The important fact that potential residents need to know about the city of Irvine is that it’s a master-planned city. This means that the Irvine Company carefully planned the city from scratch. It took more than ten years to developed it to completion. So, the city is designed less hectically than many other cities in the country.
The Demographic
Irvine is home to national and international business headquarters. It even has some higher education institutions such as University of La Verne and University of Southern California. Therefore, the residential areas are more attractive to the young adults. People who are looking to buy homes in this area are usually either college-aged adults or the ones in their early to mid-thirties, just starting in their careers.
Irvine has a lot of parks, libraries, and businesses. It looks like most major cities, booming with businesses and people. However, it has fewer people than major cities with a population of around 200k people.
The Villages
Each village in Irvine has a specific architectural theme to which all the houses must comply, even the new ones. The houses in Rancho San Joaquin have to be in shed style while the ones in University Park has to be California modern. The ones in Northpark Square have to be Spanish Mission style while the ones in Woodbury have to be either Tuscan, Spanish, or French.
Each of these villages can function independently. They each have their own schools, commercial centers, and religious affiliations. All of them are arranged in a circular fashion. The city is said to be shaped like a necklace with the University of California as its pendant.
Residential real estate in Irvine consists of mainly single-family houses. They’re in the lower price range since most of the new residents are people buying their first homes. The houses boarder two commercial districts – the Irvine Business complex on one side and the Irvine Spectrum on the other. The homeowner’s associations exercise some degrees of control over how the houses look as to not deviate too far from the village’s theme. Newer villages have more leeway than the older ones. The older ones like Westpark and Woodbridge are less regulated and project a less uniformed appearance. They also lack the amenities that the other villages have like a swimming pool and a tennis court.
Thus, new homeowners have the option to choose when it comes to real estate in the area. There are multiple types of residences. Certain ones come with more rules than others.
