Irvine communities some help please

[Coldjensens]

You may want to expand your search to include Mission viejo, South Tustin, and maybe some other communities. They are all pretty much the same and most of the subbdivisions are essentially the same. Mello roos shold be cosidered, but that is just part of the price of the house, if you like the house engouh, you will pay the mello roos. It does nto impact how pleasant it is to live there. Some have more amenties like parks etc. A few like Woodbridge in Irvine have a man made pond that they call a lake (with the water dyed green so it looks pretty). Otherwise, find the house that you like rather than trying to differentiate between neighborhoods. All of South Orange County is pretty much one vast look alike subdivision development. Most of the communities have very good schools. One warning, you will want to be as close to your work as possible. Commuting here is horrible.

As far as diversity in Irvine and south, you are pretty much looking at various white cultures, a large asian population and some small enclaves of middle eastern people (I guess they fall into white as well). There will be a few hispanic familiies here and there. Frankly I have always been more concerned with whther my kids friends are good kids than whether their skin is white, brown, yellow or whatever, but a lot of people feel that it is important to see their kids hanging out with kids who have lots of different skin tones. If that is critical to you, you will probably have to look more to the Northen Cities. Even there, you do not get much of a mix. It shifts from white and asian, to white, hispanic, and asian.

You will nto find a soalr panel house community. I am not aware of any subdivision development where all the houses have solar collectors. However I do know about some individual houses that have solar systems. Most of them just have a solar heating system for thier pool water. You may find a house here or there that has some solar panels. If you want an off grid house that runs entirely on solar energy, you will probably have to get outside of Orange County where there is room for a field of solar panels. Keep in mind that personal solar power is super expensive. The sun is free, but the purchase, installation and maintenance fo the solar collector system is astronomical. It is something that you have for fun, not as a cost savings. I am not sure if they ever got goind, but at least one company was going to offer fuel cells as an option in high end houses in lieu of a third garage bay. Maybe you can find one of those if they ever started putting them in.

[Caleb22]

Originally Posted by PoisonIrvine

you better check this out before buying in Irvine: ElToroNow.com Home Page

this certainly is troubling and as usual in south OC people turn a blind eye to a major health issue as the powers that be cover up important information so they can line their pockets even more.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

find the house that you like rather than trying to differentiate between neighborhoods.

Maybe it is just me (and a lot of other people too) but I buy the neighborhood and the neighbors not the house. I can live with a house that isn't perfect (orientation, layout, upgrades), but I can't live on a busy street or with "incongruent" neighbors (not a lot of small kids or too many retired people) or with bad schools or in an ugly community (power lines, billboards).

[RobE]

For information on housing in Irvine, see this site.

[Chava61]

My brother's family lives in Mission Viejo (about 10 min. on the freeway from Irvine). My brother has 3 children. The 2 older children are in elementary school. The schools in Mission Viejo are very good and my brother & his wife are very pleased with the area and they lived before in a Mediterranean country.
Mission Viejo also has a town lake for the residents to enjoy which is very nice.

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by Charles

Maybe it is just me (and a lot of other people too) but I buy the neighborhood and the neighbors not the house. I can live with a house that isn't perfect (orientation, layout, upgrades), but I can't live on a busy street or with "incongruent" neighbors (not a lot of small kids or too many retired people) or with bad schools or in an ugly community (power lines, billboards).

I think his point is that in the areas in question (south inland oc) there really isn't much difference in neighborhoods. They all look alike.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Charles

Maybe it is just me (and a lot of other people too) but I buy the neighborhood and the neighbors not the house. I can live with a house that isn't perfect (orientation, layout, upgrades), but I can't live on a busy street or with "incongruent" neighbors (not a lot of small kids or too many retired people) or with bad schools or in an ugly community (power lines, billboards).

Yes. That is generally true. However you will not find most of these things in any of the nicer South County subdivisions (there are no neighborhoods in South COunty, just subdivisions), except the neighbor issues. Neighbors change. They move out, they get older, have kids, etc. Besides, if you do nto like the next door neighbors, you will undoubtedly like the ones two houses away. You do nto get things like rock band practices in the garage next door. If you do, the police take care of it quickly.

Thus, I would pick the house for the house, rather than for the nighborhood. If something is unacceptable in a neighborhood then work to change it. All the communities in South county are pretty much equally ugly or beautiful (depending on your viewpoint), but they are all basically the same. The people are generally the same. The schools are all generally good. There are a few excptions, obviously a young family is not going to move into Liesure World, but you typical subdivisions are all essentially the same. Thus, it makes more sense ot me to choose the ideal house.

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

(there are no neighborhoods in South COunty, just subdivisions)

Tell that to San Clemente West of the freeway, Capistrano Beach (where I grew up), the old core of Dana Point, and the Mission Hill, Los Rios, and Mission Flats neighborhoods of San Juan.

And then there are the canyons, South Laguna and Laguna Beach...

[Navy diver]

Hi Pecosbill,

Thanks for your question about solar panel houses. I am a consultant that specializes in helping people convert their home to a self-generating power station using power from the sun. The conditions in Irvine are optimal for solar power and the combination of state and federal incentives typically pay for 50% of the cost of the system. Net metering laws in California require power companies to buy renewable energy from self generating stations at the same rate they charge for it, and the amounts are averaged over the year so solar powered homes are billed for electricity once a year.

There are many competent and reliable solar contractors who are trustworthy and have a lot of experience - just be sure to get three bids. The typical return on investment time is six years, and the panels have a twenty-five year warranty, so they can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. A couple great websites are Go Solar California, and the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

Best wishes to you on your move!

[RobE]

Irvine Denies Toxic Waste Problems.

Also, check out the Irvine Housing Blog.