# Murietta, Riverside County



## SLR (Aug 17, 2015)

My partner and I looking at Murrieta as a possible location to move to from the UK with our one year old. 

Rental prices seem reasonable, crime stats look good, etc. but there is only so much info you can glean about a place online. 

Is there any advice anyone can give about the area? 

My partner's job will require him to travel all over Southern CA by car. No particular area where his work is concentrated. Are the transport links/traffic congestion an issue?

Thanks


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

SLR said:


> Is there any advice anyone can give about the area?


On the negative side of the ledger, southern California's air quality is not as bad as it used to be, but it's poor by U.S. standards. It's roughly on par with major European cities that are also battling their air quality problems. Southern California (and much of the western United States) is in the midst of a long term drought that will likely require ongoing lifestyle adjustments, like restrictions on washing your car and watering your lawn.



> Are the transport links/traffic congestion an issue?


Yes, traffic congestion is a fact of life in that general part of the U.S. (and in several others). Murrieta, California, has very limited public transport options. There are a couple limited service RTA public bus routes that stop at the Walmart in Murrieta, and you can transfer onto Metrolink trains from those buses, but that's pretty much it from what I can tell. Murrieta is not the first place you'd choose if you want good public transit options.

Rather than dwelling on hypotheticals, are you considering any other areas to compare? There really is no _perfect_ place to live, and people vary a lot in their preferences.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

I live in Poway, just about 25 miles south of Murietta.

Murietta has developed over the years as a dormitory town for workers both in the San Diego and south Los Angeles areas. There are many new residential areas and, while the housing boom has certainly curtailed, new areas are being opened up all the time.

A *big single family home* area, with pockets of apartment and town home areas. Therefore new shopping plazas and schools have sprung up in the areas.

It is served by the I-15 highway which can get very busy at peak commute times.

Public transport is not good - no train service as far as I am aware and buses are local rather then inter-city. Everyone uses their cars.

Personally I think it's a new town in the middle of no-where. Not really LA, not really San Diego - but homes are much cheaper than these two central areas and people are prepared to commute because of this. 

Even though Poway is not a hub of activity it's got more going for it than Murietta and is closer to the coast and the city of San Diego.

Have not noticed the bad air quality and with regard to watering your lawns - who needs a lawn? Water restrictions are a way of life now.

Are you looking to rent initially?

Have not noticed the bad air qualify myself and with regard to watering your lawn - who needs a lawn. Water restrictions are a way of life now.


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## SLR (Aug 17, 2015)

Thanks for your replies. 

We'd prefer to live somewhere where we can walk to the shops, on a night for meals, drinks, etc. - not have to drive everywhere but my partners basic salary is $62,000 before tax His actual salary is likely to be much higher but we daren't assume and overstretch ourselves initially. Also I'm not willing to compromise on a secure garden for our dog so apartments are out really. 

Because we have no preferred area to live in relation to my partner's work, it feels like a stab in the dark trying to find somewhere we'd like in such a large area. We expect that we'll take a year lease, and then move again once we've been able to check things out in person. 

We've been trauling endless 'best places to live' type lists and just scoping out the type of properies and prices in those areas in the vain hope that something will grab us/fit the bill. I appreciate that this is woefully inadequate &#55357;&#56883; but hoped to get some sort of idea before asking advice. 

So for example we'd read on numerous sites Southpark and La Mesa, for example had independants shops & restaurants, was small enough/laid out in such a way that walking would be ok. That being said you don't know what info online is accurate..:-/


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Unless you live in the centre/downtown of any town/district you are not going to be walking to shops, restaurants, night out etc. Suburbs are usually sprawling places but people are prepared to use their cars in order to get the larger homes and lots.

I know Southpark quite well. An older district of San Diego city so you are talking small, older homes, small lots and very built up. Here you can walk to some shops and restaurants; popular with couples, singles, urban types. Don't expect a garden for the dog or child.

La Mesa is east of the city - personally not keen on anywhere east of the city.

If husband is travelling all over SoCAl it might be more convenient for him to be looking in the North County area (Poway, Escondido, Tumecula and places west) to lessen his journey time, as opposed to down south in San Diego itself or surrounding areas.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

You can get an _approximate_ idea of a particular residence's "walkability" using Walkscore.com. On average Murrieta -- it's two Rs, one T -- has a walk score of 25. However, parts of the "Historic Murrieta" neighborhood, such as near Town Square Park, score much better. But there's no substitute for on the ground investigation because your personal score will be different depending on what you like and don't like. No Web site can judge for you whether it's better to have a hardware store across the street than a coffee shop, for example, much less the quality of the hammers and the coffee they sell.

As for air quality, the American Lung Association gives Riverside County (where Murrieta is located) "F" (fail) marks across the board based on hard EPA air quality monitoring data. Riverside County averages 97 "ozone days" per year, for example. This just isn't in dispute -- the facts are the facts. Plenty of people put up with the poor (by U.S. standards) air quality, of course -- southern California is very popular! -- but it's not the first place I'd recommend if you have asthma, for example. You avoid some air quality problems by choosing a residence that's some distance away from major traffic routes such as interstate highways and high traffic streets, but that can be difficult to do.

