Aliso Viejo according to a map is just on the back side of Laguna Beach. The perpendicular distance is very short to the coast line. Here is the problem: the location has no access to Laguna Beach because the terrain is too steep for roads. It is nestle in the base of the hills where air is stagnant and breeze seldom make it over the hills and if it did then it will miss Aliso at the base. As a result, it is damn hot! and it is way hotter than Irvine. House prices according to my earlier post is relative to temperature difference from the coast. Due to the stagnant air and under a pressure zone there is no prevailing wind. Temperature is 6-7 degree higher than the coast.
Master plan of Aliso Viejo and RSM were done around the same time. Industry people predicted that both would someday would become the South County ghettos. Hearthside Homes and Signature Homes were the major force behind Aliso and Fieldstone and Recreaction behind RSM. Signature Homes and Recreaction were long gone. Hearthside went on and built prisons and recently ventured back to home building on such project like Brightwater at Huntington Beach by Hearthside Homes. Fieldstone are among the bottom feeder of the industry. There were no great builders in both locations. Most builders responsible closed their doors many years ago.
Third and fourth tier architects designed projects there for years. They are Pekarek Crandall, MJ Knitter, Smet, Dale Sexton, Hale Langsdon, Iverson, Corbin Yamafugi (current KTGY) and earlier works of Bassenian Lagoni who designed Brightwater at Huntington Beach by Hearthside Homes. This is one of the reason within the industry Aliso could not match its prices with Irvine. Let me make a comparison. JC Penney knows its branding and will never try set its price like Nordstrom because Penny knows its place in the retail business and this also applied to Aliso in the building industry.
Driving on the San Joaquin Toll Road passing by Turtle Ridge and Newport Coast arriving into Aliso, the picturesque and meandering street and terraces of the Irvine Ranch would shame the engineered manufactured tiered lots on the Aliso hillside seen from the toll road. It is just poor,poor,poor,poor plannings. It was the designs from the Miami Vice glass block 80's. Style of architecture that is not time tested and extremely trendy. There were 10 different colors applied to a single house by the color consultant Mariam Tate. Architecture and neighborhood lack a timeless quality.
Bad planning, bad architecture, BK builders, Bottom feeder builders, Prison builder, and Bad feng shui (stagnant air) etc. Why should it command a higher price?
[quote author="PANDA" date=1212188123]In your opinion, what would be the main reasons why Aliso Viejo would be on average $100,000 less than a home in Irvine? Is it the schools?, Is it the access to freeways? Access to work? Older Homes? AV seems to be a much nicer place to live than Garden Grove, but the average home prices seem to be at same level as that of Garden Grove.
I have been looking mostly in the Northern Irvine area for a home, but I mean AV does not seem to be like a bad location as it is closer to the pacific ocean than Northern Irvine. I do travel quite a bit so a close proximately to John Wayne Airport factors in to my home buying decision. Would the distance be the same to get to the airport from Portola Springs/Woodbury in Irvine compared to Aliso Viejo?
I am also looking for some office/warehouse spaces in AV. Where would most of them be located in AV? Are rents in AV equivalent to Irvine, or 10-20% less. If I were to purchase an 2000 - 2500 sq/ft office/warehouse in AV, by what percentage would they be cheaper than buying the same office/warehouse space in Irvine.
Panda.</blockquote>