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 152,048 (as of 2003). 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 has been consistently ranked among the safest cities in the U.S., currently it is ranked first overall according to FBI's 2005 crime statistics.

Irvine is a growing hub of the commercial and technology industries. Companies in the technology sector, including the American division of Toshiba, Blizzard Entertainment, and Broadcom call the city of Irvine home. Other major corporations have settled into the city as well, such as the offices of automotive giants Ford and Mazda, as well as fast food chains In-N-Out Burger and Taco Bell, both of which are headquartered in Irvine. The city's two biggest employers are UCI and Verizon Wireless.

In recent years, the area has attracted a number of minority groups notably comprising Chinese-American, Korean-American, Indian-American, and Iranian-American populations. The presence of such diversity is reflected by the emergence of various ethnically-influenced small businesses in local shopping centers. However, Irvine is not to be mistaken with cities comprised of much larger Asian populations such as Westminster and La Palma or in Los Angeles County cities such as Monterey Park, Cerritos and Rowland Heights.

In 1992, former Irvine mayor Larry Agran briefly attracted national attention by 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.

Pereira originally envisioned an Atlantis-like circular plan with numerous man-made lakes, and the university in the center. When the Irvine Company refused to relinquish valuable farmland in the flat central region of the ranch for this plan, the University site was moved to the base of the southern coastal hills. Pereira associate Raymond Watson then stepped in, drafting the current design which he based on the shape of a necklace (with the villages strung along two parallel main streets, which terminate at UCI, the "pendant"). Traces of the original circular design are visible in the layout of the UCI campus and the two man-made lakes at the center of Woodbridge, one of the central villages.

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 homeowners 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 cars 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 km&sup2; (46.5 mi&sup2;). 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 census 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.

Education
The city has also been acclaimed for its stellar public schools under the Irvine Unified School District, attracting young families seeking schools with above average standardized test scores and other performance distinctions. Residents living in the western and northern regions of Irvine are served by the Tustin Unified School District, which is similarly noted for its outstanding schools winning national recognition. Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine (UCI), ranked the 10th best public university in the nation according to the U.S. News and World Report's 2006 annual rankings, and 40th overall.

Famous People From Irvine

 * Jason Lezak - Olympic swimmer
 * Amanda Beard - Olympic swimmer
 * Will Ferrell - Actor and Comedian
 * Chris Mandeville - former National Football League defensive back
 * Mark McGwire - former Major League baseball slugger
 * Beverly Oden - Olympic volleyball player
 * Jimmy Raye - former National Football League player
 * Zack de la Rocha - former lead singer for Rage Against the Machine
 * Kevin "Fragmaster" Bowen - internet writer for Something Awful
 * Irvine Kinneas - character from the videogame Final Fantasy VIII, popularly rumored to be named after the city.
 * Jack DeSena - sketch comedy actor on Nickelodeon's All That
 * Tom Dumont - Guitarist for No Doubt.

Points of Interest

 * University of California, Irvine
 * University of California, Irvine, Arboretum

Business
Irvine is the home of:
 * AST Research, Inc.
 * Ayn Rand Institute
 * Blizzard Entertainment
 * Broadcom
 * eMachines
 * Epicor
 * GameSpy
 * Gateway, Inc.
 * In-N-Out
 * Printronix
 * Linksys
 * Taco Bell
 * Toshiba America