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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD PAGES
Click on the cities and neighborhoods below for descriptions of life in these Los Angeles areas.
Developed by the Irvine Co. in the 1970s to support the UC Irvine community, it has become a desirable community for families in Orange County. Irvine gets high marks for its proximity to business districts in upper Orange County and Los Angeles, its top-rated public school system and its efficient city services.
Meticulously plotted out by Los Angeles architect William Pereira and Irvine Co. employee Raymond Wilson, the city is divided into townships, or villages, each with its own distinct architectural style and commercial center.
The city center, a collection of high-rise hotels and office buildings, appears like a glistening metal-and-glass shrine to the high-tech and telecom businesses such as Toshiba Corp., AT&T Corp., Gateway Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. Although the collective atmosphere is more office park than cosmopolitan hot spot, residents rave about the quality of the outlying neighborhoods and the convenience of South Coast Plaza, the university and John Wayne Airport.
In the neighborhoods, the schools distinguish themselves at all levels. Teachers employ innovative and creative teaching strategies, and the students routinely get Academic Performance Index scores above 800. Because many students are first- and second-generation Americans in upwardly mobile families, they tend to be highly motivated and generate much of the academic momentum themselves.
Ninety-two percent of Irvine residents feel safe shopping in the city and 61% rate the quality of life as "excellent," according to a recent survey by True North Research. The biggest problems the city faces, according to the survey, are congestion due to its popularity, and housing prices, which have risen steadily in the last five years.
The median price for single-family homes was $655,000 in March 2007, compared with $375,000 in 2002, a 75% rise, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Although there are condominiums and town houses available in the $500,000-to-$700,000 range, the majority of three-bedroom single-family houses start in the $700,000-to-$900,000 range. Villages such as Woodbridge and Northwood in the "triangle" area north of the 405 and 5 freeway intersection tend to be starter-home areas offering 1,800-square-foot ranch houses. In the North Park and Turtle Rock areas, buyers will find larger four- and five-bedroom homes in the $1-million-plus range. At the top of the market, Shady Canyon, an exclusive community in the hills, offers multimillion-dollar estates and houses celebrities, including baseball's Mark McGuire.
