Temecula is a poster child for pandemic migration within California (yeah yeah, we see you Sacramento). It is a beautiful place, amazing sunshine, great homes and schools, and outdoor adventures galore, but it comes at a notable discount to the San Diego/Los Angeles markets. The median home price is just below $700k and if you’ve looked on the coasts you know that’s a nice deal. It’s a brutal commute to either big SoCal cities if you have to go every day but if you’re a pure wfh’er or just have to go in a couple days a week this should be on your shortlist. 


SoCal at a Discount

The Best Thing About Temecula?

If you were to find yourself in Temecula without a job you're in a pickle. There’s a big casino, and a big school district but not much tech or any other growth industries. The Inland Empire is famous/infamous for its warehouse industy but those are tough gigs and for most just temporary employment. Needing a job while living in Temecula for many means having to commute to San Diego (60 miles) or LA (90 miles) and those are not midwest miles, those are brutal Southern California grind-miles. Most who do that commute find a way to leave the house at 5 or 6 am and return by 3 or so to avoid the worst of it. Regardless, it’s something to consider when looking at living here. 


Job Market/Commute

The Worst Thing About Temecula?

Temecula is a suburban city for sure. But it’s distance from LA and San Diego means it’s one of those crossover places that has its own lifestyle rather than just a classic suburban appendage. It has a downtown called Old Town, an historic district that looks like a scene from an old western movie, but its also experiencing growth as the city builds out its infrastructure to support an influx of wfh’ers and work from home most-of-the timer’s. The lifestyle is increasingly more like a rural growth city than a suburban tract development and so locals enjoy more of what’s local than what’s available at a distance. Young professionals would find it boring but families and DINKs looking to buy and have some social life amidst great and more affordable housing like it here. There is tons of outdoor space both in town and nearby so you and the kiddos can live a healthy lifestyle. [**Palomar Mountain State Park**](http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=637) and [**Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park**](https://www.ocparks.com/caspers) are in your backyard so a short drive gets you stunning hiking, biking, camping and general outdoorsy play every weekend you’re in the mood. 

Temecula also has tons of in-town parks, like [**Temecula Creek Trail Park**](https://temeculaca.gov/), with beautiful open spaces for kiddo and doggo play, and hiking and biking paths for more serious unwinding. The schools are excellent and the town has enough restaurants and pubs to keep the kids full of burgers and the parents full of vino and brews. 


Lifestyle of Temecula

The schools in the Temecula School District are excellent, receiving an A on [**niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/temecula-valley-unified-school-district-ca/).  Families that bail on LA or San Diego are thrilled to pick Temecula as a less expensive alternative for this very reason. There is some variance in the quality/scoring of the schools, with some weakness on the western side of town so if you care about that kind of think check your neighborhood carefully. 


Schools in Temecula

It’s simple. Affording a home on the coast is out of reach for most people on the planet. Temecula ain’t cheap but it’s way more affordable than LA/San Diego or the rest of coastal California. If you’re a family that wants to buy a home, set down roots, and send your kids to excellent schools then write to Temecula and escape. 


Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Why You Should Move Here Now?

Harveston is a beautiful planned community in the northern part of Temecula. Families love it because it is safe, quiet, and has a wonderful lake with a great walking path that runs just about a mile. Perfect for an evening stroll or maybe a few laps for you go getter 10,000 step types. It also comes with an Olympic-sized pool with its own cabanas and a clubhouse for refreshments and events. Locals can bring guests so your kiddos can bring along a pal or two for a weekend play date. There are also every kind of sports field available for organized leagues and just weekend baseball or soccer games. Finally, you the area also has easy access to the Promenade Mall so shopping, meals and drinks are in the neighborhood when you want to stay really local. 

Schools for the neighborhood include Ysabel Barnett Elementary, James L. Day Middle and Vista Murrieta High School, all A-rated. 
Homes are right about at the middle of the typical home price for the city with a median listing price of $750k. 



Families

Harveston

Meadowview is a great choice for families who want to live rurally but not be out in the boonies. It’s an odd neighborhood in that it’s right in the center of town but feels like it’s 50 miles outside city limits. it has 23 miles of walking, biking and horse-riding trails. It feels very much like an old-school western equestrian community, and the lot sizes, paths, and high percentage of horse ownership make it legit. Even though it has that rural vibe it also has amazing amenities via a community clubhouse, two pools, a spa, sports courts and not shockingly an equestrian center. There’s also a wonderful park for the kiddos to play and those aforementioned miles of trails. 

Homes in the neighborhood are mostly custom-built, with big lots and gardens and not so shockingly given the equestrian culture, horse facilities. Schools in the neighborhood are excellent, with Rancho Elementary, James Day Middle and Chaparral High School the zoned order of progression. Homes here run higher than in other neighborhoods and the median listing price is ~$900k.


Meadowview

Morgan Hill is one of the fancier neighborhoods in Temecula. Not surprisingly it's built on rolling hills that provide beautiful views of the area and the homes are built with massive windows and balconies to delivery those views. Everything is bigger in Morgan Hill, including the hills, the homes, the trees and the lots. Some locals note that while the amazing homes and blocks are wonderful, it’s the proximity to the many vineyards in the Temecula are that really provides the zen experience those who live here love.

