25 '04
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Pros: The weather is great, centrally located, rapidly appreciating real-estate values! Did I mention the weather?
Cons: The people, real-estate values, traffic, road conditions.
The Bottom Line: A better place to visit, than to live. Please don't move here... come golf, visit the Vegas-style casino, taste some local wine, or any number of restaurants, then go!
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| mattgordon's Full Review: Inland Empire |
I relocated to Temecula Calif., from Olympia Washington. Although I grew up in neighboring Orange County, the majority of my adult life (20 years...1980-2001) was spent in Washington state. Perhaps those years in sleepy Olympia, influenced both my decision to move to Temecula, and my opinion of this town 3+ years after arriving. Read on.
Temecula, is on the very southwestern edge of huge Riverside county, one of two major counties comprising the "Inland Empire" or IE of Southern Calif. Temecula abutts Northern San Diego county, and to the west, the eastern most edge of Orange County, not too many miles as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. We are in a valley with the city of Murrieta immediately to our north, and Fallbrook (Avocado central!) to the south and west of us.
Temecula is a town that has only been known as such since 1989, formerly known as "Rancho California". It's mediterranean climate supports numerous vineyards and wineries, boasts lots of golf courses, and some very hot summertime temps. The marine layer from the Pacific often times is quite beautiful as it curls up, over and down into this valley across the mountains separating the area from Orange county's coastline.
There are numerous large ranches, horse related recreation and business is huge here, a throwback to when Temecula was a wide spot in the road and a stopping point for the Butterfield Stage lines in the 1800's. Nevertheless, pick'em-up trucks with horse trailers and hay are not at all uncommon here. Pick'em up trucks with high-performance dirt-bikes, and lifted several feet off of the pavement aren't uncommon sights either. Don't forget the biggest, shiniest wheels and tires credit can buy either...that's a "must" here.
Economically, a major Indian gaming resort (Pechanga Resort & Casino), a medical heart-stent firm are the area's biggest employers. Of course there's a mall, numerous car dealerships (Temeculinos, like most other Californians LOVE their cars....myself included.) a couple-hundred restaurants (yup, a couple hundred and growing every week) several manufacturing firms, wineries-golf courses, and of course construction firms galore keep the wheels of commerce turning here. The Inland Empire is a major hub for warehousing and logistics, but Temecula's economy is not directly related to that.
Temecula has 75,000+ people, and about 70,000 vehicles! Every family has at least 3 cars, a motorhome, several dirt-bikes (which they let their kids ride up and down the street!) some jet-skis, and of course the requisite parking issues that come with. Spend 3-400,000 bucks on a home, and decorate it with some great cars and "stuff" in the driveways, on the sidewalk, in the street in front of your neighbors 3-400,000 dollar place! Temecula is NOT a pedestrian friendly town, take a car, drive your truck, whatever. Just be sure you burn some fuel. Why walk?
Recreationally, if you golf, enjoy wine-tasting and fine dining, Temecula is a great place to visit. We have "Old Town Front Street" a wild-westy type of area, largely unchanged from it's original state as part of the route of the famous Butterfield Stage lines from Yuma Az, to LA. Many, many motorcyclists consider Temecula a destination to ride to from all over, and there is a giant Harley-Davidson shop on the southern edge of Old Town Front Street that makes the mo$t of this.
Many people move here from San Diego and Orange Counties after crushing someone on the sale of their property there, and come here for the "affordable" real estate! Affordable? A plain-old tract home's gonna run you around 350,000 and up! Affordable? Not from my standpoint after years in little ol' Olympia Wa! But California real estate has long been a rarefied business, better to be inside looking out, than outside looking in! In short, for many in this town of 75,000+, this is a bedroom community as the stop and go traffic on neighboring I-15 each morning and evening can attest to! Glad to work right here...merely 2 miles from my overpriced home.
What MAY prompt, and indeed influenced me to come here, was a great school system, low (by California standards) crime rate, low (by California standards)property taxes, and ease of access to Orange, San Diego, and LA counties all within an hour's traffic, excluding traffic of course.
We can go to the ocean, mountains, or desert in a relatively short period of time, and the IE is a big patch of dirt, but the freeways typically move at 90, or 5 miles per hour, depending on traffic! When you're movin', your movin'! When you're not, it sucks.
The prospect of buying real estate here and making a big, fat killing on it is a primary goal of many, if not most who come here to live. I had no idea, my prior real estate ownership experience was in a different, minor-league altogether. My goal was to get out of the rain, be closer to the bulk of family, and enjoy the outdoors more frequently.
I'm naive. I was in shock at the cost of our new (modest, by California standards) home when we moved here, approximately double what our previous Washington state home sold for after 12 years of "appreciation". I never expected to spend what it takes to purchase a home here, but you do what you have to do. I'm flabbergasted by what others are spending now, 3+ years after I've been here are willing to pay! Especially since my home has increased some 65% in value since I bought! But, that does me no real good, here. I'd have to sell at California prices, and move elsewhere to "make a killing". I don't think people make this connection all the time, and buying-up, up, up is quite commonplace here. But so is bankruptcy.
Temeculinos (there are very few native or indigenous Temeculinos. Those that are either live on the reservation, or have hay in their pick'em-up trucks for work, not play) are very proud of the large SUV's they drive and don't let our always higher gas prices stop them.
This town has more Hummers, Ferraris, Mercedes, and BMW's per capita than you may see in Newport Beach or even Hollywood. Many kids at the high schools drive nice rides, financed by the real estate windfalls their parents may or may not have actually realized yet. Credit cards are used everywhere from Taco joints, to Starbucks, to the school cafeterias here in Temecula.
This is as close to a "boom town" as I can imagine. Help wanted signs are a common sight. Everyone's got a big, giant Suburban, Hummer or jack-ed up 4X4. To hell with the 75 dollar fill-ups! Besides, when you re-fi your home here you'll be able to pay off all your credit cards, and have enough left over to start the lease on that new Cadillac Escalade too! Why deny yourself?
Don't bother acting neighborly here. It's a time waster, cause you'll either buy-up and move, or your neighbor will, and you'll have wasted all that time being neighborly for nothing... There's no re-sale value in that. If you really want to be nice to your neighbor, you could simply strike up a conversation with the person stuck in traffic in the vehicle next to yours...probably a longer-term relationship can be had at the stoplights, than in many neighborhoods for as quickly as folks move around in search of that pot of gold here.
For recreation, or short-term profits at the expense of a sense of "community", Temecula is a great place. A place to come, try to maximize your net worth at the expense of others all vying for a piece of the American Dream. Send your kids to our great schools...but don't send them in a cheap car, cheap clothes, or with an unfashionable cell-phone!
For long-term friendships, considerate neighbors, and down-to-earth townspeople, you may find your current "hometown" provides more of that. Temecula isn't about the values of relaxation, taking a nice stroll, enjoying an evening on the drive chatting with your neighbors. It's about getting and having as much as possible, in the least amount of time, and with the least amount of effort.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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mattgordon
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Member: Matt Gordon
Location: California
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 23 members
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