Wildomar or Menifee? (Riverside, Santa Rosa, Hemet: real estate, crime, loan)

[jlcjunior]

I am currently qualified for a USDA Rural Housing loan and I'm looking at both Wildomar and Menifee. Which city is safer? Family friendly? I'd like to try and avoid HOA's and Mello Roos, do you have any areas to suggest? Which city has a lower property tax rate? Which has better schools? Thanks for all of your help in advance!

[Dallas Cowboys Fan]

I'm not really familiar with either area, but I know that they are both basically suburban communities created out of what used to be the wilderness until recently.

[calimom5]

It is a toss up. Wildomar is probably better, since Menifee schools are part of the Perris School District (bad). I live 2 miles from Wildomar in Murrieta. Great schools, and Wildomar gets the nice breeze over the mountain from Camp Pendleton. There are probably more opportunities for rural development in the north east part of Menifee (near Hemet). A lot of farms are there. I am a real estate appraiser and know these areas well. It depends on how much land you want and what to do with it. You might consider French Valley or the wine country in Temecula. Good luck.

[5599]

I'd vote for Wildomar, which is at the base of the mountains and seems to me a much prettier area. Wildomar has less shopping (you'll need to go Murietta) but it's very close to the Santa Rosa plateau, which is one of the best areas in all of southern california for hiking and bike riding.

Santa Rosa Plateau « Riverside County Regional Park & Open-Space District

[5thgenSF]

Originally Posted by calimom5

It is a toss up. Wildomar is probably better, since Menifee schools are part of the Perris School District (bad). I live 2 miles from Wildomar in Murrieta. Great schools, and Wildomar gets the nice breeze over the mountain from Camp Pendleton. There are probably more opportunities for rural development in the north east part of Menifee (near Hemet). A lot of farms are there. I am a real estate appraiser and know these areas well. It depends on how much land you want and what to do with it. You might consider French Valley or the wine country in Temecula. Good luck.

great post.

i lived in wildomar and preferred that to menifee. cooler and more centrally located. both freeways got pretty congested so that was a toss up. at the time i was there many families were moving to menifee as it had the bigger, newer houses being built. but i agree about the perris schools. it's a tougher neighborhood.

[antredd]

I have lived in Menifee for 8 years this September, and I am not trying to defend my town. But after reading what some of the posters said about Menifee, I just have to give you some selling points (in my humble opinion) as to why I think Menifee is a better place to live over Wildomar.

First, Menifee has better shopping than Wildomar. Unlike Wildomar, Menifee has a major shopping center with a Best Buy, Super Target, Old Navy, Tilly's, Red Robin, and a BJ's grand opening this August just to name a few, with more stores coming. All of these stores are in the center of town, and all of these stores were built within the city's first year of incorporation. If I am not mistaken, Menifee and Wildomar incorporated around the same time, yet Menifee has done a better job at attracting major businesses (which were much needed) than Wildomar has.

Second, Menifee is an up and coming and rapidly growing city that has nice newly constructed neighborhoods (with the exception of Sun City area), especially east of the 215 freeway where I live.

Third, even though Menifee's only High school (Paloma High School) is part of the Perris Union school district, its API or academic performance index is as high as Murrieta and Temecula High schools. Also, Paloma has the highest API in Perris Union School District which says a lot as well because Paloma High's students are mainly students who live in the City of Menifee and not Perris. It has a ranking of 10 out of 10 against similar schools with the same demographics which is very impressive. Both of my sons went to Paloma High School, and since I am a teacher, I can honestly say that I am well pleased with the high school because it is very safe and the curriculum there is very good.

Fourth, the elementary schools are part of Menifee Union School district ( NOT PART OF PERRIS SCHOOL DISTRICT), and all of our elementary schools have some of the highest API scores in Riverside county also, rivaling Murrieta and Temecula elementary schools. Until Menifee becomes a unified school district, Paloma High will remain part of the Perris Union School District even though the high school is in the city of Menifee, not Perris. But also, if I am not mistaken, Wildomar is part of the Lake Elsinore school district which has similar API rankings as the tough Perris Union School district. That alone (in my humble opinion) makes Menifee more desirable to live in terms of it having better API ranked elementary and High schools.

To me, Menifee beats Wildomar hands down when it comes to local shopping centers, schools, and nicer neighborhoods. If you are looking for a more rural place to live, then Wildomar could be the place for you too. As far as the weather, it does get hot in Menifee, which is probably not that much different than Wildomar's temperature (with both cities bordering each other).

Menifee will probably be the next Temecula and Murrieta if we continue to attract families and people with higher than average paying jobs like Temecula and Murrieta did 10 and 20 years ago. But in this tough economy, only time will tell.

Last selling point, crime is still low in Menifee, and the type of people still moving to the area are people who want to live in a city that's safe and nice with well maintained neighborhoods as well. Thus, I hope you consider Menifee to live (smile).

[BrendaBoo]

Second, Menifee is an up and coming and rapidly growing city that has nice newly constructed neighborhoods (with the exception of Sun City area), especially east of the 215 freeway where I live.

I've lived in Menifee since 02 and would definitely chose Wildomar if I was looking for a place to live now. The Menifee housing tracts are all pretty nice and are all "cookie cutter" suburban .... if you like that kind of thing. The problems are in the "up and coming and rapidly growing city" .... which is definitely not a plus. ...
The politics .... a joke ..... and traffic ..... horrendous .... and council has approved a super walmart right in the area where the traffic problems are worst. It will take many years for the infrastructure to catch up and maybe it never will, since everything is concentrated at the freeway.
I still shop in neighboring cities because it takes too long to get over the freeway and back from the east side of the 215....it's quicker to zip down to Murrieta....believe it or not.