Temecula, Ca | Top 5 Reasons to Move to Temecula, Ca

The city of Temecula has been growing very rapidly.  Today we are going to be talking about the top 5 reasons that so many people are moving to Temecula and we are starting right now.

Hi I’m Jessica Genung with Active Realty.  I am Realtor & 10 year resident here in the Temecula/Murrieta Valley.  Every week we put out a video telling you everything you need know about living and moving to the area.  So you know the drill, Like comment, subscribe and most importantly, hit that bell icon so you can be notified when we post a new video! 

Lastly, we LOVE to hear from those of you who are considering making a move to the area.  We’ve been helping lots of folks relocate here and are always happy to help answer any questions you have about the area and talk about how to get you started on a home search.  Call, text, email, even send a carrier pigeon, however you like!  Shoot us a message.

Getting to our topic. Let’s step back in history for a minute. In the 1980s, The I-15 corridor between the greater Los Angeles area and San Diego was completed and the subdivision land boom began.  In the 1990s is when the population of Temecula really started rapidly expanding. Many families began moving to the area from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County (insert map) drawn by the affordable housing prices and the popular wine country.   I grew up in the neighboring town and Fallbrook and I remember when there there was nothing here and it has been very exciting to watch it grow over the years.

According to the census taken in 2000, the population of Temecula was about 58,000.  Today, 20 years later in 2020, the population is about 115,000.  Basically doubled in 20 years.

Obviously Temecula has become a very popular town to move to.  Here the Top 5 reasons to move to Temecula. 

 #5 The weather! Temecula is often characterized as a Mediterranean climate. 75 percent of the year, the weather is absolutely amazing here.  Today we are in the middle of winter in February and the weather is forecast to be 72 degrees today.  The general daily weather pattern is morning mist, warm and sunny midday, cooler afternoon ocean breezes, and cooler nights.

We do not get snow.  Well there was this one time.  In the 10 years that we have lived here, it snowed once.  Here is a picture.  I live in the neighboring town of Murrieta and this is a pic of my backyard at the time.  This was a very exciting event for our town.  Pretty hilarious actually. 

Because this NEVER happens here, people of all ages were outside lining the streets playing in the snow.  They were sledding down “hills” on boogie boards…you get the picture.  So pretty much no snow.  We occasionally get rain, but not a ton.

We do get hot in the summer.  I always get asked about the summer weather: is it Phoenix hot or Palm Springs hot? No it’s not Phoenix, Vegas or Palm Springs hot, or Florida hot for that matter.  It’s a dry heat.  Average summer highs are in the 90s and it does get over 100.  Sometimes for a week or 2 at a time, the high will reach over 100, then we normally get a break for a week or so, then it can cycle back.  It does cool down in the evening.

You will need air conditioning during these heat waves, and there is about 1 week a year that you will likely want to run your AC even overnight to be comfortable.  Larger homes the area, typically above 2,500 sq ft will actually have 2 AC units.  One for upstairs and one for downstairs.  Our home has 2 units, but we are normally not running them both at the same time, just for the floor that we are hanging out in.

A lot of homes in the area have a whole house fan.  My husband Chris is slightly obsessed with them (insert BitChris). He thinks they are the greatest invention ever.  If you are not familiar, here is what they look like.  They are big fan that lives in the attic.  You open up a door or a window, even just a few inches, turn on the whole house fan, and it sucks the outside air into the home and pushes it out through the attic.  And it makes very quick work of it.  So after the sun goes down and the temperature drops below 80 degrees, is when we normally turn on our whole house fan. Like I said…Chris will check the temps and as soon as it is 79 he “Commences the Whole House Fan Process” or whatever he says.

You can run them on low through out the night, or use the time function and have it turn off after 2 or 4 or however many hours.  They are much more energy efficient than running the air conditioning.  If you home does not have a whole house fan, you can have one installed for about $1,500.  Unlike big homes needing 2 AC units, you normally one need 1 whole house fan to cool up to about 4,000 sq.ft (with varying fan sizes etc). Whole House Fan Commercial Over!

