Why does Irvine seem to stir up emotions?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
T

traceimage

New member
Weird question. But it seems like several people (PatStar, Panda, and Roundcorners come to mind) who once lived/wanted to live in Irvine, and later decided not to, now have very strong negative emotions about the city.

It seems like once you move out of Irvine, you develop extreme bitterness towards it. Like RC posting about how unfriendly all the Irvine people are, and PatStar with his pantsless yard, and Panda with the great Georgia weather (?). Don't get me wrong, I'm glad everyone's happy where they are now, but I just don't understand the hatred. We almost bought a house in Laguna Niguel, for example, but decided not to. But I don't now hate Laguna Niguel. I live in Irvine and am relatively neutral about it...some things I like, some things I don't like, but I don't feel any particular allegiance about living in Irvine. It doesn't define me as a person. I'm sure if I moved somewhere else, there would be some things I liked more about my new home, and some things I liked less, but I can't imagine developing the kind of hostility towards Irvine that some former residents seem to have.

IHS will say that people who leave Irvine have seen the light, come to their senses, and have become overall better people, who now appreciate mature trees and will someday host their children's weddings in their beautiful new homes.

But really...why should a city--just a city, people!--seem to stir up all kinds of crazy emotions? It's like breaking up with someone and then hating them and wondering what you ever saw in them.
 
hateranteater.jpg

(I figured an anteater is appropriate here)
 
Patrick J. Star said:
traceimage said:
Weird question. But it seems like several people (PatStar, Panda, and Roundcorners come to mind) who once lived/wanted to live in Irvine, and later decided not to, now have very strong negative emotions about the city.
Click to expand...

Whoa, don't lump me in there --- by no means do I hate Irvine.  Not at all. I don't hate anything about it. Well, maybe motorcourt neighborhoods of 2010+, but that's it.  If my family had been willing to settle for an Irvine home we could have afford on our budget in 2010, we likely would have stayed there forever.  And believe me (and IHO knows this personally) we nearly did settle just because we did like it so much.  I came thisclose to living in Paloma, and thisclose to living in Casero.  And thisclose to buying our rental home. But then we realized one day those were simply not the homes we could see ourselves living our days out in --- and that to get what we wanted, we needed to make a location sacrifice. But the funny thing is, we have come to realize that the upside of the home we bought canceled out any location sacrifice we thought we were making.  The only point I have ever made to others here (because I learned it myself) is there are very reasonable alternatives to Irvine, and that if you find yourself on the edge of your affordability level --- or you find that you can't afford to buy the home you truly desire in Irvine, you should at least consider those alternatives.  But I thought for many years (and still think) Irvine is a fine place, and if you can afford your dream home there ---- or are willing to sacrifice your dream home to be closer to _______, awesome --- more power to you.  But if you are not, recognize there are alternatives where you may not only survive --- but perhaps even thrive. 

And if I say I love my pantsless yard where I can sit out and gaze at a million twinkling lights and see the Library Tower in downtown LA from 30 miles away it has nothing to with hating Irvine.  And everything to do with finding my own paradise.  Sure, there is a little smugness in knowing that I got not only that view, but also 700 more sq ft, 2 more bedrooms, 1 more bathroom, a 3rd garage stall, AND a guard gated community for just $10k more than the Ivywood Plan 1 we were renting in West Irvine sold for, so be it.  But don't mistake that for hate.  Just happiness at knowing we made the right choice for our family.
Click to expand...

Maybe you don't hate Irvine, but I've seen you post some particularly negative things about Irvine lately (like the "projects" being built in Cypress Village). I also don't think there would be any smugness about your new house, unless there was some kind of resentment, or at least some kind of emotion more than "Ok, we can't afford our dream home here, so let's move elsewhere." So I think Irvine--or leaving Irvine--does elicit some kind of emotional response that I don't fully understand.

 
I agree completely.  Cypress Village is junk and ruining the image of Woodbury.  TIC is building junk as fast as possible.  Hope everyone realizes this and refrains from renting these units or buying high density housing in the Cypress "hood".  I rather that TIC stops building these new high density junk and wait for the market to come back and building quality SFR's that people will pay up for.  Sadly i dont' think this will happen as TIC wants as many people in Irvine as possible to feed their shopping centers and offices. 
 
Patrick J. Star said:
traceimage said:
Maybe you don't hate Irvine, but I've seen you post some particularly negative things about Irvine lately (like the "projects" being built in Cypress Village).
Click to expand...

That was my wife that made that statement, not me.  But be honest with yourself --- If you make that same drive down Jeffrey and look to your right as you crest the 5 freeway, do you get the same warm fuzzy feeling as if you were continue up Jeffrey, make a left at Portola and then drive West down Portola to Jamboree?  Does it even compare?  If the Portola drive past Northwood Point, Northwood HS, Orchard Hills, and Northpark is what you think "Irvine" represents (that was my idea of Irvine), can you then leap to believing Cypress Village looks like the projects huddled along the freeway?
Click to expand...

Why would I not be honest with myself? I think the additional apartments suck.

I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling from any part of Irvine, actually. Maybe that's why I don't understand the upswelling of emotions from former Irvinites. Irvinians? Irvinesians?
 
I get a sense that there are some who are lamenting as to the development of Irvine.  I kinda of get that because of all the open fields that exist now but will likely be turned into homes in the next 10-20 years.  I mean Sand Canyon was pretty desolate even 5 years ago.

