Setting the Stage
Where We Have Been
Temecula grew from a small bedroom community to a regional center in its first 20 years, all the while maintaining a highly valued quality of life for its nearly 110,000 residents. Over the twelve years since the first QLMP was adopted, a number of systems have been put in place to protect and enhance the investments that were made during the City’s early years. The QLMP has been integrated thoroughly into the City’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budgeting and its Annual Operating Budget (AOB). Increasingly, the focus is to ensure that the City is able to maintain the highest quality of services for its residents and that it is building its resiliency against all types of potential future disruptions, including economic, health, and natural disasters.
Where We Are Going
Looking to the Future
As it grows, Temecula can expect to experience demographic changes, as well as continued innovations in communications, transportation technologies, and in the ways work, life, and even shopping are conducted. The next section highlights some of the “Drivers of Change” the City has identified in its planning. The City anticipates adding more than 4,000 housing units by 2028, which will increase the population by more than 12,000 residents. Many of these units will be pedestrian oriented multi-family housing in locations close to amenities such as the Jefferson Avenue Corridor, Old Town, and the Promenade Mall. Well-planned developments help to meet a variety of resident needs while protecting safety, providing smooth circulation, and offering access to the services, shopping and other amenities that are the foundation of Temecula’s high quality of life.
Drivers of change over the next 20 years
- Shifting demographics, with people over 65 the fastest growing population segment.
- Greater emphasis on health care delivery and mental health services.
- Increasingly diverse population in Temecula, with a wide range of needs for housing, employment and services.
- Evolving family structure, with more multigenerational households as well as single parent and single senior households.
- Increasing effects of climate change, including wildfire risk and drought.
- Greater emphasis on active transportation (biking and walking) and a wider variety of transportation options, particularly electric and micro mobility technologies.
- Variable work patterns.
- Evolving technology and increased internet access changing transportation systems and service delivery.
- Additional communication platforms and greater reliance on broadband infrastructure.
- Housing price pressure continuing to make it difficult for younger families and many local workers to stay in Temecula, increasing the need for smaller, less expensive (attainable) housing near amenities and services.
Our Accomplishments
Honoring our historic past while enhancing our community with the vision of a vibrant, modern city with a small town atmosphere.
Parks and Rec., Open Space, Habitat and Parklands
41 fully-equipped parks – 320 acres of developed parkland.
99% of residents within 3 miles of open space, 54% within walking distance.
7,000+ acres of open space, 29% in the City.
Acquisition of 199 acres of Escarpment & 55 acres of Temecula Creek Flood Plain.
Annexed of 4,200 acres of Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (SMER).
Created an Urban Forest Master Plan.
Senior Center & 3 Community Centers.
Diverse Economy
5,600 businesses and 62,000 jobs.
Regional retail sector with over 4.5 million sq. ft.
Top 13% in California retail sales generation.
Wine tourism drawing 3.1 million visitors annually and an economic engine in excess of $1.1 billion.
Over 2,900 hotel rooms in the Temecula area.
Pechanga Resort Casino.
Vibrant and Historic Old Town destination.
State of the Art Civic Center
LEED Certified.
Convention space for community functions and meetings.
Renewablypowered facility utilizing electricity from a solar project located in the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.
Emergency Operations Center.
Education
School District test scores rank in Top 20% in CA.
23 elementary schools recognized as “Gold Ribbon Schools” since 1995.
Mt. San Jacinto College campus.
CSU San Marcos at Temecula.
University of Redlands campus.
Accredited vocational, technical, and trade schools.
Arts and Culture
Old Town Theater with 354 seats and The Merc with 48 seats.
Award-winning Professor Pennypickle’s Children’s Museum.
Two public libraries with state of the art technology.
Temecula Valley History Museum.
Transportation
$619.8 million in circulation improvements planned between 2022-2026.
Future 17-mile loop trail.
Old Town rated “Very Walkable” by Walk Score.
48 miles of trails and 74 miles of bike lanes, with a Bikeways and Trail Master Plan to add another 60 miles.
Health and Safety
Temecula Valley Hospital opened in 2013.
Rated 16th in Public Safety nationwide.
Response times at 5 minutes or less.
Police Officer ratio more than 1 per 1,000 residents.
Government Services
Excellence in Capital Improvement Program and Annual Operating Budget Awards annually since incorporation in 1989.
20% budget reserve and 5% secondary reserve.
FY22-27 Capital Improvement Budget: $793.7M.
FY22-23 Annual Operating Budget/ General Fund: $103.4M.
178 Full-time employees.
Recreation and Community Service programs serving more than 18,000 annual participants.
1 Senior Center and 3 Community Centers with intergenerational programs.
Our Aspirations For 2040
- Continue to be one of the Safest Cities in the USA.
- Facilitating a comprehensive human services delivery system that meets diverse needs across all age groups.
- Recognized as a major “Destination” by the tourist and travel industry.
- Supporting the fair and equitable treatment of all human beings in a just society.
- Renowned for its entrepreneurial and creative economy, providing more quality jobs close to home for residents.
- A City surrounded by unscarred natural terrain and bounded by the Escarpment and Wine Country, with pristine air quality.
- Home to an expanding hospital offering state of the art medical and mental health care services.
- Supportive of higher education, integrated with the Career Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at the high school level.
- A family-oriented community with both a small town feel and urban amenities.
- A City that continues to maintain pristine landscaping at parks, along roadways and at public facilities.
- Protection of Wine Country from urban encroachment.
- A City where local history is cherished, celebrated, and protected.
- A City offering a healthy and active lifestyle for all, including seniors and those with special needs.
- A center of art, culture, heritage and lifelong learning opportunities.
- Building a resilient community by minimizing impact to life, property and the environment from natural hazards and emergency situations by maintaining a high level of emergency management planning, facilities and technology, including coordination with regional partners.
- Creating a safer community to include Murrieta Creek flood control improvements that also include trails on both banks and a major sports complex within the detention basin.
- Aging commercial corridors revitalized into vibrant mixed use centers with a variety of housing types, access to transit and urban amenities.
- An outdoor recreational environmental haven, with Temecula’s trails fully integrated with trails in Wine Country, the City of Murrieta and surrounding region.
- A model for fiscal stewardship of the City’s assets, with opportunities for civic engagement and volunteerism.
- A regional retail center offering higher-end shopping opportunities at the Promenade Mall and Old Town.
- A great location for housing choices for all ages, incomes and needs, including for families, singles, seniors and those with special needs.
- A gold level bicycle-friendly community as recognized by the League of American Bicyclists.
- Recognized as a major recreation center, offering competitive and training sites in Southern California for aquatics, tennis and other sports facilities.
- A leader in sustainability and resilience, including renewable energy, innovative storm water management, urban forest and green waste management and fire safe hardening of the built environment.
- A City with upgraded infrastructure, including enhanced connections from housing in the east to jobs in the west of Temecula, as well as improvements to I-15 and additional interchanges.
- A vibrant, safe Old Town Temecula that preserves its charming historic appeal.