#4 The top ranking Temecula Unified School District.  I use the webside GreatSchools.org for getting information on school ratings.  Here is a map of all of the schools in Temecula that rated 8 or higher.  There are quite a few including the only 10 in the area that I am aware of, which is Great Oak High School in south Temecula.  Even if you don’t have children or school aged kids, high ranking schools has a positive effect on your property value.  So it doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure.

#3 The #3 reason to move to Temecula is the Natural Beauty of the area.   The Temecula Valley spans a 32 square mile area which lies to the west of a coastal mountain range.  It’s about 22 miles as the crow flies to the pacific ocean.  The landscape of Temecula is very attractive, with rolling hills and lots of homes with view lots. In the winter, the snow-capped peaks of Mount San Jacinto and Palomar Mountain, as well as Mount San Bernardino and Mount San Gorgonio to the north can be seen all around town.

There are quite a lot of walking trails that are maintained by the HOAs and the City of Temecula all throughout town that are beautifully landscaped with lots of trees and greenery.  It’s especially pretty and green after we get some rain.  My favorite thing is the surrounding mountain views.  It’s very pretty.

#2. Things to do within Temecula.  There are countless things to do within the city of Temecula on any given day.  Not to mention all the things to do that are within a 1-1.5 hour proximity of Temecula.  That video is on my list, but I need a lot more time to get into that.  So within Temecula, you have a wonderful Old Town with lots of great shops, restaurants, and small businesses.  Lots of Specialty Shops for example, the Temecula Cheese Shoppe, Olive Oil tasting, and a really fun speak easy just to name a few.  Old Town is full of culture as well including the Old Temecula Community Theater, Temecula Valley Museum, and for the kids, Pennypickle’s Workshop which is a children’s museum.

Besides Old Town, you have over 40 wineries as well as a growing brewery presence as well.  Temecula wine country is a favorite of locals and has also become quite the destination for visitors.  There is lots of wine tasting of course and great restaurants where you can enjoy brunch, lunch or dinner with fabulous views.  Wine country often has events, activities for kids as well as live music in the evenings.  There are also concerts, cooking classes, horseback riding, hot air balloon rides of course (Temecula is known for that), several fabulous spas and more.

The wine tours are really fun by the way.  You can go with a group around on a bus, they normally make around 3 winery stops and often include lunch.  Always something happening in Wine Country.

The huge Pechanga Resort & Casino located in south Temecula if you want to try your luck gambling: they have slots, table games and bingo.  They also have many many restaurants, a hotel, like 5 pools, lots of entertainment events, an RV park and a world class golf course.  There are many golf courses in Temecula to choose from if that is your thing.  Lastly, there is the Promenade Mall if want to get in some shopping.  It’s quite a nice mall with lots of shops and many restaurants to choose from as well.

#1 It’s affordable.  Affordable and nice as I always say, which don’t usually go hand in hand in SoCal.  If you are into a good value, the Temecula area is your place.  The median home price is currently about $480,000.  If you are trying to buy a home in neighboring Orange County or San Diego with that budget, you aren’t going to get much.  Maybe a condo?  Maybe.  I recently read a stat that in neighboring Orange County, over 40% of listings are asking a million dollars or more.  If you take that million dollars out here to Temecula, you can buy a mansion pretty much.  You don’t have to be rich to enjoy the wonderful lifestyle that the Temecula area has to offer.

That wraps up my top 5 reasons to move to Temecula.  Even if you are only just THINKING about Moving to Murrieta or Temecula, please give me a CALL, send a TEXT or EMAIL even a Carrier Pigeon.

Did I miss any of the great reasons to move to Temecula?!  I had to pick just 5.  What are your favorite reasons for Living in Temecula and Moving to Temecula? I have actually had a few local residents comment to me to stop telling everyone about this great area because it’s getting more crowded.  But the secret is already out and you can’t hide a good thing.  Thanks as always for watching my video and I’ll see you on the next one!