Irvine
A number of major companies are based in Irvine. In fact, Mark Ochoa Group | Coldwell Banker Platinum Properties‘ office is located in the city on Barranca Parkway and Paseo Westpark.
Irvine is also home to several colleges and universities with the main schools being UCI, Concordia, and Irvine Valley College.
Climate
Overall, the weather is great year-round. It doesn’t rain much, but the winter months often see some rainfall. With that said, there are overcast mornings and occasional drizzle in late spring and early summer, but it’s more common in the southern parts of the city where it’s closer to the ocean.
Late summer and fall are warm and mostly dry, with occasional humid weather. Winters are mild with most winters having no frost. However, sometimes it can be hot and dry when the Santa Ana winds blow.
It can occasionally snow in the Santa Ana Mountains which are to the northeast of the city. Yet snow in Irvine is very rare, but it has been recorded that the city received three inches of snow in January of 1949.
Awards and recognition
Irvine consistently ranks as the safest city in America with a population of over 100,000. Even more, here are some other awards the city has earned…
2011 – Listed the 5th best city in the U.S by Businessweek.
2012 – Ranked the 6th best place to live in the United States by CNN Money.
2014 – Named the best-run city in the U.S. by 24/7 Wall Street.
2017 – Listed as the 3rd happiest place to live in the United States by WalletHub and the 10th best city in the country by Niche.com.
2019 – Ranked the 2nd happiest city in America by Business Insider and 18th best place to live by Money magazine.
Economy
Irvine has been rated as one of the top cities for start-up businesses. Its strong, fast-growing economy helped place Orange County as one of the top ten fastest-growing job markets.
Even more, the city of Irvine is also used as a location for film projects. The city grants free or low-cost filming permits and offers location information to prospective productions.
Arts and culture
The Irvine Global Village Festival
Every October, the city hosts the Irvine Global Village Festival to celebrate the diversity among the citizens and Orange County, in general. The festival has local merchants, entertainment from different cultures, and the sampling of foods from different regions of the world.
Libraries
The three public libraries are Heritage Park Regional, University Park, and Katie Wheeler Library. Not to mention, most UCI Libraries are open to the public.
Parks and recreation
Irvine has several community parks and neighborhood parks. Northwood Community Park in particular has recently made a unique addition. The Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial is the first memorial in the U.S. ever built before the wars were over. It lists the names of the fallen U.S. military from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Education
Primary and secondary education
Most of Irvine is located in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD). The 5 high schools in IUSD are University, Irvine, Northwood, Woodbridge, and Portola High School. Arnold O. Beckman High School is located in Irvine but is part of the Tustin Unified School District. The 5 IUSD high schools and Beckman High have consistently placed in the upper range of Newsweek’s list of the “Top 1,300 U.S. Public High Schools”.
Irvine is also home to several elementary and middle schools including two alternative, year-round, K-8 schools, Plaza Vista and Vista Verde.
Colleges and universities
Aside from the previously mentioned universities and colleges, the following are also located in Irvine…
- Westcliff University
- Stanbridge University
- Paramount California University
- Fuller Theological Seminary
- Orange County Center of the University of Southern California (USC)
- California State University, Fullerton (campus)
- University of La Verne (campus)
- Pepperdine University (campus)
- FIDM, The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
According to the 2000 United States Census, the city ranked 7th nationwide among cities with populations of at least 100,000 for having the highest percentage of people who are at least 25 years old with doctoral degrees.
In summary, Irvine is a city with great year-round weather, a solid work force, different cultures, a safe place to raise a family, and outstanding educational institutions.
