British Expats

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-   -   Irvine, California? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/irvine-california-881302/)

d.j.and80 Aug 31st 2016 5:56 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by Pavlova (Post 12040330)
The Irvine Company is a privately owned land developer/property management company in Orange County. Historically a lot of the land was owned by the Irvine family - hence the name The Irvine Company although I don't believe there are any descendants of the Irvine family on the Board these days. Irvine itself is a master-planned phased development - over the years TIC has either developed Irvine (and neighboring cities) and/or sold off parcels to other developers with strict covenants. As a homeowner this helps maintain property values etc; as a renter of an IC property, you'll pay premium rents and have regular rent increases. If you default on your rent, you'll be heavily penalized. Basically, don't mess with TIC.

The city is run by a council of elected officials, just like any other city.

:goodpost: Couldnt have said it better myself

Marc_ely Aug 31st 2016 7:19 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
They also control a lot of the business property too. I work in a building run by them. The AC is centrally managed and we can't even adjust it. It's all a bit big brother.
Several of the guys here have rented from them and they will bump the rent up annually in pretty big hikes.

RoadWarriorFromLP Sep 1st 2016 12:13 am

Re: Irvine, California?
 
Irvine is conservative, suburban and has high housing costs, as is the case with most of the rest of Orange County. It bears little resemblance to LA, and most people in Orange County are happy about that. Not very exciting stuff for a single guy who likes a walkable lifestyle and culture.

A car is a must. Don't even think for a minute about relying upon public transport.

If there is a discounted housing option, then I would suggest that he take it, then look later once he has a better feel for the area.

A single straight guy who likes bars may eventually want to live in Newport Beach or possibly Huntington Beach. A single gay guy may like Laguna Beach. There isn't much in OC that can be considered to be bohemian chic, but Costa Mesa and the Orange Circle area in Orange come closest to matching that description (and that's a real stretch.) In any case, it may be necessary to have the American version of a roommate (which means flatmate, not a shared bedroom.)

Pavlova Sep 1st 2016 4:48 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
Oh yes, OC and Irvine specifically are very vanilla. Good for families but I must admit the bubble can get a bit suffocating at times. It tends to attract the very best ... and the very worst. I'm at pains to show my kids that this isn't how most people live or, indeed, think.

MMcD Sep 1st 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by Pavlova (Post 12041392)
OC and Irvine specifically are very vanilla. Good for families but I must admit the bubble can get a bit suffocating at times. It tends to attract the very best ... and the very worst. I'm at pains to show my kids that this isn't how most people live or, indeed, think.

Would imagine that UC Irvine is a cocoon within the Orange County Conservatism cocoon...and, likely, quite different. :unsure:

MellD Sep 2nd 2016 1:30 am

Re: Irvine, California?
 
Wow Robin1234, I'm weirdly pleased to hear your lad is a librarian. I remember you chipping in on my librarian related thread a few years ago (omg has it been 4 years since we got back?!) Hope the interview went well. Is he a medlib? I see some very interesting medlib jobs in Irvine. I don't really have anything to contribute to this thread as I'm on the complete other side of LA area, and I work from home so I've not really been able to build up much a professional network here.

robin1234 Sep 2nd 2016 1:54 am

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by MellD (Post 12041753)
Wow Robin1234, I'm weirdly pleased to hear your lad is a librarian. I remember you chipping in on my librarian related thread a few years ago (omg has it been 4 years since we got back?!) Hope the interview went well. Is he a medlib? I see some very interesting medlib jobs in Irvine. I don't really have anything to contribute to this thread as I'm on the complete other side of LA area, and I work from home so I've not really been able to build up much a professional network here.

Hi MellD I do vaguely remember that. I'll take a look at the old thread to refresh my memory. No, he's a cataloger, basically. I think this position was cataloging/metadata specialist, something like that. He felt that the interview went pretty well, I believe, he also had an opportunity to talk to a few other fairly recent hires - to find out about rentals, what it's like to live there etc.

I myself retired from my academic library job (US government docs, and serials librarian) three years ago and I'm beginning to feel retired. I've stopped dreaming about department meetings and cataloging standards, anyway.

Hotscot Sep 4th 2016 6:18 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
Also check out Dana Point. Lovely harbour town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Point,_California

Bootle Sep 9th 2016 6:59 am

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by MMcD (Post 12041552)
Would imagine that UC Irvine is a cocoon within the Orange County Conservatism cocoon...and, likely, quite different. :unsure:

Not really - UC Irvine is the most conservative of the UC institutions so it's really more of just a reflection of the OC conservatism.

The least insular of the communities around Irvine are in and around Huntingon Beach.

caleyjag Sep 9th 2016 12:00 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP (Post 12040643)
Irvine is conservative, suburban and has high housing costs, as is the case with most of the rest of Orange County. It bears little resemblance to LA, and most people in Orange County are happy about that. Not very exciting stuff for a single guy who likes a walkable lifestyle and culture.

A car is a must. Don't even think for a minute about relying upon public transport.

If there is a discounted housing option, then I would suggest that he take it, then look later once he has a better feel for the area.

A single straight guy who likes bars may eventually want to live in Newport Beach or possibly Huntington Beach. A single gay guy may like Laguna Beach. There isn't much in OC that can be considered to be bohemian chic, but Costa Mesa and the Orange Circle area in Orange come closest to matching that description (and that's a real stretch.) In any case, it may be necessary to have the American version of a roommate (which means flatmate, not a shared bedroom.)

Agree 100% with this. I live in Thousand Oaks to the north of LA which is very similar to Orange County in many ways (a wealthy, materialistic suburb). I struggled through my first year with no vehicle and it was terrible. I only survived by having a housemate who could drive me around. A car is absolutely essential down here.

Mountain biking is the way to go for exercise in these parts.

MMcD Sep 9th 2016 7:41 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by Bootle (Post 12047415)
Not really - UC Irvine is the most conservative of the UC institutions so it's really more of just a reflection of the OC conservatism.

Oh...didn't know that

dondraper Sep 12th 2016 9:01 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
Irvine are is pretty dead unless you study in college. Plus most of california, you need a car to travel. Public transportation isnt that great unless you live in a big city

robin1234 Sep 13th 2016 7:44 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
He was offered the job and he accepted. Apparently he gets up to $6,000 for moving expenses. He lives on his own, has no cat, and all his worldly possessions fit in a backpack plus Tesco carrier bag, so it'll be hard to spend that. (But it could cover up to thirty days in a hotel at the destination.)

Told his current boss today he'd be giving his notice soon, boss left work saying he'd be throwing himself under a bus... English sense of humour of course.

Thanks very much to all who shared knowledge of the local area, places to possibly live etc.

MMcD Sep 13th 2016 9:32 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 
1 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by robin1234 (Post 12051322)
He was offered the job and he accepted.

:thumbsup:

That's great! Big adventure ahead. Congrats to him....

(good excuse, btw, for your own adventure in the 'Bear State' ;) )

robin1234 Sep 13th 2016 10:37 pm

Re: Irvine, California?
 

Originally Posted by MMcD (Post 12051389)
:thumbsup:

That's great! Big adventure ahead. Congrats to him....

(good excuse, btw, for your own adventure in the 'Bear State' ;) )

I'm actually looking forward to a field trip, maybe in January or February. We have the classic Annie Hall view of Southern California (it simply exists as a place for New Yorkers to be appalled by) and my wife, in fact, refuses to go anywhere west of Chicago. Well, she's ok in New York and New England and that's about it.


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