I have been looking at property in Irvine forever. I currently live in Woodbury... I feel like I already have a little sliver lot, and no yard. I have some major pros and cons to Woodbury... and I have been looking to relocate ever since I have moved in here.
I think that Irvine\Woodbury is safe, and Irvine Police have been very nice... I do happen to have some punk kids that visit my park by my house... smoke weed, sell drugs, or whatever. There is a few houses I suspect of selling drugs in woodbury.. its weird.
I have great neighbors on my sides, and here is one REALLY weird thing.... I have lived here for 4 years, and I have yet to see any faces of any of my neighbors behind my house. There is 3 houses behind me that look right into mine, I have yet to see one face.. and there is another CON to Irvine, not a lot of friendly people <period>. I could drive to other cities and people just come up and talk to you and are very friendly. In Irvine it seems like people are just here temporarily or just picking something up here and they are getting the hell out!
So I have looked at moving toward Newport, and maybe a house in Northwood.. I was very interested in San Marino in woodbury, more of the same...
But my brother told me about Lambert Ranch... and I have a new baby on the way (my first), and he said check it out.... even thought I should move toward where the rest of my family lives... toward the beach. You get way more bang for your buck in Irvine... and the piece and quiet... as long as you don't want any friends.
So I was very impressed with the refreshing floor plans of Lambert Ranch. The Field was nice, for the lower end, I could see myself even be interested in those, if thats what I was looking for SQ footage wise. I went to the Hill next, I liked the floor plan with 12 foot ceilings, but there was a lot of stairs going up if you head to the bonus\master upstairs. The master downstairs? doesn't make sense, if you have kids.. and babies. Im not sure who that works for.. too bad, I liked that refreshing high ceiling room. I narrowed the hill down to one plan I like... but I think NHC has really done a great job with the options.. They are definitely things I would want to consider or want to do, so I don't have to tear down walls later. I was really happy about that.
The Grove... is where I looked next.. I think the houses are huge in comparison to other houses in Irvine. You can't find anything like it anywhere that I know of... I really like the uses of space, and I have my favorite floor plans there. It really is between the Hill and Grove for me. I think its a little odd to fill the entire lot with a home like the Grove does. Here is a 4500-5000 sq foot house on a 7000-8000 sq foot lot. A house like that should be on a huge lot with a yard, but all you get is a courtyard, and walls on all sides.. So it really feels like your walled in, Its a Interior-Living-Situation (ILS) I will coin that term. You get a lot of bang out of your money interior SQ footage wise, but you don't get any special views like you would have with the hill. So you really have to weigh the pros and cons.. I think the premiums you pay for views will balance out the higher sq footage of the Grove.. and you will see similar price points on those houses...
People that say Laguna Altura is a better options, is crazy. I really feel that Altura is a glorified freeway truck stop... Your really not connected to any community or a woodbury town center. I feel that all the winding turns I take from my house to the town center, would be about the same from Lambert Ranch.. A lot of people get lost inside Woodbury's Maze. (I don't)
I think the sound from the 241 is not a issue.. I think living on lot in woodbury that backs up to a wall on Trabuco, or the streets coming into woodbury, would be worse.
The idea of the Jail being a issue... I think the idea of a gated community is way better than woodbury it restricts who can come in, who can use your community center(randoms come into woodbury's pools), and who uses your parks(drug dealers at your parks).
Cell phone tower. I love cell phone reception, so thats a plus.
Landfill, I grew up in Newport Beach, so I know all about that landfill, people drive RIGHT by it everyday, they don't even know it... I see the Gas Vents all over the trails there, nobody even says a thing. I would think that gases and smells would go up, not laterally.
So thats all I have to say for now...
I think that Irvine\Woodbury is safe, and Irvine Police have been very nice... I do happen to have some punk kids that visit my park by my house... smoke weed, sell drugs, or whatever. There is a few houses I suspect of selling drugs in woodbury.. its weird.
I have great neighbors on my sides, and here is one REALLY weird thing.... I have lived here for 4 years, and I have yet to see any faces of any of my neighbors behind my house. There is 3 houses behind me that look right into mine, I have yet to see one face.. and there is another CON to Irvine, not a lot of friendly people <period>. I could drive to other cities and people just come up and talk to you and are very friendly. In Irvine it seems like people are just here temporarily or just picking something up here and they are getting the hell out!
So I have looked at moving toward Newport, and maybe a house in Northwood.. I was very interested in San Marino in woodbury, more of the same...
But my brother told me about Lambert Ranch... and I have a new baby on the way (my first), and he said check it out.... even thought I should move toward where the rest of my family lives... toward the beach. You get way more bang for your buck in Irvine... and the piece and quiet... as long as you don't want any friends.
So I was very impressed with the refreshing floor plans of Lambert Ranch. The Field was nice, for the lower end, I could see myself even be interested in those, if thats what I was looking for SQ footage wise. I went to the Hill next, I liked the floor plan with 12 foot ceilings, but there was a lot of stairs going up if you head to the bonus\master upstairs. The master downstairs? doesn't make sense, if you have kids.. and babies. Im not sure who that works for.. too bad, I liked that refreshing high ceiling room. I narrowed the hill down to one plan I like... but I think NHC has really done a great job with the options.. They are definitely things I would want to consider or want to do, so I don't have to tear down walls later. I was really happy about that.
The Grove... is where I looked next.. I think the houses are huge in comparison to other houses in Irvine. You can't find anything like it anywhere that I know of... I really like the uses of space, and I have my favorite floor plans there. It really is between the Hill and Grove for me. I think its a little odd to fill the entire lot with a home like the Grove does. Here is a 4500-5000 sq foot house on a 7000-8000 sq foot lot. A house like that should be on a huge lot with a yard, but all you get is a courtyard, and walls on all sides.. So it really feels like your walled in, Its a Interior-Living-Situation (ILS) I will coin that term. You get a lot of bang out of your money interior SQ footage wise, but you don't get any special views like you would have with the hill. So you really have to weigh the pros and cons.. I think the premiums you pay for views will balance out the higher sq footage of the Grove.. and you will see similar price points on those houses...
People that say Laguna Altura is a better options, is crazy. I really feel that Altura is a glorified freeway truck stop... Your really not connected to any community or a woodbury town center. I feel that all the winding turns I take from my house to the town center, would be about the same from Lambert Ranch.. A lot of people get lost inside Woodbury's Maze. (I don't)
I think the sound from the 241 is not a issue.. I think living on lot in woodbury that backs up to a wall on Trabuco, or the streets coming into woodbury, would be worse.
The idea of the Jail being a issue... I think the idea of a gated community is way better than woodbury it restricts who can come in, who can use your community center(randoms come into woodbury's pools), and who uses your parks(drug dealers at your parks).
Cell phone tower. I love cell phone reception, so thats a plus.
Landfill, I grew up in Newport Beach, so I know all about that landfill, people drive RIGHT by it everyday, they don't even know it... I see the Gas Vents all over the trails there, nobody even says a thing. I would think that gases and smells would go up, not laterally.
So thats all I have to say for now...