Temecula (Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange: foreclosure, house, safe neighborhoods)

[Arlen]

We have always wanted to move to SoCal... With the crack in property prices in the area we are looking into Temecula. I visited the city a couple of months ago and really like it. I have a family and kids, so safe neighborhoods and good schools are a must. I see Temecula offers both. Although most of my family live in OC I can't afford the damn place. Plus I like my golf. I don't need to communte to work as I work from home. I seem to like Morgan Hill/Redhawk/Wolf Creek area....Lots of real nice homes in foreclosure there (yikes!! A pity)....Any advice as to these neighborhoods or others??? Melo Roos is a killer there...but I guess gotta live with it as no real options exist...my wife is an OC/Bloomingdales snob and can't believe I want to move her to IE, but I like the prices, and the fact that I can get a nice home and not burden myself excessively with a mortgage....plus I really like my wife so I can't get rid of her (or the kids)....We have lived all over the place, but currently are moving out of a real cool suburb of Cleveland (yeah believe me there is such a thing)....Help!!!!!!!!!!!

[trmc2007]

Here is the big question..

How far are you willing to commute?

How long do you want your commute time to be?

The train isnt a real option since you still have fight the 15 freeway to Corona, and have a way to get to where you work from your train station

And Temecula as safe and established as it is.. has traffic congestion on weekends thats just as bad as during the week.

I highly suggest you read posts on Commuting to OC form Temecula.

[Arlen]

no commuting for me as I'll be working from home, so that is not an issue....

[Cordoba]

Temecula is a nice place. You get what you pay for though, which is EXTREMELY hot summers and EXTRMELY cold nights. Los Angeles and San Diego are about two hours away but everything you need is in Temecula.

[orangeapple]

It is FAR from "extremely" hot or cold. People in most other states would laugh their ass off at that statement.

The coldest it will get will be just cold enough to have ice on your car if you park outside at night. That will happen maybe one week out of the whole winter. Once every 15 years we get a snow flurry that melts immediately upon hitting the ground. Most people would consider our winters very mild, rarely colder than 60-65 degrees in the day time. Not as mild as the coastal cities, but still mild.

Summer temps only go over 100 degrees maybe a few days out of the year & we consider that a major heatwave. Then at night it drops nearly 30 degrees so you can sleep with the windows open & get a nice breeze. Usual summer time mid-day temp is about 85-90 degrees or so. Considering there is a/c everywhere, it's not a big deal.

The spring & fall are perfect too. It's like 70-75 degrees, cool breeze, sunny, and the sky is still blue unlike most of the smoggy greater Los Angeles.

Your wife should be at home here...most of the people who have moved to Temecula in the last 15 years are OC & SD snobs who were out-priced in their area or wanted to take advantage of the lower housing cost here & make some money.
There isn't a whole lot to do, but it's not much worse than any other suburb, IMO.
All the neighborhoods are the same: cookie cutter upper middle class. Not much risk in picking the wrong one.

[Soccer_Mom]

I want to move to Temecula too!!!! I'm looking for a cute little house in a nice neighborhood to raise my kids. Unfortunately my husband doesn't want to commute too much so we're looking in other areas.
Temecula is still my #1 choice.

[meljoseph]

My family was thinking of moving to Temecula also. What does it have for restaurants? My husband is a chef.

[BRinSM]

He'd probably be fine if he didn't mind working at TGI Fridays. Only kidding, there should be some decent restaurants in that area due to all the vineyards out there.

[orangeapple]

Originally Posted by meljoseph

My family was thinking of moving to Temecula also. What does it have for restaurants? My husband is a chef.

It has every chain you could think of....plus a few hidden local spots, and of course the wineries have some nice restaurants. There's also some country clubs which have pretty good food.

[twinmum]

Originally Posted by Cordoba

Temecula is a nice place. You get what you pay for though, which is EXTREMELY hot summers and EXTRMELY cold nights. Los Angeles and San Diego are about two hours away but everything you need is in Temecula.

I'm not one to argue..... BUT, it has never taken me 2 hours to get from Temecula to San Diego. You can get to most of San Diego - (there is a new Bloomingdales down there) in an hour... you can also get to Orange County in an hour (provided it is not commute hours & depending on where you are going), taking the fast track or toll roads you can be to the Newport Beach Bloomingdales in an hour and 20 minutes..... but it does take 2 hours to get to LA - I have made it to Century City in 1 hour and 38 minutes using a fast pass and carpool lanes with my kids....but that is not the norm. cheers!

side note : i have lived many places and the weather here ROCKS! Not too cold nor too hot.... it is pretty much perfect and enjoyable year round, where else can you wear flip-flops 10 months out of the year? IMO