Irvine is an awesome place to live.. (San Francisco, Riverside: how much, house)

[Charles]

Why I don't want to live in an urban environment:

No delivery trucks honking their horns, or using their jake or air brakes at 6AM to hear because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No drunks from the bar puking or urinating in the alley or bushes near my home because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No light pollution from the neon signs and parking lot lights that I see because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No traffic to get to the amenities in the urban zone at all hours of the day that I have to deal with because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No homeless people sleeping on the benches within 400 yards of my home.
No convenient parking for my pickup truck because 95% of the time I will need a vehicle to transport all the goods I purchased on my errand, to-do and shopping list. (How can anyone walk home with their purchases from a grocery store visit or Home Depot visit?)

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why I don't want to live in an urban environment:

No delivery trucks honking their horns, or using their jake or air brakes at 4AM to hear because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No drunks from the bar puking or urinating in the alley or bushes near my home because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No light pollution from the neon signs and parking lot lights that I see because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No traffic to get to the amenities in the urban zone at all hours of the day that I have to deal with because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No homeless people sleeping on the benches within 400 yards of my home.
No convenient parking for my pickup truck because 95% of the time I will need a vehicle to transport all the goods I purchased on my errand, to-do and shopping list. (How can anyone walk home with their purchases from a grocery store visit or Home Depot visit?)

Man without all that stuff life just sounds boring to me. I guess we are all just different people, and to me Irvine will always be the everlasting gauge of how boring a place can be.

BTW Charles the reason I live in a townhouse with a HOA is because I cannot stand going to Home Depot..lol. I've owned 2 houses...and going to Home Depot every weekend is not fun to me.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mach50

I guess we are all just different people

Yep, I think this is ultimately the bottom line.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why I don't want to live in an urban environment:

No delivery trucks honking their horns, or using their jake or air brakes at 6AM to hear because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No drunks from the bar puking or urinating in the alley or bushes near my home because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No light pollution from the neon signs and parking lot lights that I see because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No traffic to get to the amenities in the urban zone at all hours of the day that I have to deal with because I live a walking distance away from retail.
No homeless people sleeping on the benches within 400 yards of my home.
No convenient parking for my pickup truck because 95% of the time I will need a vehicle to transport all the goods I purchased on my errand, to-do and shopping list. (How can anyone walk home with their purchases from a grocery store visit or Home Depot visit?)

Who needs to walk? Best way:


most practical:

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mach50

Who needs to walk? Best way:


most practical:

Even more practical

[Mach50]

[Mr. Fantastic]

Originally Posted by Mach50

Maybe not, but I did live there for 2 years...and it is no secret that 5, 405, 55 and 91 are all parking lots. Everything in Irvine is distributed, there are barely any mom and pop stores to be found but big box stores all around...which means driving to each.

So fill in the blanks for the average Irvine dweller (educate me):



Of course not everyone does all of these things, but even a few will add up. Unless you just hang out in the house??

I actually live in Mission Viejo, but I lived in Irvine for 3 years before buying a home. Here's how I remember my 3 years there.

Time in car to/from work: 0 Seconds. I telecommuted.

Time in car to/from store after work: I grabbed groceries every so often from the Ralph's on Main and Harvard. That took 2-3 minutes TOPS to get back to my home at the time.

Time in car to/from park (kids): I walked to the basketball courts on Paseo Westpark. That took maybe 5 minutes.

Time in car to/from library (kids): Don't have kids.

Time in car to/from school (kids): Don't have kids, but there is an elementary school on Alton literally 2-3 minutes away that I always pass by.

Time in car to/from friends: This depends on where we are going. If I am going to their homes, one lives in Deerfield (5 minute drive), and another in Woodbridge (5 minute drive).

Time in car to/from restaurant: 2-3 minutes from DJ Plaza, 4-5 minutes from Tustin District. 10 minutes to Irvine Spectrum.

So 25 - 40 minutes in the car TOPS a day.

That looks way under the 3 hours you spec'd out in your original estimate.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fantastic

I actually live in Mission Viejo, but I lived in Irvine for 3 years before buying a home. Here's how I remember my 3 years there.

Time in car to/from work: 0 Seconds. I telecommuted.

Time in car to/from store after work: I grabbed groceries every so often from the Ralph's on Main and Harvard. That took 2-3 minutes TOPS to get back to my home at the time.

Time in car to/from park (kids): I walked to the basketball courts on Paseo Westpark. That took maybe 5 minutes.

Time in car to/from library (kids): Don't have kids.

Time in car to/from school (kids): Don't have kids, but there is an elementary school on Alton literally 2-3 minutes away that I always pass by.

Time in car to/from friends: This depends on where we are going. If I am going to their homes, one lives in Deerfield (5 minute drive), and another in Woodbridge (5 minute drive).

Time in car to/from restaurant: 2-3 minutes from DJ Plaza, 4-5 minutes from Tustin District. 10 minutes to Irvine Spectrum.

So 25 - 40 minutes in the car TOPS a day.

That looks way under the 3 hours you spec'd out in your original estimate.

Would you say the average person in Irvine is a telecommuter? No kids as well.

If you drive 25-40 min a day without a commute, and no kids....imagine what someone who does will drive. 2-3 hours is my guess.

here are some stats to back it up:

Irvine Commute Each way:


Relationship status


Kids:


http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-Irvine/r_52650/

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by T. Damon

downtown through gritty and hip East Village...

Deal breaker.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Mach50

The car is nothing but a moving swarm of insects. Pick your poison: living in a house in Irvine and spending 2-3 hours in your car a day commuting or live in an urban area and take a train, walk or bike in very little time..but yes live in a hive.

New urbanity is a movement because people like to walk to bars, restaurants, a library or cafe in a nice clustered area close to home.

Here is my little town of Redwood City, I can walk to everything I need, these are within about 1/2 mile of each other:

Courthouse lawn and Fox Theater:



Library:




Movie theaters right around the corner:




There is also a Safeway and a Whole foods a short distance from the downtown pictured above...again walking distance.

We are also a 30 min train ride from Union Square in San Francisco.

The pictures and community look nice. But, if you look at a map showing amenities of Redwood City, CA and compare it to a similar map of Irvine, CA, it doesn't look that much different. Meaning, a person can choose to live close to retail in either city.

Redwood City:

library OR theater OR "trader joes" OR market OR "whole foods" near redwood city, ca - Google Maps

Irvine:

library OR theater OR "trader joes" OR market OR "whole foods" - Google Maps