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Politics & Government

Jefferson Avenue: Where Is It Going?

Draft vision would create an "uptown" district with a distinct identity

Jefferson Avenue, what does your future hold? Are you "uptown"? Do you firmly know who you are, and are well-dressed to look the role? Is your personality so inviting that locals and travelers will want to explore you? Is your roadside lined with industries that offer nicely paying jobs, and businesses that sizzle with success?

Temecula city and project planners have been asking everyone since last October to tell what future they'd like to see for Jefferson Avenue. Project and city planners gathered what everyone had to say in public workshops. At another community workshop Thursday, July 19, city officials will present a draft vision for Jefferson Avenue’s future. They say they’ll also recommend ways to make it all happen.

Jefferson Avenue is history in pavement. It was probably a footpath and carriage road before it became a well-beaten path between the once-small towns of Temecula and Murrieta. For years it was Highway 395, the main road for north and south travel; then Interstate 15 came along. And both communities grew into cities. Now Jefferson Avenue is considered by Temecula to be an economically vital part of the region, with its mix of retail shops, offices, and light industry.

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And the city wants the future to be bright.

The section of Jefferson Avenue that is under study runs from Rancho California Road north to Murrieta’s city limit at Cherry Street, west to Diaz Road and Murrieta Creek, and east to the omnipresent Interstate 15.  (If you missed the visioning process and workshops, you can catch up with reports, slide shows and videos here.)

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Here’s a sampling of the future for Jefferson Avenue that planners (and the community workshops) recommend:
• Create a district with a distinct image and identity, for example, “Jefferson Uptown.” 

• Develop the offices. Strengthen the existing job base and encourage job growth in high-wage sectors by  attracting high-technology, biotechnology and other  innovation/research sectors.

• Recruit a charter school or higher-education facility/satellite campus focused on science and engineering and/or arts and culture.

• Work with existing owners/developers to adapt or replace underused commercial properties with viable uses compatible with the district identity.

• Create walkable blocks, sidewalks, and plazas with easy access to retail, services, amenities.

• Plan for a variety of housing types, including Texas “wrap” or podium apartments/condominiums.

• Create public spaces that provide a venue for community activities, such as along Murrieta Creek.
Read more here.


The city is looking for feedback from those at the workshop Thursday July 19, 2012, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. at The Conference Center at the Temecula Civic Center, at 41000 Main Street, Temecula.

The next stop would be the city Planning Commission on Aug. 1, then the plan for Jefferson Avenue would go before the City Council for approval on Aug. 14, according to city planning officials.

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