Editor’s note: Larry Roberts, a.k.a. IrvineRenter from the Irvine Housing Blog, has graciously agreed to contribute guest columns while yours truly is on vacation. So while I’m gone, get to know several Irvine neighborhoods, courtesy of Mr. Roberts.
We have all heard the expression, “It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” One thing about Irvine is that it is a boring place to visit, but it’s a great place if you live there. Irvine is all about the joy of the mundane, and the happiness of daily life. Life in Irvine revolves around the time spent with family in the various activities available in this great city.
University Park is defined by the roughly triangular shape defined by the 405, Culver Drive and University Drive. Michelson Drive is the major collector street ushering people through the area. The pictures herein were taken in the neighborhood west of University Community Park and south of Michelson.
University Park is one of the first neighborhoods in Irvine. Most of the housing was built in the late 1960’s. The architecture is a bit dated, but the houses tend to have more interior and exterior space and larger individual rooms. What really sets this neighborhood in Irvine apart is the quality of the land planning. Back in the 1960’s, large master planned communities like Irvine were a relatively new phenomenon. Some innovative thinkers melded together some relatively simple ideas to create a wonderful place to live. The first of these ideas was to create a pedestrian walkway system linking the neighborhood in a way that creates a very safe place to get around with a minimum of interference from automobiles. One of the beautiful features of this community is its mature trees. It makes for a wonderful stroll down the winding pathways.
The backyard pedestrian walkway links a number of tot lots. It is quite common to see parents walking or biking with their young children to these parks. One of the unique features of these parks is their relative inaccessibility by car. If you drove through this neighborhood, you would never see these walkways or parks as they are all on the pedestrian system in the collective back yard.
Obviously, Irvine has plenty of activities to keep every member of the family active. Irvine also has the great weather to make using these activities part of the daily lives of its residents. It is easy to step out your door and walk to any of a dozen parks or play areas and invest quality time with the family. On the weekends families may take day trips to enjoy the other activities Southern California has to offer; however, sometimes they choose to have an “Irvine Day,” and just hang out at the parks and pools in our neighborhood and take it easy. It is great to live in a community with so much to offer.
For more photos see Irvine’s University Park.
Saturday…avoid at all costs the following location…
Tom’s Farms in Corona. There’s going to be a massive tax protest and although intelligence shows previous tax parties have been quite peaceful and null of violence, there is the expectation that there will be between 15k and 25k of angry, fed-up, and screaming tax protesters!
You thought the teachers were angry with the possible lay-offs, they TOO might show up in favor of no more taxes!!!