Overview of Hidden Meadows

Member, Hidden Meadows Hall of Fame

Here are some links that you might enjoy:

Here is our Garden Club website --

Hidden Meadows came about its name honestly. It is a small country town, and if a town's stress can be measured by its stop lights -- we don't have any! We occupy a large area and sparsely populated area, about 20 square miles, and cellular phones don't work well in our community, but they seem to work quite well when we get back to the freeway about two miles away. We do have one four-way stop, a deli/grocery store, one attorney, a one-chair beauty shop, and two real estate offices. As a mountain meadow, our 1,200-1,700 foot altitude gives us a great microclimate above the fog-line, with abundant birds, wildlife, and temperatures that support everything from tropicals to oak trees that are hundreds of years old! A local profession horticulturist, asked at a community meeting about what grows here, replied: "Drive up your street. If you see a plant growing, it grows here. If you don’t, it won't." The truth is, it you can't grow it here, you have planted it in your driveway!

We have an Escondido address, and get water from the Valley Center Water District, but we are not part of either community. Our golf course and country club were until recently owned by Lawrence Welk, but we were never part of his resort, either -- we are an unincorporated area of San Diego County. Most people who live 5 minutes away have never heard of Hidden Meadows. Suits us fine. We are a secure but un-gated community.

The Meadows has had residents since it was the home of a Mexican bandit in the late 1700s, and has been continuously occupied since the 1860s. Our oldest resident homesteaded her property as a child in 1932. We have about 1,200 homes in The Meadows, about half of them surrounding the golf course and about half in a less formal setting. On some home sites, the ocean or the snow-covered mountains can be seen. The homes around the golf course are referred to as being "In the Covenant" because they are under a strong set of Conditions, Covenants and Restrictions (CC&Rs) controlled by the Meadows Homeowners Association. Everyone in The Meadows may belong to the Area Residents Organization (ARO), and that group organizes the social activities of the area including the Newcomers Club, a computer club, several bridge clubs and many other activities. We have a few apartments, a few condos, and many custom homes. Our homes are 96% owner-occupied. There are 203 tract homes in Hidden Meadows.

We are home to many writers and several talk-show hosts, but the writers don't write about Hidden Meadows and the talk-show hosts don't talk about Hidden Meadows. A new four-lane road recently replaced the previous winding two-lane country road, so we will not be "hidden" much longer. Although many residents have been, or still are, in charge of something, no one is in charge of Hidden Meadows. We don't have a Mayor. Don't want one either. We are officially designated a Country Town by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but we don't think any of them know where we are. Good! With any luck we can keep it that way. Our crime rate is very low -- we seldom have one burglary a year. We are a friendly and alert community and keep an eye on our neighbors' property when they are away. Our family median income is substantially above the County average.

While this is a brief description of this community, it is a very small community.If you would like a visual tour of the Meadows...click here. hiddenmeadows.opf If you do not have a "Flipviewer" -- it is free at www.flipalbum.com. The icon for the free download is right on the first page.

Crime: The Automated Regional Justice System provides a detailed map with symbols regarding types of crimes (burglary, rape, murder etc.) and that map is currently updated.

Go to www.arjis.org and navigate to Zip Code 92026, Once the map comes up, Hidden Meadows is at the top of the map – where you will note the absence of crime.

As a community we are virtually crime free, but check it out for yourself.

Additionally, you might check out the “Megans Law” database of California Registered Sex Offenders. That is at http://meganslaw.ca.gov The usual number of sex offenders in the Hidden Meadows community seldom exceeds one.

For the latest information, you are wise to check the information for yourself at the time you are interested in purchasing.
 

Fire: Residents of the Meadows are sensitive to the threat of fire, as a result of the close call from the December, 2003 Cedar fire and the 2007 massive wildland fires. The CDF Brush Ordinance is reproduced in two formats, accessible from the buttons to the left on this page. If you are on dial-up, please access the "Small Brush Ordinance" but those on  broadband are advised to access the "Copy of Brush Ordinance."

Send mail to allen@allenhemphill.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Allen Hemphill
Last modified: February 02, 2008