I love Irvine for a number of reasons but not because of the city itself. 
 
Patrick J. Star said:
If you make that same drive down Jeffrey and look to your right as you crest the 5 freeway, do you get the same warm fuzzy feeling as if you were continue up Jeffrey, make a left at Portola and then drive West down Portola to Jamboree?  Does it even compare?  If the Portola drive past Northwood Point, Northwood HS, Orchard Hills, and Northpark is what you think "Irvine" represents (that was my idea of Irvine), can you then leap to believing Cypress Village looks like the projects huddled along the freeway?
Click to expand...
Hey... my Irvine was orange trees or strawberry fields or other vegetation in all those areas.

I still remember when Westpark was just trees, there was no such thing as Oak Creek, West Irvine, or Quail Hill and Northwood was the boundary of northern Irvine and Turtle only referred to a Rock.

Cypress Village doesn't look any more like projects than any of the apartment complexes around the 405 from Oak Creek to Quail Hill to the Spectrum (and soon to be Wild Rivers area).

I think the reaction is natural... some people really would like to live in Irvine but have found great alternatives elsewhere and just want to let us know that they exist (sometimes in a manner that resembles "hate"... haven't heard any weather updates from Panda lately... can you guys believe the nice heat we are getting in the winter?).

For me, even when we bought a place in South County for a few years... I was still hanging around Irvine and kept saying I would be back (it was my wife who didn't want to live in Irvine anymore since she grew up here)... now she's the one who really doesn't want to leave.

I think the big thing is they "hate" what you get in a home for the price... and for some, while the city may be worth that premium... for others it's just not and they'll make sure to tell you why. I hate the real estate prices in Irvine... but I would hate living in another location that's not as central as Irvine is (we did that for a few years)... so I stay.
 
I like Irvine and have lived here for around 10 years.  The thing that irritates me is the kind of housing product TIC is putting out, including jamming in more and more apartments.  I'm all for a company maximizing their profit potential, but put some better quality homes out there and don't train your sales people to be mindless drones.  Just like Patrick, I get enjoy driving by the nice establishes areas and even some of the new areas of Irvine but it's just painful seeing the new products get denser and denser.  I wonder how they'll try to spin living over at Cypress Village.  Instead of building all those attached condos and apartments over there, how about putting another school and then a nice size park? 
 
@Trace, I love Irvine's Turtle Rock and Woodbridge.

As the city grew the followings change its curb appeal:

curve streets became straight
culdesacs became motorcourts
lake became fountains
estate became postage stamp
3CWG became no driveway
mature trees became 5 gallon tree
village green became pocket park
single story ranch home became 3 story Mcmansion
2 lane country road became 10 lane gridlock
strawberry fields became condomania
delicatessens became fastfood
mom and pop store became big box store
Florist became bank



 
 
As many know, I lived in Irvine for 10 years and moved to south county over 2 years ago.  I bought a home in Irvine back before the run up in prices so I got a full blown SFR house for what people paid for a one bedroom old condo a few years later.  I loved the old Irvine and enjoyed being an Irvine resident back then.  There were a few reasons we left Irvine.  1) It starting becoming too crowded which meant traffic, busy stores, etc.,  2) Housing styles became more dense (urbanization),  3) It seemed as if the bedroom community feel was disappearing.
I really like where I live now because I get that 'bedroom community' feel there.  I get to 'disconnect' from the hustle and bustle and be home with the family. 
I don't 'hate' Irvine at all.  I like going to the restaurants and Asian stores when I want authentic.  I also have to thank Irvine (Mr. Bren) for creating the 'demand' for housing there which made me a nice pot of equity which would have not been as much in most other cities.  I just don't want to live in Irvine anymore because it does not have the home 'feel' I am looking for anymore.
 
I think there is definite a sense of nostalgia/innocence lost as to sprawl.

Personally, I like Irvine because of the commercialization.  I like having 3 Costco, a bunch of Targets, a variety of neighborhood malls, and a mix of international markets/stores.  I especially like the wide streets and ample parking.  I like that Irvine has parks and is generally pretty quiet by 10-11 p.m.  I have a young child and it's a relief to be able to go within a 5-10 miles and get all my errands and stuff done.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
@Trace, I love Irvine's Turtle Rock and Woodbridge.

As the city grew the followings change its curb appeal:

curve streets became straight
culdesacs became motorcourts
lake became fountains
estate became postage stamp
3CWG became no driveway
mature trees became 5 gallon tree
village green became pocket park
single story ranch home became 3 story Mcmansion
2 lane country road became 10 lane gridlock
strawberry fields became condomania
delicatessens became fastfood
mom and pop store became big box store
Florist became bank
Click to expand...

Irvine of 1996 to 2001 was my personal Irvine high time. Irvine at that time seemed to be truly master planned. The infrastructure made Irvine pretty much the opposite of West LA.

The bubble ruined a lot of the good things about the city to me. Now I wait for 2-3 cars before I can fill up my gas tank after 4PM and before 7PM. The amount of apartment IAC buildings popping up is alarming. I just don't see how the infrastructure of the city can really adapt to the population increasing by 50% in less than a decade, and it's only going to get worse.

I have no "ill feelings" towards Irvine, it's just not the same Irvine of the previous decade that some of us remember, I still love that Irvine, this current one, not so much which is why I'm personally leaving.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top