Irvine - neighborhoods to aim for and ones to avoid (2015, schools)

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by patosf

Thanks Speedcat. Appreciate the boundary map for the schools. I am a bit confused. Is Tustin Unified School District separate from the Irvine Unified School District?

Not all adresses in Irvine attend Irvine Unified School District schools. Some parts of Irvine on the North side of the I-5 feed into Tustin Unified District schools. TUSD is generally not as well regarded as IUSD. However most of the TUSD schools that have Irvine residents attending are good schools, but they're not IUSD.

Generally neighborhoods marketed as "West Irvine" and parts of Northpark fall into this pattern. There are other areas as well. If schools are critical to you and you are looking at places north of the 5, check to see which district your residence would feed into.

[LAMelanie]

Worst neighborhood: The older homes near Culver and Walnut. I feel uneasy in that area. Stick to the "University" side of Irvine and overall you should be fine.

Ideal/Nicest area: Turtle Rock

[LAMelanie]

Originally Posted by patosf

Are there any neighborhoods or villages in Irvine that aren't part of these planned communities? I prefer non cookie cutter houses with some charm and am curious if everything in Irvine is all gated with little lots and HOA's (other than HOA-less El Camino Real)?

These are homes in what I would call the "bad" area of Irvine: Culver and Walnut. No HOA.

[screen.name]

Originally Posted by LAMelanie

These are homes in what I would call the "bad" area of Irvine: Culver and Walnut. No HOA.

Are you talking about College Park or Deer Field? I believe there is HOA for College Park.

[LAMelanie]

Deerfield is closer to irvine center drive not walnut

its not college park either.

[NoSoupforU]

Originally Posted by screen.name

Just a comment about West park. There is West Park and West Part II. I am not sure if Main St. separate the two. West Park is older and have more freeway (405) noise than West Park II. On the other hand, WP II has MR taxes. The homes/lots are typically smaller in WP II than WP.

A lot of the WP I homes feed into Uni High so because of this...
WP I > WP II

[Hillarylost]

Avoid Quail Hill and Ridge. There is an influx of Middle E. male refugees with subsidized governmental apartments mixed with regular apartments except with the gov assistance they get a two bedroom apartment for 600/month. They are trashing the place and most are unemployed. Your daughters and wives are not safe here. Cops called here every few days. A lot of cultural problems at the community pools and with them beating their wives in public.

Best to buy a home West of the 5 Freeway because the Santa Ana and Garden grove criminals are more prevalent at robbing from us wealthy folks East of the 5 freeway.

iRVINE IS NOT THE SAFEST CITY IN THE USA AS THE IRVINE COMPANY WOULD HAVE YOU THINK.

[Farink]

Irvine looks and feels very safe and residents say they feel so safe that they hardly lock their doors. Many tout it as the safest city in America, but a report just came out ranking it 88 for California. Beach cities in south Orange County came out way ahead of Irvine. Not sure if the study was flawed.
Now, I'm shocked to hear about middle eastern men beating their wives in public. I'm going to have to dig deep and see if this is actually true or people are making stuff up based on their biased views of middle eastern men. First it was our wives and daughters not safe around black men ms now we're not safe around middle eastern men. Somethings never change!

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Farink

Irvine looks and feels very safe and residents say they feel so safe that they hardly lock their doors. Many tout it as the safest city in America, but a report just came out ranking it 88 for California. Beach cities in south Orange County came out way ahead of Irvine. Not sure if the study was flawed.
Now, I'm shocked to hear about middle eastern men beating their wives in public. I'm going to have to dig deep and see if this is actually true or people are making stuff up based on their biased views of middle eastern men. First it was our wives and daughters not safe around black men ms now we're not safe around middle eastern men. Somethings never change!

Irvine is definitely a safe city, especially given its large size, but there has always been some question about the way it portrays itself as America's safest. In addition, city leaders seem to ignore property crimes when touting the city's safety. They seem to play fast and loose with the truth. Also, as far as I know, a number of smaller South County cities have always had lower crime stats.

I really don't understand why more "Irvinites" don't lock their doors. That's strange. It's also bizarre to sometimes read that some are afraid to venture out of Irvine.

In Irvine, beware of exaggerated crime claims – Orange County Register
"The FBI’s warnings aside, Irvine also didn’t have the lowest property crime rate or combined violent and property crime rate in 2011. Irvine only reported the lowest violent crime rate among the cities.

Seven big cities – five of them in California – reported lower property crime rates than Irvine in 2011. The California cities were Simi Valley, Sunnyvale, Thousand Oaks, Murrieta and Santa Clarita.

Click here to review a national database of FBI crime statistics for 2011.
Among big cities in the past eight years, Irvine has reported the lowest violent crime rate each year. It has only reported the lowest property crime rate in 2009 and 2010. It typically ranked in the top 10 cities other years."

BTW, I have to admit that whenever I hear about a "weird" crime, or the breakup of prostitution rings occurring in in this general area, I first think about Irvine.

Irvine might be safe, but why is it so weird? – Orange County Register

"Irvine may have grabbed the safest city crown five years running, but clean streets and well-manicured lawns don’t mean there aren’t a few strange skeletons in the community’s closet.

Failed hits with alleged links to foreign governments, bodies kept on ice for days, “evil” twins and samurai sword murders – these aren’t plot points for a particularly dark film noir, they are just a glimpse at the darker and stranger side of one of America’s pre-eminent planned communities.

So, don’t let the low violent crime rates fool you; Irvine has had its fair share of shocking, baffling and just plain strange plots, arrests and convictions throughout the years."

[pacific2]

The OC Register's list of weird Irvine crimes is now dated.
Irvine might be safe, but why is it so weird? – Orange County Register

"Click below to take a trip through our brand-new OC Register Wiki, get a glimpse at the darker side of the city’s past, and decide which tale deserves top spot as “Irvine’s strangest crime.”

• Ex-Sheriffs deputy torture allegations
• Craigslist Prostitute arrests
• Residential standoff and murder
• Egyptian child slave
• ‘Evil twin’ murder plot
• Biofem murder mystery
• Bar pickup murder
• Security guard murder
• LAX shooter
• Judge porn arrest
• Original Night Stalker
• Patricia Pratt murder
• Samurai sword murders
• Shaken baby death
• Linda Park murder
• Murder with no body
• Murder victims left on ice