Irvine Real Estate | Irvine Homes For Sale
If you've been all over the Greater Toronto Area looking at Ajax real estate, Oakville real estate and every real estate in between but haven't found a city with something really unique about it, maybe you should consider looking further afield. All the way to California, in fact, because the city of Irvine, California just may have what you're looking for. It's a safe, culturally diverse university town with California's trademark great weather. Plus its one of the few cities in the world that has been almost entirely pre-designed by trained architects. To hear more about this fascinating city, just keep reading!
Irvine, California: one of the best places to live in the United States
Irvine, California occupies around 46 square miles of prime ranch land in Orange County, approximately 7 miles from Santa Ana and 50 miles from Los Angeles. The city's 209,000 residents come from a variety of cultural backgrounds including Caucasian, Chinese, Hispanic, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and African American. The city's unique selling point is that it was pre-designed by the Irvine Company around the University of California's Irvine campus.
The land passed through belonged to early Native Americans, Spanish settlers, and later to Mexico before it found its way into the hands of the Irvine Company. Although Irvine, CA's history as a city only goes back to 1971, it has racked up many distinctions in a very short time. In 2008 alone, CNN's Money magazine named it the fourth best place to live in America, it had the lowest violent crime rate among cities with populations over 100,000 according to FBI statistics, and the Census Bureau determined that it had the 7th highest median income among cities of 65,000 or larger. Additionally, Irvine public schools rank consistently among the best in the U.S. according to Newsweek magazine, and the ITRAC system of traffic control cameras and censors automatically reduce waiting at lights and traffic jams.
Irvine CA's economy is regulated by Destination Irvine, which is run by the city's Chamber of Commerce. The city's commercially zoned land is separated from the residential villages and parceled throughout the city. On it can be found with technology companies like Parker Aerospace and Broadcom, international or North American corporate headquarters for such companies as KIA motors, and financial firms like Washington Mutual. Top employers in the city are the University of California at Irvine and the Irvine School District, followed by clothing retailer St. John Knits and the Irvine Company itself.
Neighborhoods and Home Styles in Irvine, CA
Irvine, California is unique in that instead of being made up of a hodgepodge of add-on neighborhoods that have grown up over time, it was laid out by planners from The Irvine Company and is still administered by the same company to this day. Designed by William Pereira and Raymond Watson, Irvine is divided into villages that each contain their own shopping, schools, parks, and churches and are individually regulated by a homeowners' associations.
Each of Irvine, CA's villages has an architectural theme. For instance, Northwood Village is made up of Craftsman bungalows, Portola Springs Village has a Spanish Tuscan theme, and Woodbridge Village is designed to mimic housing traditionally found on the Atlantic Coast. Which type of home style you prefer and your budget will be your primary deciding factors when choosing a village. There are over 35 existing villages with more planned for the future, so there is bound to be one to suit everyone. For a full listing, visit our community page.
Budget-wise living in Irvine, California can be a fairly expensive proposition, though not as expensive as living in Glendale or Huntington Beach, for example, and is more than compensated for by the high quality of life. The cost of living in Irvine is 139 to the national average of 100. A single family detached home costs on average around $854,000, while a condo or townhouse is $620,000 to $680,000. Renters can expect to pay in the vicinity of $1,800 per month.
Contact an Irvine, CA Real Estate Agent
Now that you've heard all about Irvine, California and what it has to offer, you probably can't wait to get down there and be a part of it. Allow us to help you further by providing you with the names and contact information for local Irvine, CA real estate agents. One of them can get you started on looking for the perfect new home, or, if you would still like more information about buying real estate or about Irvine itself, they would be happy to help you with that as well.
