Irvine

Your article (Dec. 1) on Irvine was interesting to me. In 1973, my then 4-year-old daughter and I moved to Irvine. It provided a clean, safe, anonymous home for us for 16 years. In my mind, however, I always called it “Beigeville.” It seemed temporary--a home, but not a hometown. I enjoyed the parks, pools, bike trails, lakes--but most of all I enjoyed the profit when I sold and moved to a “hometown,” which provides a mix of very old, well-maintained homes, new homes, a downtown, historic district, a university, an outdoor theater, Redlands Bowl--with a background of mountains, lakes, desert and a smaller population. Still missing from my picture of what a hometown should have are commuter trains! We do have a nice-looking depot--being converted into shops.

SUSAN HECHT

Redlands