America's best high schools, 2012

[rkp]

why Foothill Ranch is never mentioned as an alternative when A.V., L.N. etc. are compare to Irvine

we did consider and toured some homes there a while back.  simply put, there arent large houses built after 2000 which is what we are looking for.  doesnt mean we didnt like the area but just didnt have what we were looking for. 

we saw this house and the price blew us away:http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foothill-Ranch/48-Camarin-St-92610/home/4802397
but we dont like the 90s style houses and we hated the small kitchen and island...yes we are suckers for TIC marketing and probably have no style but we like the big giant kitchen islands and wide open kitchens

i started a thread on how to expand a house to create a similar feel to the new irvine houses and IHS said it cant be done cause of post-tension slab.  this would be a slam dunk if i could break the back wall down and push out with a conservatory room

a bigger question is why someone like IHO isnt jumping at a house like that.  3CWG, close to irvine, and if his kids are private school, wont make a difference right?

in any case, i have to update my spreadsheets but my math shows that pricing isnt that far off *for our lifestyle* between south county and irvine. 

 

[irvinehomeowner]

a bigger question is why someone like IHO isnt jumping at a house like that.  3CWG, close to irvine, and if his kids are private school, wont make a difference right?

We've looked at FR... but it's too "inland" for me... I get claustrophobic (heh).

The bigger issue with FR is other than my TI friend... we have no other friends/relatives in that area and it's actually farther from the places we circulate around. But I think Mrs. IHO actually prefers FR over Aliso Viejo.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

I think the diversified black demographic playing in the Irvine basketball courts is the reason for price premium not the quality of the court.

Having lived all over, I have to agree with P. Star on many of his points. I also feel such a mixture of emotions: happy / sad / confused / incredibly blessed... why Foothill Ranch is never mentioned as an alternative when A.V., L.N. etc. are compare to Irvine. I absolutely love it here! I feel stupid for having waited this long to consider it an alternative!

Do you ever think it is funny that two of the most fierce supporters of Irvine from the IHB/early stage TI ended up leaving?  And you know, I think a lot of people here think it is for some *hate* of Irvine.  That's not the case at all, I think for either of us.  Simply a matter of our families reaching the stage of wanting to stop putting life on hold while waiting (hoping) for that day when Irvine prices would come back to reality --- so we would not need to settle for what our dollar would give us there.  And when that stage came for our family and Irvine was not there yet, we just looked beyond and discovered you can get most of what you have there elsewhere. 

But I must say, SoCal --- it is common knowledge the basketball courts in Foothill Ranch are inferior to Irvine.  That probably explains the price difference.

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

The argument is the above average school safety and smart in other south county is almost as high as Irvine prices so lets stay in Irvine since only conservatory room exist in Irvine. I think that is a brilliant reason. Slumdog got it right again. Lets move to the championship round.

your point on public schools being the same is ridiculous.  when i went to VNHS, we won the science bowl that year and i believe won the academic decathlon year after.  we had super smart kids, had ivy leaguers, had a bunch of perfect SATs, etc but the school was dangerous and ghetto.  like many magnets in LAUSD, it picked high crime low income areas to put the magnet in with the idea of mixing kids from all walks of life.  problem was that it literally was have 2 schools on 1 campus.  we next interacted with locals and shared nothing but PE.

during my tenure there, a kid got stabbed, we had a shooting near the school, a riot broke out on campus, there was a gang turf war, etc.  yes my friends and i succeeded but if given the choice between that and a safer school, why would i pick that? 

and finally, who exactly is paying to live in irvine solely for schools and how much premium are they even paying?  what are you comparing it to?  you keep pointing at something that no one is saying...

for us, irvine happens to be central to most of the places we frequent.  the pricing isnt that much more than south county cities and for us and where we frequent, we would end up paying the difference in toll and gas in any case.  instead of pointing at everyone who wants to live in irvine as idiots who are blinded by the "good schools", why not ask and learn?  trust me, there are many valley folks who think porter ranch is a joke.

I think you are misreading my point, rkp.  First, I'm not suggesting anyone use Van Nuys or Santa Ana or Compton as their alternative.  Please note, when I tell IHO to look elsewhere for "equivalents", its places like Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, and Aliso Viejo.  Just like Porter Ranch is --- and we only made this leap because our extended family was here and I could transfer my job to downtown LA.  We almost went for Ladera Ranch before deciding on this.  Regardless --- all the substitutes are largely the same.

And again, I'm not saying you shouldn't live in Irvine.  I really can't think of a reason not to like it, but for the recent housing stock --- and you must admit that is breathtakingly bad --- and the price.  Other than those two factors we would still be there.  I'm simply saying you don't need to pay that much to get what Irvine offers, that is all.  Simple as that.  But for us, the lack of housing value drove us to seek alternative, for you that may not.  Maybe you make a lot more than me?  Kudos to the LAUSD. 

And of course people in the Valley think Porter Ranch is a joke, just like much of OC thinks of Irvine.  But we don't care, do we?  Different strokes for different folks.  I'm just saying you can have the same stroke for less $$. 

 

[irvinehomeshopper]

IHO is right a majority of the  charter schools are on the list. My kid is ranked #3 in an Irvine school and did not pass the rigorous academic examination of the charter schools but still holding the highest API and SAT scores in the class.

So to the parents if you have stupid kids the best insurance is to stay in the Irvine public schools. It is a guarantee.  Don't set eyes on the top tier list. 

Attending any public school is no guarantee of success --- they are all largely the same.  It's what YOU do as a parent --- regardless of school --- that makes the difference. 

While I understand your generalization... you're not exactly practicing what you preach. I know you are trying to channel Graphrix but there are differences in public schools, you combine that and parenting to get better results.

I doubt you would have bought where you did if the public school in your area was terrible... so you can't say they are "largely the same". There are tiers and everyone who can afford to, would want to put their kids in a "higher" tier school.

So let's say this again....People are paying for something else, and calling it "good schools".

No one here says they choose Irvine JUST for the schools (in fact, there was a poll on TI that illustrates that).

And I don't feel IUSD is that good (I actually took one of my kids back to private) but on average, it's better than most and as a parent, you do what you can to give your kid more advantages. Sure... maybe that ONE Granada Hills HS will do better than my kid... but I would rather live in Irvine than SVG. And to be fair, Granada is a charter school... so of course they're going to have better academic performance. Same goes for OCHSA, Troy and Oxford (and many other high ranking HS) where enrollment is "selective". If you look purely at "public" schools, any school that is not magnet, charter or has an application process but ranks high does say something.

I realize you're trying to soft-troll... but don't tell me that one of your reasons you chose Irvine to live in (and now where you currently live) didn't have anything to do with "good schools".

 

[socal78]

why Foothill Ranch is never mentioned as an alternative when A.V., L.N. etc. are compare to Irvine

we did consider and toured some homes there a while back.  simply put, there arent large houses built after 2000 which is what we are looking for.  doesnt mean we didnt like the area but just didnt have what we were looking for. 

we saw this house and the price blew us away:http://www.redfin.com/CA/Foothill-Ranch/48-Camarin-St-92610/home/4802397
but we dont like the 90s style houses and we hated the small kitchen and island...yes we are suckers for TIC marketing and probably have no style but we like the big giant kitchen islands and wide open kitchens

Check out the homes on Viaggio Ln. (same hill, just west of that Camarin home). They have a wider kitchen layout.