Will Irvine rezoning for high school affect home prices in Westpark

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pricedoutJay

New member
I know there is a thread about 5th high school already, but I didn't see much about posts related to home price.

Do you think home prices will be affected by this and there will be many moving going on in the next 2 or 3 years to belong to "better" Irvine school?

It seems like many have preferences as following:  University > Northwood > Woodbridge > 5th High > Irvine

I lived in Westpark II (Plaza Vista area) and now currently am living in old Westpark.  As you know Westpark II is designated to Woodbridge and old westpark to University high.  If rezoning is approved, most of Westpark II belongs to Irvine High and old Westpark to Woodbridge high.  All of the new villages with brand new homes are all going to belong to Northwood or 5th high.  So this could pressure "downgraded" areas mainly for Westwood and Columbus Grove.

I don't care which school my kids go to since it's really students, parents, and teachers combined effort to make a good school and any Irvine high school is good enough.  However, I've seen, met, and talked to many who have very strong opinion and prefer certain school.

I'm planning to buy one within a year or two and was thinking may be this will result in a good opportunity for me...
 
pricedoutJay said:
However, I've seen, met, and talked to many who have very strong opinion and prefer certain school.
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i cant stand people like this.  we ran into one of my wifes former coworkers at some model homes in irvine who bought in northpark square in like 2002, and we asked them why they were looking and the guy says, "we live in north park square and my wife doesnt like Beckman and wants a better school in IUSD" so i asked the wife why she didnt like beckman and she paused and said "its not safe for my kid to cross the street to get there" - that could not have been her real reason, and i just remember thinking - you stupid snotty b!tch.
 
I am just trying to put my kid in the best situation possible.  Some people are school snobs and also Irvine snobs.. it's very common.  Beckman seems like a fine school and I would have been happy for my child to go there.  We just wanted a bigger place with other features... and new homes seemed like a better option.  I hope the 5th HS will be great. 
 
jmoney74 said:
I am just trying to put my kid in the best situation possible.  Some people are school snobs and also Irvine snobs.. it's very common.  Beckman seems like a fine school and I would have been happy for my child to go there.  We just wanted a bigger place with other features... and new homes seemed like a better option.  I hope the 5th HS will be great. 
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i agree, if i was in irvine i would be happy with any school she was zoned to, and honestly id probably prefer woodbridge or irvine high.
 
It might be a little different depending on Westpark or Westpark II.  I could see some people going berserk on that change at Westpark going from Uni to Woodbridge.  But Westpark II?  People who buy there (bought there) already know it doesn't feed into Uni or Northwood so I don't think the change from Woodbridge to Irvine High is that big a deal.  Me personally, I thought I heard a few more negative stories coming out of Irvine High the past few years so in that respect, I might have a little concern but there's going to be "issues" everywhere.  And remember, this year, Irvine High is only a few slots lower than Uni right?  :P
 
I know people in Stonegate will be going berserk over the Northwood change.  They bought Stonegate knowing it is a crappy location (though better than PP) but for the sole reason it was zoned to Northwood.
 
jmoney74 said:
I am just trying to put my kid in the best situation possible.  Some people are school snobs and also Irvine snobs.. it's very common.  Beckman seems like a fine school and I would have been happy for my child to go there.  We just wanted a bigger place with other features... and new homes seemed like a better option.  I hope the 5th HS will be great. 
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C'mon... you can tell the truth, you just didn't want your kids to "cross the street."  ;)

If history is any indication, Irvine's 5th HS will probably be ranked in the top 10 by the OC Registe within the next few years.
 
I think the 5th High School is getting a bad rap...It didn't take long for Northwood to challenge Uni as the best HS in Irvine.  If the 5th HS contains kids from WB, PP, PS, LR, SG, and CV, I believe that it will be a very high achieving school.  My only annoyance about the 5th high school is that it's far away from SG in comparison to Northwood.  That and the radioactivity.

Also, I would change the ranking to Uni/Northwood > 5th High School > Irvine > Woodbridge.
 
test said:
I know people in Stonegate will be going berserk over the Northwood change.  They bought Stonegate knowing it is a crappy location (though better than PP) but for the sole reason it was zoned to Northwood.
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I feel so bad for those Stonegate folks being sooooo far away from the 5 freeway. What were they thinking? Quieter, less pollution, and 3 minutes of extra commuting time. They must be insane.
 
The area of Westpark that is proposed to go from Uni to Woodbridge seems small but the southern tip is fairly close to the 405.  So, houses near there might need to market their houses differently in the future but you can always come up with "creative" marketing.

By the way, why do you think the newer schools (like Beckman) are gaining faster than the more established schools like Woodbridge and Irvine High?  I know rankings aren't everything and some of those are nonsense.  But, I would assume the people in charge of those schools must feel the pressure each time those rankings come out and they're at or near the bottom?  Need new leaders/teachers?  Facilities? Kids/parent?  :P
 
I don't mean to diverge from house price issue but regarding high school here is my observation while living in Irvine on and off for over 15 years.

1) People tend to think Irvine High is "ghetto" relative to Northwood or Woodbridge because one it's oldest and two there are more non white, non Asian kids there.

2) Woodbridge is called Weedbridge among teens because so many kids do drugs.  I guess it could be the case for any high school now.

3) Woodbridge is smaller but academically not that much better.  Houses are older but association fee is more than just about any other neighboring villages.

