Paul Williams: A 35mm slide featuring the Santa Rosa Plateau, mentioned in the text, has been FedExed to your office and should arrive Monday morning.
SPOTLIGHT ON MURRIETA
The price of space and labor have been driving forces in business relocation decisions for years, and while they’re still important factors, groups working to attract jobs to their areas see quality of life issues becoming more and more influential when those choices are made.
And that’s why areas outside the urban hubs, like Murrieta in the southwest corner of Riverside County, are becoming more popular locales, not just to live, but also to do business.
When the state released its annual population estimates in early May, Murrieta popped up on the “top 10” list as the 10th fastest growing community in California.
Murrieta is part of the so-called I-15 corridor stretching from Temecula to its south to Corona on its north that has become one of the state’s hot growth areas, and not just residentially. Substantial business growth has been occurring along the corridor as well, and those quality of life features contribute to that.
Space and labor still count. Employers need affordable space and workers with skills necessary to do the job.
It’s never been all there was to site decisions, but organizations like local governments and economic development groups are being questioned more closely these days about things like schools, traffic, family amenities and recreation outlets that make for productive employees and successful businesses.
And this is where newer communities like Murrieta, approaching its eighth birthday as a city, have some advantages.
Murrieta’s population has been growing at about 6 percent a year since 1990, now at the 42,000 mark. Its neighbor to the immediate south, Temecula, has experienced growth rates somewhat smaller, but has now passed 48,000 residents. A decade ago, the two communities were less than half this size.
Residential growth has been fueled primarily by the ongoing search for affordable housing, but once folks find the place, they see a lot more than a 2,000 square foot house that sells for under $200,000.
In Murrieta, they find one of Southern California’s lowest crime rates and a place where murder and graffiti are rare and unique happenings rather than everyday occurrences.
The school district, whose facilities are new, boasts two “California Distinguished Schools” and sends 80 percent of its graduating seniors to college.
Streets and highways are not rush hour parking lots, and the air is clear enough that one can actually see the mountains.
Golf courses abound, Murrieta being home to championship-caliber facilities, including the famed Bear Creek course and the Southern California Golf Association’s Members Club. Bear Creek, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, is where Fuzzy (Zoeller) skinned “The Bear” (Nicklaus) in the 1985 Skins Game. (He also skinned Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer.)
A popular locale for bicycle racing and hot air ballooning, Murrieta is also where one can find a slice of original California. The 8,200-acre Santa Rosa Plateau, an ecological reserve that is being preserved for the ages, includes an 1800s-era adobe home and gives those who hike there a sense of what the California of old was like.
The community is encouraging business growth and has set up what city officials call “real” streamlined permit processing for commercial and industrial building projects. Many business facilities can have needed permits in hand within a few weeks rather than months and can gain these approvals without action by bodies such as planning commissions and city councils.
More than half of the area’s labor force commutes to work, most of whom would prefer jobs at home. About half the commuters are in professional and technical positions.
