Irvine Works to Stay Young

Being over 30 isn’t old, but even then age can begin to show. A certain shabbiness can start to set in. That’s why in January, after another new year tolls in, Irvine is scheduled to consider ways to stop the aging process seen at some of the community’s earliest structures and neighborhoods to prevent them from becoming run-down. Some of those neighborhoods, like upscale Turtle Rock, even preceded the city’s incorporation on Dec. 28, 1971.

Thirty might not seem like a very old city, especially when the county has cities well over 100.

But worrying about aging seems in keeping with Irvine and is especially important in a community that not only is still growing but also has a history of being well-planned, well-manicured and usually ahead of the curve.

Irvine was conceived as a planned community that, by design, didn’t want to become an urban eyesore beset with the problems of many of its sister cities in the county. No community, of course, can entirely avoid that, but it is to Irvine’s credit that it keeps trying.

It worries, for instance, that the three pools at Heritage Park Aquatics complex are deteriorating. And that in some areas landscaping needs to be redesigned and retail districts spruced up. But more than worrying about aging, the city is doing something about it.

So far, Irvine has set aside $50 million in a separate endowment fund. In the next 10 years it expects to double that amount. Mayor Larry Agran expects the fund will generate $6 million a year that the city can use for such projects as resurfacing older streets and keeping its community centers in good condition.

Irvine’s maintenance efforts are being directed at the older neighborhoods, so that their looks don’t, as some city officials fear, prompt newer residents to refer to them as “that older part of town.” That’s only part of the equation.

Residents in those areas, as well as throughout the city, also must be part of the effort and be dedicated and diligent in keeping their yards, fences and other property in good repair.

To help accomplish that, city planners are suggesting that programs be created to assist low-income families in the older neighborhoods to make needed home improvements. That kind of approach can help prevent the imbalances seen in many communities between lower-income and more-affluent residents.

It’s an approach well worth following, not only by Irvine residents but by other communities in the county that are equally intent on preserving the quality that made living in Orange County so attractive in the first place.