4) Teens think Uni High and Northwood High are too Asian and too competitive academically.

5) Irvine schools are not necessarily better than other good district schools.  They are ranked high because of API or other test scores, but this is mainly due to Tiger moms and zealous parents making kids study, study, study.  I've even heard that some parents are sending their kids to paid lessons and after school classes for math placement test in 6th grade so that they can get into geometry in 7th.  Also some parents are making kids to do the same for annual STAR tests.  Isn't STAR test evaluating how kids are doing in their school instead of getting the highest scores by cramming?  That's just crazy.

6) If your kids are smart enough, somewhat independent, serious about education and future, and doing other activities like sports and volunteer work, they may want to go to "lesser" ranked high school and do well in their.  I forgot starting what year but UCs have criteria on ranking among school students and they will only look at the kid's ranking in his/her school not comparing to neighboring school.  So if you are top 1% in Irvine High, that is treated same as 1% in Uni High. However, if that kid had gone to Uni High because of high competitions from many book worms and book smart kids, he only could've been top 10%. 

7) No one would care which high school you went once you go to college or start working. 
 
bones said:
pricedoutJay said:
7) No one would care which high school you went once you go to college or start working. 
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+1.  And it's funny b/c there are people on this board who think where you go to college doesn't matter either so not sure why HS is so important.
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I don't think what HS (and to a lesser degree what college) you go to matters academically...I do think that being in an academic competitive environment is beneficial in exposing your kids to the reality of competition.  It's very easy for a "smart" kid to become complacent and lazy if s/he is not in an academically challenging environment.

My biggest desire for my child is that she works hard and not rest on any potential laurels she may have.  I also want her to face adversity and work through them.  I believe that being at an academic strong district like Irvine helps with both of those items.
 
iacrenter said:
bones said:
pricedoutJay said:
7) No one would care which high school you went once you go to college or start working. 
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+1.  And it's funny b/c there are people on this board who think where you go to college doesn't matter either so not sure why HS is so important.
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Of course if you go to somewhere like the Groton School, it does carry some weight on the East Coast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groton_Schoolhttp://www.groton.org
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Also helps to be a Baird man...HOO-AH!
 
irvinehusky said:
By the way, why do you think the newer schools (like Beckman) are gaining faster than the more established schools like Woodbridge and Irvine High?
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I'll say it... race.

The older schools in established 'hoods have less FCBs. Uni is the exception because it's fed by TRidge, QH and for now... LagAlt. TRock also has a higher concentration of FCBs than the 'hoods that feed IH and WH.

I think it was PatStar and even another poster more recently that illustrated if you take Beckman's API by ethnicity, it performs at or above Uni and NWH.

I don't think Westpark homes will be as affected by rezoning that much. Older homes usually have an established baseline and while school zoning is a factor, now that most SFRs are priced in the $750k+, it will be minimal because you still take into account Elem and Middle School.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
irvinehusky said:
By the way, why do you think the newer schools (like Beckman) are gaining faster than the more established schools like Woodbridge and Irvine High?
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I'll say it... race.

The older schools in established 'hoods have less FCBs. Uni is the exception because it's fed by TRidge, QH and for now... LagAlt. TRock also has a higher concentration of FCBs than the 'hoods that feed IH and WH.

I think it was PatStar and even another poster more recently that illustrated if you take Beckman's API by ethnicity, it performs at or above Uni and NWH.

I don't think Westpark homes will be as affected by rezoning that much. Older homes usually have an established baseline and while school zoning is a factor, now that most SFRs are priced in the $750k+, it will be minimal because you still take into account Elem and Middle School.
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I don't think it's race per-se.  Schools like Beckham and Northwood benefited from an influx of highly educated/high income families who came to Irvine with strong affinity toward education.  Many home buyers elected to pay the elevated prices in Irvine in some part due to the reputation of the school district.  Furthermore, due to the high home prices, buyers are generally highly educated white collar workers that places strong value on education.  As such, it is not a surprised that those schools do very well with the combination of high motivated parents/students and genetic selection.

The fact that those schools have a high population of Asian is because it just happens that high-income Asians decided to come to Irvine and pay the high home prices based in part on the school district and in part on cultural issues.  While some of them may have bought into other areas of Irvine, the vast bulk of them bought into the newer areas that funnel into Beckham or Northwood.

Additionally, there is a serious flaw in the concept of race considering groups of completely unrelated groups are bunched into a race categorization.  API breaks down race to: 

Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Filipino, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, White, or Two or More Races.

That means that the category of Asian lump in East Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese), Southeast Asians (Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysians, etc.), Asian Indians, Persians, and maybe even groups like Armenians.  Each of those groups are vastly differently from each other socially and cultural but get lumped together.

Thus, the winning formula is really a combination of high income families who put a strong value on education.  There is a misconception that Asians are smarter but it's just that Asians (especially immigrant) in generally put more emphasis on education and doing well academically.  Other groups show similar levels of passion for non-academic issues...look at the fervor that Texans have about sports (especially football). 
 
iacrenter said:
test said:
I know people in Stonegate will be going berserk over the Northwood change.  They bought Stonegate knowing it is a crappy location (though better than PP) but for the sole reason it was zoned to Northwood.
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I feel so bad for those Stonegate folks being sooooo far away from the 5 freeway. What were they thinking? Quieter, less pollution, and 3 minutes of extra commuting time. They must be insane.
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You should stick to renting LOL
 
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