Irvine - neighborhoods to aim for and ones to avoid (Santa Ana: HOA, houses)

[welshlady78]

We are considering a move to Irvine in the near future. I have been reading these forums to try to get a feel for the different neighborhoods. Having lived in several different cities in the US I know that once you move there, you become aware of the aspirational neighborhoods and the ones to avoid, the ones where homes are affordable because the area is on the way down, or because they are the new up and coming neighborhoods.

So - we have two small children and want a "nice " neighborhood to live in. I know Irvine can be expensive but what do those who live there consider
"nice, and perfectly acceptable",
"avoid if you can" and
"this is where we would love to live someday"

[EscapeCalifornia]

There's really no bad areas of Irvine to avoid. The only areas I'd avoid buying in are the newest areas like Woodbury with high Melo-Roos which can add hundreds of dollars a month to your property tax bill.

[welshlady78]

High what? Melo-Roos? Time for Google!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by welshlady78

High what? Melo-Roos? Time for Google!

Mello-Roos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basically it makes your property tax a whole lot bigger. Older areas won't have it but newer areas may. It definitely something to verify before buying.

[RobE]

As someone earlier said, there aren't any "bad" areas of Irvine, which is one of the safest American cities. Perhaps the area closest to Santa Ana would be worth avoiding. The area that feeds kids into University High School, one of the best public schools in California, if not the country, would be the best to get into if you have children.

[EscapeCalifornia]

There's really no residential areas of Irvine bordering Santa Ana. The two cities barely touch at all and that's in the industrial areas along the 55 freeway.

[OtherHand]

It's probably not much of an exaggeration to say that the "worst" areas of Irvine are comparable to the best areas in many other cities. There are some subtle distinctions based upon age of dwelling units or ethnic mixes, but nothing major. And maybe if you have kids going into the school system, then you could be fretting over differences between very good schools and excellent schools. That's the sort of "last few percent" of a decision you are looking at for Irvine. Due to it's homogenization, I can't say I'm Irvine's biggest fan, but I can't think of an area that's so "bad" I'd call it merely good. It's all "very good" and above.

Perhaps the best advice I could give would be decide the number of bedrooms you need in a home, and find the best deal you can find anywhere in Irvine, and don't sweat the area.

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by welshlady78

We are considering a move to Irvine in the near future. I have been reading these forums to try to get a feel for the different neighborhoods. Having lived in several different cities in the US I know that once you move there, you become aware of the aspirational neighborhoods and the ones to avoid, the ones where homes are affordable because the area is on the way down, or because they are the new up and coming neighborhoods.

So - we have two small children and want a "nice " neighborhood to live in. I know Irvine can be expensive but what do those who live there consider
"nice, and perfectly acceptable",
"avoid if you can" and
"this is where we would love to live someday"

As someone said earlier their is really no bad partrs of Irvine. The city is divided into villages. Persoanally speaking I would rank 2 at the bottom. University park is the oldest part of Irvine. The Architecture is late 60's funky (in a bad way) and there's alot of college kids in the area and not as many smaller parks. On the flip side it has a large regional park and easy accesss to the cultural amenities of UCI.

The El Camino Real area was built in the 70's and 80's. Alot of the area has no HOA. You may feel this is a good thing, but I've noticed the houses/ neighborhoods are not as well kept. There are also fewer parks/pools etc due to no HOA dues to support them. This area is one of Irvine's most affordable.

Some random negatives for other areas: Oak Creek is newer, But it has ALOT of freeway noise. Turtle Rock is very high end and nice, but it is isolated and you have to take your car everywhere. Its the only part of Irvine that has no retail or commercail development in it.

As for my personal favorites, I like Woodbridge - great amenities, particularly for kids, most homes have no Mello Roos. The community is aging, but still is nice. Its located in the heart of Irvine. Northwood is nice and newer - mostly built in the 90's - plus has lots of parks, etc. Westpark is where I live and was built in the 90's. Lots of amenities, really good schools and very walkable.

Any place you choose its hard to go wrong in Irvine. Good Luck!

[welshlady78]

Thank you so much - all these neighborhoods are ones I have found online but it's nice to get some insight into them - ages, HOAs, etc. Very much appreciated!

[ragnarkar]

Irvine neighborhoods to avoid:

Whichever neighborhood you don't like the looks of.

Since you're highly unlikely gonna be a victim anywhere in Irvine (statistically speaking) you might as well live in an area you like and not live where you don't like. Simple as that.