Whiting: Irvine booms and broadens beyond the beige and white
Jan. 13, 2016 Updated 10:14 p.m.
By DAVID WHITING / STAFF COLUMNIST
Irvine at a glance
Size: 66.1 square miles, 248,531 residents
Demographics: 45.1 percent white, 39.2 percent Asian, 9.2 percent Latino, 5.5 percent two or more races
Median household income: $90,585
Median home price (by ZIP code): $561,500 to $1.07 million
Source: U.S. Census
This is part of an occasional series on every city in Orange County.
Those stuck in the 20th century call Irvine a suburbia of white people and beige homes. Yet the Irvine of today is colorful, diverse ? and dense.
More housing is being built in Irvine than any city in Orange County. In the past two years, Irvine saw the construction of some 4,000 new residential units, including hundreds of apartments. An additional 12,000 homes are in the pipeline.
Raised in Irvine since he was 8 years old, City Manager Sean Joyce easily admits the changes in his town are enormous. He also is just fine with that.
Today, whites are a minority and the majority is a rainbow. At home, many residents speak Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Farsi, Japanese or Hindi.
?My 19-year-old daughter,? says Joyce, 52, ?is blessed to have grown up with this.?
I have navigated Culver Drive for decades, usually for soccer games. But now I drive it for the globe?s cuisines.
Where only English signs once stood, there is a potpourri of languages. Indian Sanskrit sits next to Chinese characters, which are near Vietnamese-language signs, which are adjacent to shops advertising in Arabic.
Stop at an outdoor strip mall and the smell of spices waft in the air. Duck into a Middle Eastern shop and ground lemon peel attacks nostrils already on overload from dried and salted plums bought from a Chinese grocery store.
The diversity is wonderful. But at what price if people from different backgrounds don?t mix because of cultural shyness or language barriers?
Joyce points out that nearly everyone in Irvine understands English. Still, he admits, ?The great challenge for us is that this diversity of people feel connected to the whole community.?
City Hall pushes those connections on two fronts. One is celebrating different cultures. The other is bringing those cultures together.
?Our signature event is the Global Village Festival,? Joyce explains. Every September in Bill Barber Park, thousands of locals come together creating a pastiche of music, food and art from a reported 50 cultures.
That?s just the beginning.
The city has the usual sister and friendship city programs. But it also employs its own multicultural affairs coordinator, embraces ?rich cultural diversity? in city publications and points out it has a history of diverse council members. The mayor is Steven Choi.
The city?s efforts may only be a series of dents. But over time, little dents can leave big impressions. More important, Irvine?s dents offer a model for countywide connections.
BUILDING BOOM
Where strawberries once grew, there are rows of houses. Where there once was empty sky, tall buildings fill the void. Where you could ride a bicycle or even a horse, asphalt paths meander between carefully planted trees and groomed shrubs.
The hometown boy who became city manager wouldn?t have it any other way.
?There?s an implicit promise to residents that they have bought into the promised land,? Joyce reports. ?And beautiful trails, parks, schools are part of that.?
So is construction. Lots of construction.
Within the past two years, Irvine has seen the completion of 4,227 apartments, condos and houses. It has witnessed the building of nearly a half-billion square feet of office and retail space as well as two hotels, including a 210-room Marriott.
Under construction or on the drawing board are an additional 12,324 homes, at least one more hotel, and an estimated 10 million square feet of nonresidential building.
One of the largest projects is the new headquarters for Broadcom. It will offer 2 million square feet of office space, house some 4,000 employees and will have room for double that.
Joyce says much of the construction is aimed toward millennials. Experts say that younger adults expect more pocket parks, easy access to public transportation and plenty of sports parks.
The city manager promises that millennials? needs will be met. There will be more housing near train tracks and the Great Park finally will offer more for nearly everyone.
By fall ? yes, this fall ? 175 acres of new sports fields will be completed, he says. They will host 25 tennis courts, a dozen baseball and softball fields, 13 soccer fields, five flex fields and five volleyball courts.
Future plans promise a 188-acre golf course and clubhouse.
60,000 MORE RESIDENTS
Irvine has about a quarter-million people. In 15 years, that figure is expected to jump to 309,000.
Joyce explains that Irvine has long planned on a buildout population of more than 300,000. But I wonder about traffic. When I-405 turns into a parking lot, thousands of drivers switch to Alton Parkway, which parallels the freeway.
What will happen when thousands more residents try to get home during rush hours?
Joyce says he and staff already are working on solutions. He reports that traffic lights are synchronized. And if you drive such roads as Alton or Irvine Center Drive, you know that to be true.
The city, he says, also is working with the Orange County Transportation Authority to add more buses and routes. Additionally, staff is evaluating developing satellite-assisted technologies that help move vehicles along busy streets by timing traffic lights to meet real-time needs.
More immediately, however, the city is coping with the impact of El Ni?o-generated storms. In early fall, workers ensured that storm drains and flood channels were clear and that sandbags were available at fire stations.
Still, Joyce says it is possible that creeks could spill over. ?We have to be prepared. We have to focus like a laser on all things.?
That?s a good thing. I don?t want flooded streets to interfere with my next visit to the Guppy House restaurant. The shaved ice with mango banana and fruit is 21st-century Asian fusion at its best.
Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
Jan. 13, 2016 Updated 10:14 p.m.
By DAVID WHITING / STAFF COLUMNIST
Irvine at a glance
Size: 66.1 square miles, 248,531 residents
Demographics: 45.1 percent white, 39.2 percent Asian, 9.2 percent Latino, 5.5 percent two or more races
Median household income: $90,585
Median home price (by ZIP code): $561,500 to $1.07 million
Source: U.S. Census
This is part of an occasional series on every city in Orange County.
Those stuck in the 20th century call Irvine a suburbia of white people and beige homes. Yet the Irvine of today is colorful, diverse ? and dense.
More housing is being built in Irvine than any city in Orange County. In the past two years, Irvine saw the construction of some 4,000 new residential units, including hundreds of apartments. An additional 12,000 homes are in the pipeline.
Raised in Irvine since he was 8 years old, City Manager Sean Joyce easily admits the changes in his town are enormous. He also is just fine with that.
Today, whites are a minority and the majority is a rainbow. At home, many residents speak Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Farsi, Japanese or Hindi.
?My 19-year-old daughter,? says Joyce, 52, ?is blessed to have grown up with this.?
I have navigated Culver Drive for decades, usually for soccer games. But now I drive it for the globe?s cuisines.
Where only English signs once stood, there is a potpourri of languages. Indian Sanskrit sits next to Chinese characters, which are near Vietnamese-language signs, which are adjacent to shops advertising in Arabic.
Stop at an outdoor strip mall and the smell of spices waft in the air. Duck into a Middle Eastern shop and ground lemon peel attacks nostrils already on overload from dried and salted plums bought from a Chinese grocery store.
The diversity is wonderful. But at what price if people from different backgrounds don?t mix because of cultural shyness or language barriers?
Joyce points out that nearly everyone in Irvine understands English. Still, he admits, ?The great challenge for us is that this diversity of people feel connected to the whole community.?
City Hall pushes those connections on two fronts. One is celebrating different cultures. The other is bringing those cultures together.
?Our signature event is the Global Village Festival,? Joyce explains. Every September in Bill Barber Park, thousands of locals come together creating a pastiche of music, food and art from a reported 50 cultures.
That?s just the beginning.
The city has the usual sister and friendship city programs. But it also employs its own multicultural affairs coordinator, embraces ?rich cultural diversity? in city publications and points out it has a history of diverse council members. The mayor is Steven Choi.
The city?s efforts may only be a series of dents. But over time, little dents can leave big impressions. More important, Irvine?s dents offer a model for countywide connections.
BUILDING BOOM
Where strawberries once grew, there are rows of houses. Where there once was empty sky, tall buildings fill the void. Where you could ride a bicycle or even a horse, asphalt paths meander between carefully planted trees and groomed shrubs.
The hometown boy who became city manager wouldn?t have it any other way.
?There?s an implicit promise to residents that they have bought into the promised land,? Joyce reports. ?And beautiful trails, parks, schools are part of that.?
So is construction. Lots of construction.
Within the past two years, Irvine has seen the completion of 4,227 apartments, condos and houses. It has witnessed the building of nearly a half-billion square feet of office and retail space as well as two hotels, including a 210-room Marriott.
Under construction or on the drawing board are an additional 12,324 homes, at least one more hotel, and an estimated 10 million square feet of nonresidential building.
One of the largest projects is the new headquarters for Broadcom. It will offer 2 million square feet of office space, house some 4,000 employees and will have room for double that.
Joyce says much of the construction is aimed toward millennials. Experts say that younger adults expect more pocket parks, easy access to public transportation and plenty of sports parks.
The city manager promises that millennials? needs will be met. There will be more housing near train tracks and the Great Park finally will offer more for nearly everyone.
By fall ? yes, this fall ? 175 acres of new sports fields will be completed, he says. They will host 25 tennis courts, a dozen baseball and softball fields, 13 soccer fields, five flex fields and five volleyball courts.
Future plans promise a 188-acre golf course and clubhouse.
60,000 MORE RESIDENTS
Irvine has about a quarter-million people. In 15 years, that figure is expected to jump to 309,000.
Joyce explains that Irvine has long planned on a buildout population of more than 300,000. But I wonder about traffic. When I-405 turns into a parking lot, thousands of drivers switch to Alton Parkway, which parallels the freeway.
What will happen when thousands more residents try to get home during rush hours?
Joyce says he and staff already are working on solutions. He reports that traffic lights are synchronized. And if you drive such roads as Alton or Irvine Center Drive, you know that to be true.
The city, he says, also is working with the Orange County Transportation Authority to add more buses and routes. Additionally, staff is evaluating developing satellite-assisted technologies that help move vehicles along busy streets by timing traffic lights to meet real-time needs.
More immediately, however, the city is coping with the impact of El Ni?o-generated storms. In early fall, workers ensured that storm drains and flood channels were clear and that sandbags were available at fire stations.
Still, Joyce says it is possible that creeks could spill over. ?We have to be prepared. We have to focus like a laser on all things.?
That?s a good thing. I don?t want flooded streets to interfere with my next visit to the Guppy House restaurant. The shaved ice with mango banana and fruit is 21st-century Asian fusion at its best.
Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com