OPINION:
Recently, news articles appeared describing the 10 safest U.S. cities with 100,000 or more residents. One of these cities shares its city limits with my own hometown of Temecula, California. The other is Murrieta. Together these cities have a population of nearly 250,000.
Granted, these two cities are among those with higher median incomes. Their percentage of residents with high school diplomas has also been described as well above the national rate, contributing to more success later in life. Yet both cities are diversified in race, national origin and religion.
Our communities’ success, however, is not owed as much to who we are as much as to what we do. Most of our residents are church- and synagogue-going in what has been called the “Bible Belt of Southern California.” Perhaps this explains our good city governments, which have helped provide budget surpluses, and the Christian “Project Touch” that has helped assist the area’s needy.
Within a mile along the stretch of interstate highway connecting these two cities, one can see written upon a mound in Temecula the phrase “One Nation Under God.” In Murrieta one can see a cross next to an American flag upon a hill. Perhaps these items also help to explain our safety rating.
BERNARD BUDNEY
Temecula, Calif.
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