You really should check out our Forums over at http://www.irvinehousingblog.com
There is a lot of great information about all of the new neighborhoods being built. Over the next few years we are going to have a feast of brand new neighborhoods to choose from, including houses Lennar will be building at the Great Park.
Personally, my current plan is to continue to rent in Westpark until 2009. My son will go to kindergarten at Plaza Vista Elementary, which is a fantastic school. Then we’ll move up to Orchard Hills or Portola Springs, or the Great Park. All new, and scenic with rolling hills, etc.
In terms of your concern about “quality of people” living in apartments, as long as you rent an IAC apartment you can’t go wrong. I live in an IAC townhouse (in the Santa Rosa complex) and I am surrounded by families, mostly Asian and Persian. I feel VERY safe as a single mom of a preschooler.
