October may be a month of many bounties–Halloween, of course, the
slight possibility of a string of less than 90-degree days, National Cookie
Month and “Eat Country Ham” Month among them – but this year
October has also brought good news and good press to Temecula and
Murrieta, both named as two of the fastest-growing and safest cities in
the United States.
Per Business Insider, which ranked the top #13 safest cities in America,
Murrieta comes in at #4 and Temecula is #2. The study used number
of violent crimes per 100,000 people to arrive at its rankings. “Violent”
crime here includes “murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated
assault (http://www.businessinsider.com/safest-cities-in-america-2011-6).
BI states that Murrieta experienced only 95 violent crimes
and one murder while Temecula experienced just 72 such crimes and
no murders. A number of other California cities also made the list,
including Irvine, coming in just ahead of Temecula at #1. (Thousand
Oaks is #12; Orange is #10, and Simi Valley is #8).
This news may come as no surprise to residents, many of whom flocked
to the valley for the very reasons and qualities that put these closely
neighboring cities on the proverbial map in the first place. But for those
utterly unfamiliar with or perhaps only slightly so, these designations
could spur an as-of-yet unpredictable number of relocations.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Temecula and Murrieta also appeared
rather high on the Wallet Hub’s list of 2014’s fastest-growing cities in
the U.S., occupying spaces #208 and #114 respectively. Several nearby
San Diego cities also made the cut, including San Marcos, coming in right
below Temecula at #213, Chula Vista (#161), and San Diego city proper
(#186). WalletHub used various metrics to arrive at their rankings,
which are identified as those cities “that have expanded most rapidly in
socio-economic terms between 2008 and 2013”
(http://wallethub.com/edu/fastest-growing-cities/7010/).
Comparing the two lists, we find that nearly half of the safest American
cities are also among the fastest-growing, so a correlation is quite
probable. In addition to Murrieta and Temecula, they are: Thousand
Oaks, CA, Surprise, AZ, Bellevue, WA, Cary, NC, Frisco, TX and Round
Rock, TX.
Thus, eight of the 13 safest cities are also some of the fastest-growing;
unsurprisingly, then, a number of these cities also made it onto
WalletHub’s 2014 list of Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers –
Murrieta sits at #119 and Temecula at #129. Let’s hope these results
spread quickly and travel far, contributing to a stellar 2015 for local
agents. If all else fails, it’s still National Pizza, Seafood and Popcorn
Popping Month, and we still have Bologna Day (the 24th)
World Pasta Day (the 25th) , and, uh, Mincemeat Day (the 26th)
to which to look forward, so there’s that.
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