Irvine, California

Irvine is an incorporated city located in Orange County, California. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated in 1971, the 46-square mile city has a population of 148,000 (as of 2001). It currently has plans to annex an undeveloped area to the north, as well as the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, most of which is to be made into a park called the Orange County Great Park.

Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and to various other companies in the technology sector, including the American division of Toshiba, Blizzard Entertainment, and offices of several automotive companies, including Ford and Mazda. The two biggest employers are UCI and Verizon. Fast food chains In-N-Out Burger and Taco Bell have their headquarters located in Irvine as well.

In recent years, the area has attracted wealthy immigrants from Taiwan. Several strip malls and shopping centers containing various ethnic Chinese businesses have cropped up. The Irvine Chinese School has a connection with the top-performing high school. With a growing Chinese American population, the press, such as the Orange County edition of the Los Angeles Times, have considered Irvine to be "a [suburban] Chinatown in the making" and "becoming Orange County's Chinatown". However, Irvine is not to be mistaken with much larger Asian centers such as Monterey Park and Rowland Heights. It is also home for a growing number of other Asians, mostly Koreans. In 1996 it was the location for The Han Twins Murder Conspiracy case, a sensationalized case of one Korean-American identical twin conspiring to have her sister killed. There is a large affluent Iranian American presence in Irvine as well.

At present, Asian Americans make up the majority in some of Irvine's schools and universities. The upper-class Asian American population is gradually spreading to neighboring traditionally affluent and conservative WASP areas such as Lake Forest and Mission Viejo.

In 1992, former Irvine mayor Larry Agran attracted some national attention running as a protest candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

A planned city

The layout of Irvine was designed by the famous Los Angeles architect William Pereira, and is divided into townships (called villages) that are self-contained except for income-generating activities. The townships are separated by six-lane streets. Each township includes a spectrum of similar types of dwellings, along with shopping, religious institutions and schools. Commercial districts are checker-boarded in a periphery around the central townships.

All streets have landscaping allowances. Rights-of-way for powerlines also serve as bicycle corridors, parks and greenbelts to tie together ecological preserves. The greenery is irrigated with reclaimed water.

Many of the homeowner's associations are extremely powerful, controlling every facet of the appearance of one's home, including color, roofing, and landscaping. Even trivial matters such as the allowable types of car parked outside of one's home are dictated by associations. However, one must note that this is not limited to the city of Irvine. Affluent regions in nearby cities such as Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, and Tustin also employ the same practice.

Geography

Irvine is located at 33°41'3" North, 117°47'33" West (33.684065, -117.792581).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 120.4 km² (46.5 mi²). 119.6 km² (46.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.67% water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 143,072 people, 51,199 households, and 34,354 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,196.2/km² (3,098.0/mi²). There are 53,711 housing units at an average density of 449.1/km² (1,163.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 61.06% White, 1.45% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 29.83% Asian American, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 2.54% from other races, and 4.82% from two or more races. 7.37% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 51,199 households out of which 36.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% are married couples living together, 9.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% are non-families. 22.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.66 and the average family size is 3.17.

In the city the population is spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 14.4% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $72,057, and the median income for a family is $85,624. Males have a median income of $64,189 versus $41,810 for females. The per capita income for the city is $32,196. 9.1% of the population and 5.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.1% of those under the age of 18 and 5.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Famous Residents

• Jason Lezak -Olympic swimmer
• Chris Mandeville-former National Football League defensive back

Points of Interest

• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Irvine, Arboretum

Home of

Irvine is the home of:

• AST Research, Inc.
• Ayn Rand Institute
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Broadcom
• Epicor
• Gamespy
• In-N-Out
• Mark McGwire
• Printronix
• Taco Bell

External links

• City of Irvine - Homepage
• Irvine may be home to Chinese cultural center - Irvine World News article on Irvine's growing Chinese American community.
• Orange County Great Park information