As with most communities in Temecula, Morgan Hill has a large clubhouse to serve the locals. This includes an event space, billiards room, fitness center, pool and spa and tennis courts (pickleball is sneaking in) and playground for the little beans to play. If you’re living here you and your beans will not lack for outdoor play options. Kiddos here go to [**Tony Tobin Elementary**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/TTES), [**Vail Ranch Middle**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/VRMS), and [**Great Oak High School**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/gohs), all A-rated choices. 
The large homes in the neighborhood are often Spanish style, with the striking clay roof tiles and are more expensive than other areas with a median home price of $1.1m. 


Morgan Hill

Red Hawk is the largest and most populated community in Temecula. It’s also one of the few neighborhoods without a community center (and smaller HOA fees) but it has so much else to offer most are happy to live without the amenities. One of these things it has is the [**Redhawk Golf Course**](https://www.redhawkgolfcourse.com/). 7,000 yards of championship golf, with tons of different membership types that give social experiences to those looking for more than just golf. You also get the [**Redhawk Community Park**](https://temeculaca.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Redhawk-Community-Park-33) and Redhawk Dog Park. The community park has 15 acres of walking trails and open spaces, sports facilities including softball/baseball and basketball, playground space and most important to some, the Redhawk Dog Park (let’s go Rover!). 

Redhawk is broken up into many different smaller communities, some open and some gated, but all part of the overall community. Like a large college with plenty of smaller organizations you can join, these smaller communities give a big neighborhood a greater sense of belonging to something special. 
The homes in Redhawk are a better value than other neighborhoods with a median home price of $735k. 


Red Hawk

If you want your family to have easy access to the most amenities in all of Temecula then check out Paloma Del Sol.  The center has five swimming pools and spas, three lit tennis courts so you can play at night in the summer when it cools off, three basketball courts, open green spaces for kids and dogs to play, and even a Frisbee Golf Course right in the Central Park. If you want your kids in a hugely communal social neighborhood you could hardly do better than Paloma del Sol. 

Many of the kids attend [**Paloma Elementary**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/pes), [**Temecula Middle School**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/tms) and [**Temecula Valley High School**](https://www.tvusd.k12.ca.us/tvhs), all excellent public options. Homes in the neighborhood are less expensive than other areas with a median sale price of $615k and sizes generally smaller, between 1,500 - 2,500 sq. ft. 



Families/DINKs

Paloma del Sol

Temecula

**Living in Temecula?**

I commute to Irvine 1x / week. Leave at around 6am, get there around 7:15am, pretty easy drive.

Coming home, I try to leave around 3:30pm and get home around 5:00pm - 5:15pm. Any later and it turns into a 2 - 2 1/2 hour drive.

Temecula is really located in the best area North of San Diego, East of Orange County, and driving distance to LA if you ever wanted to go there.
There's a lot of outdoor opportunities, and especially outdoor opportunities within 30-45 minutes.

Schools are some of the best. The only better ones in the area are private.

Every time I go to Irvine, I'm glad I live in Temecula. We moved from that area. The people are just different. I really feel like people are tired, stressed, and exhausted and it shows in how you are treated. Temecula still has a lot of small town feel, but with nearly all the amenities you would want.

I'm a real estate agent in the area, so let me know if you have any questions on the housing market, it's been a bit interesting as we get a lot of people moving from San Diego etc.



**Living in Temecula?**

Me and my wife 30 years old moved from Huntington Beach, same county as city of Irvine and million dollar homes in both cities, we were able to buy a house for half the price here last year and much bigger than what u get in Irvine/Huntington Beach (Orange County). Everyone is super nice and welcome. Very close to all the winery and hills everywhere! A lot to do out here from indoors to outdoors!!!

Not a big issue for us but summer get real hot like high 90’s to 110 for maybe 2 months. But houses comes with AC and lots of tree in the neighborhood which keeps the house cool for most of the daytime.

Community is well organized and built. No mixing apartments with houses. All separately. Many trails and each community have several parks within them.

We drive back to Irvine, Tustin, and brea (all Orange County) city’s under 1hr15min.

Maybe only Con: lots of traffic during rush hour but that’s everywhere in Cali.


**Thinking of moving to Temecula—thoughts?**

We moved here from SD in 2021, and are moderate-progressive. I have found some amazingly normal people in my neighborhood in because a lot of them are commuters like us and came from LA, SD, and even Canada. More and more, people are moving here from liberal spots. Join us!

The community is very lovely, and the schools have great ratings. Our kiddo isn’t school age yet, but he’ll be starting a Montessori program in our neighborhood in august. And the elementary school is also in our neighborhood. We have a baby sitter who lives around the block from us, and a lot of young families around. We have neighbors that do lawn chairs in the driveway to hang with us. And the holidays are full of excessive decorations - very fun hah!

If you find a neighborhood that has what you want, you will be able to find some like minded people.

**Moving to Temecula California PROS and CONS 2023 EVERYTHING You NEED To KNOW!**

Temecula, California

Napa South

Looklyloo Score: 80

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