County Is Home to High-Tech Firms
* I was impressed with the accurate, balanced and comprehensive reporting for the July 10 story about University Research Park, but I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of depth and inaccuracies that characterized the preceding story on July 9, “Dreams of High-Tech Glory Passing O.C. By.”
With very little in the way of hard data, the story was heavy on opinion and light on fact. It painted an inaccurate picture of the region that was named by Forbes magazine this year as the seventh “best place for business and careers.”
In fact, out of the 200 metropolitan areas ranked in the survey, Orange County was rated as the second-most diversified high-tech economy in the U.S., tied with Silicon Valley and San Diego. Los Angeles was ranked 19th and San Francisco was 26th.
Orange County attracted 40,000 new jobs in 1999. Since 1997, the area has attracted more than 100,000 new jobs. Similar growth is expected in 2000.
The Irvine Spectrum is home to more than 2,700 companies, which employ more than 50,000 people. Nearly 1,000 of these companies are technology-oriented; the others fall into equally important and diverse clusters, including the automotive sector. Twenty-five of the 2,700 companies in the Spectrum are Fortune 500 companies.
The July 9 story claimed that this region is home to no “blockbuster” companies. Broadcom, with a market capitalization of $10 billion, would most certainly disagree.
Contrary to the article’s accusation that “UC Irvine’s high-tech enrollment has declined 7% since 1995,” the reality is that in engineering and information and computer sciences, UCI increased enrollment by 41% and 81% respectively in the last 5 years.
As a community developer, the Irvine Co. recognizes that life after work is also an important consideration for corporations’ site selection process.
Being close to shopping, entertainment and the arts enhances residents’ quality of life. The July 9 story focuses on the lack of meeting places in and around Irvine’s technology centers.
Irvine Spectrum Center, a 500,000-square-foot entertainment, dining and retail center, offers employees in the Irvine Spectrum unique retail stores, 25 restaurants and Edwards 21 Cinemas and the Edwards IMAX 3-D theater. Additionally, the surrounding communities of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach offer superb retail, dining, cultural and recreational opportunities.
Irvine shouldn’t just be measured as a stand-alone community. This entire region offers attractive opportunities for people who choose to locate anywhere in the county.
RICHARD G. SIM
Group President, Investment
Properties, the Irvine Co.
* The concern over a perceived shortage of high-tech businesses in Orange County is looking for a problem where none exists.
People and goods move freely across counties; it is difficult to tell where the boundaries are. Thus, any economic expansion or decline is felt across the six counties of Southern California.
We should welcome the fact that one industry does not dominate our economy. It has been less than 10 years since we saw how a downturn of a dominant segment--the aerospace industry--negatively impacted the welfare of entire communities.
Orange County started as a bedroom community for residents who did not want to live in Los Angeles. Even today, many choose to raise families in smaller neighborhoods while commuting to their jobs in larger urban centers.
This lifestyle decision is highlighted by the planned communities of South County, where residents prefer neighborhoods with soccer parks and bike trails to all-night coffee shops and trendy restaurants.
The strength and attractiveness of Orange County should not be narrowly measured by the businesses that left, but by the residents who came and who call this place home.
HANNA HILL
Irvine
