Opinion on Irvine

[Happy renter]

Hi,
Does anybody know about Ivine area? I am thinking to relocate from SD to Irvine.

Thank you for your help!

[ucodegen]

Here is a blog tracing Irvine…

http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/

[bigmoneysalsa]

Do you have any specific questions? I moved to Irvine a few months ago from the UTC area.

[Happy renter]

Thank you for the web ucodegen!

Yes bigmoneysalsa! How do you like it by comparing with UTC? Like the overall environment, people, traffic and school if you have kid. Does Irivne have any bad area? I like newer and nice area. Which parts or which communities are good for me?

Thank you!

[SD Realtor]

As you have probably read alot on this site, Irvine is lagging San Diego from a housing decline aspect both pricewise and psychologically. The 2006 behavior in San Diego will most likely be duplicated for Irvine sellers. I would advise renting up there to watch the market play out.

SD Realtor

[Happy renter]

SD Realtor, I am definitely renting rather than buying either in SD or Irvine now. I only would like to know if Irvine is a better place for me to live.

Thank you!

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

Chris Johnston

I have lived in the Newport Beach area which is right next to Irvine for over 20 years. Irvine is a very nice area, and I believe annually amongst the lowest crime rates in the country. The schools are good, and there is an absolute ton of new product coming on the market. Prices are higher by a fair amount than comparable properties in San Diego. Traffic is not nearly as bad as SD. Prices have begun to come down, but very slowly. I think your rent will be more money than what it would be in SD county by a few hundred for the same thing.

I personally like SD county better than OC which is why I am buying a house down there right now, but you cannot go wrong in Irvine.

[IrvineRenter]

I lived in San Diego (Mission Valley) from 2001 to 2003, and now I live in Irvine. Everything the previous posters said is true. There really are no bad areas in Irvine, but some are marginally more desirable than others. Like any area you move to, you should rent for a while and explore the different neighborhoods and see what they have to offer. Irvine is somewhat homogeneous, so don’t expect much difference between the neighborhoods. In fact, the only way to tell one from another is the signage. If you rent from the Irvine Company, they make it pretty easy to move among their various complexes, assuming you move up and not down. Living in Irvine is very convenient as it is a very large master planned community. Traffic in town flows well, but the freeways get congested just like everywhere else. The town itself is mostly flat, but you have mountain views all around. It is a great place to ride a bike if you are in to that.

I like Irvine, I am looking forward to prices coming down to a reasonable level. As SD Realtor pointed out, we are behind San Diego by about a year, so people are still in denial here that prices will decline at all. It is different here you know.

[Happy renter]

Chris! “Traffic is not nearly as bad as SD.” I thought traffic in SD is better than Irvine. May be you are comparing with down town SD? I live in N. County Coast where the traffic is better than Irvine and the rent is high also. You seem to like Irvine a lot, but you still want to move to SD. Why would you choose SD over Newport Beach / Orange County? I like Newport Beach a lot, but it is not that afforable and not that convenient right?

IrvineRenter! Irvine Co. only offers apartments right, but I prefer to rent a condo or townhouse. However, the apartments from Irvine Co. seem to be very nice. Is Craigslist the best source for looking rental in Irvine?

Thank you very much both!!!!

[IrvineRenter]

The Irvine Company is in to everything. They rent apartments, build houses, and build commercial properties. They build through their subsidiary California Pacific Homes. You can find their rentals here:

http://rental-living.com/

If you are looking for a rental nicer than an apartment, try First Team’s website:

http://firstteam.com/Home.aspx

Craigslist is not as good as the above.

[bigmoneysalsa]

Happy renter,

I personally liked UTC a little better, but Irvine is quite nice. There are a lot of similarities between the two such as a UC Campus, huge white-collar job center, lots of upscale apartments/condos, and an overall clean, sterile, prosperous feel.

As the others said Irvine is fairly homogenous and I wouldn’t say any area is bad. The school district is highly regarded. The crime rate is one of the lowest in the US for cities over 100K in population. The people I have met are mostly quite nice (but also more homogenus than SD). Traffic is really not an issue if you both live and work in Irvine. The surface streets are nearly always fine. If you have to get on the freeway rush hour can be fairly bad. There are nice neighboorhoods all over Irvine and if I were you I would choose something close to work.

Prices are definitely higher here than all but the nicest areas of San Diego. During my own search I found prices to be 10-15% higher than UTC on an average for comparable units. I rent in an Irvine Co apartment, and am fairly happy with them. They seem to charge a little more, but have good service, low security deposits and flexible leases. 6 months ago when I was looking there were not many good private party units on craiglist, but there seem to be more now so I would recommend you take a look.

Good luck!

[Happy renter]

Thank you for all your valuable opinions.

I drove around in Irvine to different major communities. I like the Quail Hills Community and Quail Ridge apartment homes. They are pricy, but very nice with hotel and resort quality.

I prefer private town homes, but I don’t like the floor plan. They are very compact, 1200 sq ft & 3 levels. Garages have no drive way, condos are dark inside, the stairs are right by the front door and almost no front entry.

The houses in Irvine are very expensive and compact, but I like it since the communities are pretty and organized. It’s also convenient and close to my family, .

I have the following questions if anyone can give me idea:

1. I pick the nice neighborhood, Quail Hills to rent now and plan to buy later. Does Quill Hills have better townhouses with nicer floor plan and what is the price range?

2. I know Quail Ridge is the high end luxury apartment homes. I still worry about the quality of people who live there.

3. Some houses in Quail Hills are few millions. I am a single mom. I worry about my 10 yrs daughter will be discriminated to live in apartment.

4. I will keep looking the private town home. If I don’t find any I like, should I go with the Quail Ridge?

Any input is highly appreciated,
Thank You!

[irvinesinglemom]

Hi Happy Renter,

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.

Good luck!

[Happy renter]

Thank you irvinesinglemom,

I do go to that Forums to check things out. I signed up and wanted to post my question, but it kept on saying my password was wrong.

We have to get together if I move to Irvine. I love Irvine the first day I drove to Woodbury. I went to Portola Place that is brand new and very nice. I grew up in a big city. I feel Irvine is alive with so many different cultures, opportunities, convenient and fun place to live. People are very nice, sincere and so interested in making friends.

Irvine has a lot of empty land, but the houses are still very expensive. I think a lot of people like to live there. Hope houses will decline by the time we buy the houses.

[Anonymous]

I commuted from San Marcos to Irvine. 1 hour each way, even during rush hour. 45 minutes on a good day.

[Author]

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