MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Calif. — It has its own college campus, parks and stores and it’s not even a city yet... but that could soon be changing with San Joaquin County voters expected to decide on if Mountain House should become a city.
During the Primary Election March 5, Mountain House area voters will decide whether to approve or reject Measure D, incorporating Mountain House as San Joaquin County's eighth city.
“I always wanted to live here because I used to see the houses off the freeway," said James Harris. “I think it was a great place for them to have a certain level of peace and quiet and yet accessibility to friends and parks.”
It’s been a year since Harris, a Bay Area native, moved to Mountain House to raise his four kids. Since buying a home, peace and quiet have been almost everywhere, except on the construction sites popping up all around the community.
“I definitely feel like a lot of people are moving into the area," said Harris.
Drew Jacobson, who has been practicing real estate in the area after moving to Mountain House in 2008 with his family, feels the same way.
“It's been like two decades of 'the Safeway is almost here,' so the last few years have really been interesting," said Jacobsen who manages the firm Go2Realty Pros. "Now we've got a sandwich shop. We've got an ice cream place. We've got the pizza place. We've got a brewery coming in. We've got a lot of the options we've been looking for as a city that we never really had."
A subdivision currently under construction will house more than 250 families. If Mountain House becomes a city, it would already be larger than two other cities in San Joaquin County, just a few thousand residents shy of the size of the city of Lathrop.
"There are way more families that want to move to Mountain House than there are homes to accommodate them, unfortunately," said Jacobsen. "The new homes are mostly sold out."
With only seven homes currently up for sale, the market in the small community is hot, something that county officials say was projected.
“It's not surprising. It's something that we have foreseen," said San Joaquin County Supervisor Robert Rickman of the rapid growth. "Mountain House is a beautiful community. If you take a drive around Mountain House, they've done a great job planning their future growth here."
That growth, aided by strategically placed schools and parks, is only expected to increase, real estate experts say.
"As long as they're building houses, we're going to continue seeing families moving out this way and more schools built to accommodate that," said Jacobsen. "There's a lot to love about Mountain House and the proximity to everything."
While Harris has some concerns about too much growth, he believes that the small-town spirit that brought him to the growing community will help sustain it.
“I just think if you put good energy, quiet energy, and community energy then I feel like good energy will be around all the time," said Harris. "You'll attract what you're going to attract."
If voters approve Measure D, the year-long transition period to make Mountain House into an official city will start July 1.
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