That's not to say that Murrieta (or elsewhere in southern California) has poor air quality relative to where you're coming from. There are certainly parts of the United Kingdom with their air quality challenges. And that's not to say that air quality is "very" important or equally important to everyone -- it isn't. But it's one of the negatives -- the air quality, on average, is lower than the U.S. average. Whether that matters or not, and how much it matters, is about personal preferences. And if you _must_ be in southern California then its air quality is just part of the package.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

My wife and I have lived in Murrieta for the past 14 years. We love it here. Very clean city, very low crime rate, affordable housing, excellent schools. Murrieta has a population of 105,000 and the metro ( Temecula Valley ) population is 450,000. We have lived in Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, San Diego, San Francisco Bay area, SE Florida, Seattle, Portland OR, Phoenix AZ. We have visited 46 states.

There is NO problem with air quality in the Temecula Valley. Riverside county is a large county and Murrieta is in the SW corner.

We spent a lot of time researching where we wanted to retire before deciding on Murrieta.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

JohnSoCal said:


> There is NO problem with air quality in the Temecula Valley.


I'm sorry, but that's just factually incorrect. Here's but one recent example (and relatedly this notice).

Now, if the comparison is with the rest of southern California, perhaps Murrieta compares quite well. But claiming there's "NO problem with air quality" is at least hyperbole. Check the data, that's all.

I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not trying to promote any place over another. As it happens I live in Singapore, and Singapore also has its challenges with air quality primarily in the form of smoke from tropical rainforest and palm plantation fires, mostly started by humans, blowing in from Indonesia. But I choose to live here, and if people ask I tell them what the data actually show. If they want the purest, cleanest possible air on the planet, neither Singapore nor Murrieta are good choices, although there are worse choices. (I'm thinking of you, Delhi. )


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

BBCWatcher said:


> I'm sorry, but that's just factually incorrect. Here's but one recent example (and relatedly this notice).
> 
> Now, if the comparison is with the rest of southern California, perhaps Murrieta compares quite well. But claiming there's "NO problem with air quality" is at least hyperbole. Check the data, that's all.
> 
> I don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not trying to promote any place over another. As it happens I live in Singapore, and Singapore also has its challenges with air quality primarily in the form of smoke from tropical rainforest and palm plantation fires, mostly started by humans, blowing in from Indonesia. But I choose to live here, and if people ask I tell them what the data actually show. If they want the purest, cleanest possible air on the planet, neither Singapore nor Murrieta are good choices, although there are worse choices. (I'm thinking of you, Delhi. )


The example you have cited was when there was a wild fire in the area. That happens in many places. British Columbia Canada had severe air quality alerts all last summer because of fires all over the province. This is not a usual occurrence there nor here. The official air quality is for the county, not Murrieta specifically. We are protected from the rest of the county because we are in our own valley.

You are making a judgement about a city on the other side of the world from you.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

JohnSoCal said:


> You are making a judgement about a city on the other side of the world from you.


I'm not judging anything. The decision about where to live is highly personal, and I would never presume to decide that question for someone. Everybody has different preferences and weights those preferences differently.

That said, I believe in facts and data. I hope we can agree that "NO problem" is not a fair, accurate characterization of the air quality data.


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## SLR (Aug 17, 2015)

I have to admit I'd taken the 'NO problem' comment to mean the air was normalish, satisfactory, the usual for CA not that it was immaculate as such anyway, but thanks for the clarifications. 

Thanks everybody for your help.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I think we can assume that the OP is capable of distinguishing between a statistical presentation of conditions and an assessment by someone who actually lives there. Thank you, John, for sharing your "on the ground" assessment.
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

BBCWatcher said:


> I'm not judging anything. The decision about where to live is highly personal, and I would never presume to decide that question for someone. Everybody has different preferences and weights those preferences differently.
> 
> That said, I believe in facts and data. I hope we can agree that "NO problem" is not a fair, accurate characterization of the air quality data.


There is a lot of information available on the net. Statistics as many and as biased as one can ask for. Have you ever lived in Murrietta? Have you ever been there for a while?

I am concerned about OP's approach with amenities which are a must at a base salary of 62k gross for a family of three plus pet in Cali.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

twostep said:


> Statistics as many and as biased as one can ask for.


Oh come on. You must be joking. Ozone, PM2.5, PM10, etc. are what they are, and there's a lot of air quality sampling. You can actually measure this stuff quite well. CARB, EPA, and their local partners do.

Do you think the barometric pressure, wind direction, and wind speed readings taken at Murrieta's general aviation airport are biased too? Seriously?


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

twostep said:


> There is a lot of information available on the net. Statistics as many and as biased as one can ask for. Have you ever lived in Murrietta? Have you ever been there for a while?
> 
> I am concerned about OP's approach with amenities which are a must at a base salary of 62k gross for a family of three plus pet in Cali.


Referring to California as "Cali" is an absolute NO NO. It is as bad as referring to San Francisco as "Frisco". Cali is a city in Colombia.


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

This thread is becoming absurd with somebody's obsession with air quality. Trust me, it is not a problem in Murrieta.

The fact is that Murrieta and Temecula are great places to live with a reasonable cost of living.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

JohnSoCal said:


> This thread is becoming absurd with somebody's obsession with air quality. Trust me, it is not a problem in Murrieta.
> 
> The fact is that Murrieta and Temecula are great places to live with a reasonable cost of living.


...... and considering the OP's husband is travelling all over Southern California a good central location as any.


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