There's a slim possibility that a confluence of life and work situations might lead to a relocation to Riverside county in the next couple years.  We'd have the flexibility to live anywhere in the area, my wife has particularly focused on Lake Elsinore and Murrieta. I know all about the CA gun laws, I could work around that if I had to, I'm more interested in quality of life, crime stats, general vibe, etc.  We don't have kids at home any more, so schools are irrelevant.

Thanks in advance.

It’s hot and dry. Definitely recommend Murrieta over Elsinore. Parts of Temecula are nice too. There’s plenty of dirtbags no matter where you go in the county though. Goes for the entire state at this point.

The L.A./Orange County/Coastal commute radius has grown, so what had been rather lightly populated areas along the Highway 395/I15 corridor have been filling in.  Elsinore has been a low grade resort for years, when the lake wasn't dry or all the fish dying.  However, the commute radius for Los Angeles, Orange, "Inland Empire" and San Diego so what had been an area that was low population and happy to not be too concerned about curb appeal is being overtaken by development.  I'd also lean towards suggesting looking towards newer Murrieta and Temecula over Elsinore.  Or somewhat north of the Elsinore area where it's filling in coming south from Corona.

From Temecula to City of Riverside is 40-50 miles each way.  That is a crazy commute to do twice a day in LA/OC traffic.  My advice - don't do that.

Where is work?  Where is family?  <-- just in general terms.

This would be a remote work position, so no commute.. I'm just focused on best quality of life in general.

I appreciate the input, guys.

I must not understand your situation, so may not be able to help.

If there is no commute, why restrict yourself to Riverside County?  There are nice places in the bordering Orange and San Bernardino Counties.

Mostly home prices, and the quality of life items I mentioned earlier. I’m not closed off to anything, this is just where we’re starting to investigate. This is a ways off and things could change.

If it's not too far out of the way or out of your price range, perhaps look at Fallbrook.

If the commute is not an issue, then I would look at Lake Havasu Az, or Fort Mohave.

I chose to leave Ca and bought a house in LHC Az, and it has been the best thing I have ever done.  I go to LA twice a week, or sometimes I stay for a few days, but otherwise I work from home.  It is worth the commute.

The drive from Az to Downtown Riverside area is about 3 hours.

Temecula Murietta have grown exponentially and continue to outgrow what their intended size and infrastructure were intended for. My parents live there and I lived in riverside county for many years. Its a beautiful city that's fairly crime free and clean but getting worse each time I go visit. Homelessness is running rampant and you will see bums just about everywhere outside every store and shop anywhere in the county. Wine country is nice, lots of great restaurants and stores, its centralized to LA, San Diego and Orange County so its easy to go to all sorts of different things and events which also makes it a problem. There are so many people now in the Temecula area its not uncommon for traffic to be so backed up it will take you 45 minutes just to get off the highway in either city. As far as California goes, Temecula/Murietta are probably the best spots in Socal but its very crowded and expensive.

Hemet is the way.

Care to expound on this theme a bit?

Your stats of 33 posts and living in North Dakota does not lend credibility to your post.  Is my sarcasm meter broken?

The way to what exactly?  I was not impressed with Hemet the few times I’ve been there.

Lived in Riverside for a few years after HS, before enlisting in the Navy. Family still lives there, I visit annually.

Key points:

• Traffic is nuts on all the freeways.


• It's CA, prices are high for everything.


• Riverside used to be firmly Republican, but last election it was purple.


• It's CA, prices are high for everything, and the laws suck.


• You couldn't pay me to live there ever again. No amount of money, at all.


• It's CA, prices are high for everything, and Democrats run the entire state without opposition.

Now compare these items for someone already living in the Seattle area.  Is it that much different?

It's wet in Seattle.  It's very much not wet in Southern California.  Lots of desert and off road recreation in SoCal.  Nothing like the Puget Sound, etc., for boating and fishing and the like.  One can visit the Olympic Peninsula and Cascades from Seattle.  Cross the border to British Columbia, Vancouver and Victoria.  Or, cross the border to Tijuana.