My Hometown

For eighteen years I have been living in a typical suburban wonderland known as Murrieta, California. I have seen it grow from a mere 24,000 people to over 85,000 in that short amount of time and it continues to grow. If one were to view Murrieta from an air plane, all that could be seen is a sea of precisely spaced houses flowing through the hills and the valley of this town . My hometown has grown from a small, sleepy town to a fast growing city of young families.

The city of Murrieta is only sixteen years only and all started with one man named Esequial Murrieta who purchased 52,000 acres of land in Southern California in the year 1873. Esequial Murrieta bought this land because it reminded him of his native Spain and he planned on moving his sheep ranch there from central California. His newly purchased land was filled with grassy meadows, oak trees, and hot springs. Shortly after purchasing the land, Esequial Murrieta handed his land over to his brother Juan who ranched his 100,000 sheep on it. In 1882, the Southern California Railroads laid tracks down linking the valley to a main train route. People came along with the trains to this flourishing town which helped create the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort in the early 1900’s. Eventually the trains ceased to run through Murrieta Hot Springs and a period of fifty years went by before another population boom occurred when interstate fifteen was constructed through the city. Murrieta officially became a city on the first of July, 1991. From then on, the population has grown tremendously along with tens of thousands of houses and buildings but has preserved thousands of acres called the Santa Rosa Plateau.

Since I have lived in Murrieta my whole entire life, I have seen it from its early days when one could go to a grocery store and know everyone to walking down the street and asking yourself if you have ever even met or seen your next door neighbor. Everyone knew everyone in the beginning and things were great. No one ever had to worry about kidnappers or drive-by shootings, child predator, burglary, or graffiti. It was one of the safest place to live because nothing bad every happened because it was such a small, tight-knit community. Now days, it still is a fairly safe place to live but the crime rate has gone up as in any large city. The more people move to this city the less people know them and the fact that Murrieta is just on big “For Sale” sign does not help. Murrieta should be known as the city of endless houses. For as long as I can remember, the city has been building new housing communities on every open lot; trying to cram in as many house as possible with non-existent backyards. Besides watching houses being built, there is basically no entertainment available for the people who live in Murrieta. There are a few sports parks, the occasional high school football game, a “haunted” mill, one movie theater, and plenty of model homes to look at. Yet other than that boredom seems to be around every corner.

I am not saying that Murrieta is a horrible place to live but it is just not an entertaining one. I have grown up my whole life in Murrieta and everything I know is there. From its small beginning, to its big booms; I have seen it all. The best childhood memories come from this town and will forever stay there; the majority of them laced with boredom. Though I do not plan on staying in Murrieta for the rest of my life, I will treasure every moment spent there.