Portola Springs vs. Woodbury

[goldendragondance88]

My husband and I are relocating from the Bay Area and we will be new to the Irvine area. We need some feedback between Portola Springs and Woodbury.  We like Las Colinas so far and we hear there will be a new neigbhorhood in the future.  We do like Woodbury too but Carmel is almost done.  Any input would be appreciated.

 

[jyeh74]

I also relocated from the heart of SF to Irvine, and although the properties here are a lot cheaper, the melloroos and HOA you will pay comes out probably the same.  PS is a different feel than Woodbury.  It has more of a rustic country feel and although people will say it is too far, it is actually not that far from Woodbury's Town Center.  The melloroos is higher at 1.7% in PS compared to 1.5-1.6% in WB.  WB to me, feels congested but conveniented to the town center.  Folks on the board will tell you WB is more "desireable" place to live.  With a $1M price tag, I would personally prefer to live in Quail Hill, albeit the SFRs will start higher at $1.25M or Northwood, an older neighborhood in north of Culver which is near the Tustin Market Place and is gated with lower HOAs and melloroos.

 

[goldendragondance88]

Hi thank you for your response, I appreciate your help.  I am new to the area and want to make the best decision for my family.  This website is very useful and seems like users just wants to help.

I'm curious why would "WB" be more desireable place to live?
Do you know if Quail Hill has new homes?
My husband likes new homes and wants me to start researching "new" vs resale homes.
I am also interested in finding good schools in the area. 
I read something recently on Lambert Ranch by Home Company?

 

[jyeh74]

Hi thank you for your response, I appreciate your help.  I am new to the area and want to make the best decision for my family.  This website is very useful and seems like users just wants to help.

I'm curious why would "WB" be more desireable place to live?
Do you know if Quail Hill has new homes?
My husband likes new homes and wants me to start researching "new" vs resale homes.
I am also interested in finding good schools in the area. 
I read something recently on Lambert Ranch by Home Company?

I'm not sure why WB is more desireable to live.  I guess because there is the local town center.  Local town center in PS is not built at this time.  WB is central and doesnt have the tool roads like PS does.

Quail Hill does not have any new homes.  The SFRs are up on a hill and has more of a small town community feel than WB.
I dont think you can go wrong with any Irvine schools, although I would have to defer it to other members of the community for more feedback.

Lambert Ranch by the New Home company isnt slated to be built until 2012 I think.  I'm not sure about your time frame, but Orchard Hills will be building around that time frame.  In my opinion, the New Home company, which took over for John Laing Homes, dummied it down in quality and made the homes cheaper than when John Laing built them, so I'd personally stay way.

 

[villiagepeople]

I'm curious why would "WB" be more desireable place to live?

i like wb cause ps does feel a little further out... although it's only a couple of miles away, it think also the lack of roads that surround the community... wb has sand canyon, irvine blvd, trabuco... ps only has portola pkwy...  ps is surrounded by the 133 and the 241 toll roads and although they aren't as crowded as regular freeways i'm assuming they have elevated air pollution nonetheless...  also there is landfill nearby, and the final "issue" with ps is the fire danger... it backs up against open space that gets lit up every few years.

the positive of portola springs is that it is elevated... and depending on your location you can have a very nice view of the city.

Do you know if Quail Hill has new homes?

none in quail hill but laguna altura will be close byhttp://www.talkirvine.com/index.php?topic=1286.0

I am also interested in finding good schools in the area. 

every school in the irvine school district is "good"... if you want more specifics... www.greatschools.net

I read something recently on Lambert Ranch by Home Company?

some info here...http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php?topic=1261.0

 

[iacrenter]

Welcome Goldendragondance88!

WB and PS are some of the newer areas in Irvine and offer some new SFR construction. If you are looking at and like Los Colinas, then I imagine you are looking for ~3000sqft SFR, 4BD+, & 3Bath+, and budget  ~low $1M? If so there are several new TIC projects in 2011:

1) In WB there is the upcoming San Marino project from the $900K
http://www.villagesofirvine.com/Villages-And-Residences/Woodbury-Overview.aspx?type=neighborhood&Id=68

2) In the upcoming Stonegate Village there is Maricopa from the high $700K
http://www.villagesofirvine.com/Villages-And-Residences/Stonegate-Overview.aspx?type=neighborhood&Id=67

3) In the upcoming Laguna Altura Village (near Quali Hill):
Cortona from the $900K
Toscana from the low $1Mhttps://www2.villagesofirvine.com/mk/get/LAGUNA_ALTURA_REG

As for Lambert Ranch and Orchard Hills--they will not be built until 2012+. LR will be a guard gated high end SFR homes near Portola Springs $1M+. Parts of Orchard Hills will also be guard gated and will include some high end SFR $1M+ homes as well. If you can wait until 2013, Heritage Fields at the Great Park will come online. Not sure of the price points or home configurations just yet.

Here is a link to a thread directory of the 2011 TIC new villages:http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php?topic=1435.0