Play yard at Parasol Park

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irvinehomeshopper

Well-known member
I was there an hour ago and cars were parked on 4 sides to full capacity. It has been a gathering spot for moms while their kids play. The kids love the elevation drops, sunken terraces and the zip line. It is truly designed for the curiosity of children and for the parents enjoying their children having a great time. Rather than ordering the playthings from the catalog the developer designed them custom. The thoughtfulness is the reason why people chose to live at the Great Park. It's not formulaic. There will be no two parks alike in size and design. A trip to the park is an adventure.
Good design prevailed. On my way out I drove to see several pocket parks on the healthy land and not a soul. Yellow Fever, you're not preaching hard enough!
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
I was there an hour ago and cars were parked on 4 sides to full capacity. It has been a gathering spot for moms while their kids play. The kids love the elevation drops, sunken terraces and the zip line. It is truly designed for the curiosity of children and for the parents enjoying their children having a great time. Rather than ordering the playthings from the catalog the developer designed them custom. The thoughtfulness is the reason why people chose to live at the Great Park. It's not formulaic. There will be no two parks alike in size and design. A trip to the park is an adventure.
Good design prevailed. On my way out I drove to see several pocket parks on the healthy land and not a soul. Yellow Fever, you're not preaching hard enough!
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Overall the design of homes and parks are much nicer and has character.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
I was there an hour ago and cars were parked on 4 sides to full capacity. It has been a gathering spot for moms while their kids play. The kids love the elevation drops, sunken terraces and the zip line. It is truly designed for the curiosity of children and for the parents enjoying their children having a great time. Rather than ordering the playthings from the catalog the developer designed them custom. The thoughtfulness is the reason why people chose to live at the Great Park. It's not formulaic. There will be no two parks alike in size and design. A trip to the park is an adventure.
Good design prevailed. On my way out I drove to see several pocket parks on the healthy land and not a soul. Yellow Fever, you're not preaching hard enough!
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I thought Yellow Fever hated GP?

Anyways its too volatile right now to get a good idea of the user base - come back in 1 year and see where it is.  That said, every time I visit  Beacon Park (usually on weekends), its busy busy busy, so it likely will bode well for Parasol Park.  The culture that the spaces encourage can also help to increase value.

Agreed that good design matters.  The reason I didn't go with the Irvine Company and join an Irvine Village is specifically of this point: the space does not encourage or otherwise attract people to common destinations.  When each community is walled up the whole way with a park layout and position that is designed to maximize privacy of each home....it is what i specifically did not like about irvine - most parks are dead (save for early morning sports).  I guess most people love extreme privacy because TIC simply feeds the market's desires, but I think 5 points did a good job in Beacon Park on finding that balance for those looking at a slight alternative.

Here is an example of someone that does a great job of doing it (to a degree beyond 5 points, well worth the watch):https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/professionals/201702100600/
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
On my way out I drove to see several pocket parks on the healthy land and not a soul.
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healthy land kids are busy studying to get perfect sat score, playing in parks is for school drop outs
 
I took a drive thru beacon park neighbourhood last weekend and was impressed by the uniqueness of the homes and parks compared to the other new irvine villages. It was so refreshing to see the layout of the homes, the park with zip lines....it seemed so different and very desirable. Folks talked a lot about the toxicity of the land, if nothing is bad as portrayed with the land then 5 yrs from now I think beacon park will stand out as awesome.
 
noMoneyBackin2011 said:
I thought Yellow Fever hated GP?
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That's what IHS meant. IHS drove by TIC properties and their pocket parks and didn't see activities etc.

In the thread where YF semi trolled with that long tangent on 5P and their vision and what not.. I had to ask him was he a resident at all (he's not, he bought in EW) and if he had attended any of the community event etc at GPN (it doesn't appear he has).

I didn't bother replying further in that thread but given I live in a 5P neighborhood and have actually attended man community events through the past 2-3 years, - including club activities from all spectrum - there is definitely community building going on and not just faceless neighbors. Sure, you'll still have people mingling within their ethnicity and culture - but that's how real life works.

But in seasonal events, neighbors come out and hang out. I see frequently neighborhood kids hopping between homes after class. The full-time "lifestyle coordinator" along with other community organizers do put in effort to try and build a robust community.

Yeah, you're going to find a certain type of FCB living in any Irvine communities - that is the nature of the city right now. But amidst all that, FBC or not, many are simply trying to build a life with their family.

So I had to chuckle about lack of soul and all those rant when our family has met great neighbors, made friends, planned, organized, and attended community events together. I don't doubt those won't happen at TIC properties, but it was definitely made easier by the tools and foundations GPN place into their structure. I'm not naive enough to think its some altruistic vision in some utopia community - but they certainly aren't just manufacturing a facade as well.

At the end, what you get out of your neighborhood and community is what you put into it - developer supported or not, IMO.
 
Parks are definitely plus point for GPN. I feel lucky that I did not get trapped into low MR nonsense of TIC properties and bought in to BP.

Many of my kids friends from other communities visit our home all the time for one reason or the other. Naturally their parents come to drop/pick them up. We consistently hear great feedback about the whole vibe of BP and know quite a few families that are contemplating buying in BP, PP and moving here. I take Uber/Lyft every single week and invariably I hear praise from those drivers (and, they see neighborhoods all day long).

Heck if I had resources, I'd double down on BP/PP and buy more.
 
I am a believer that the built environment encourages specific human behavior. Walls, gate, guard towers, fob access parks and club houses create isolation and neighbors become introverted and private. No walls, front doors greet the neighborhood perimeters, public parks, non fortresses club house, no trap fences, GreatPark parties and universal neighborhood events promote bonding, openness and friendship among Greatparkers.
 
The community has a great design and I do love some of the floor plans. The biggest drawbacks to GP-- high MR and being a former superfund site. I might overlook the MR but I can't bring myself to spending over a million dollars on remediated top soil. I don't trust the government cleaned it all up. I wouldn't take a chance on such a known toxic site.
 
It's so refreshing to see a normal discussion about GPN... The vitriol that is spewed here by YF its suuuuch a turnoff.  I actually had decided to just stop participating in the forum becaues of it but what the hell, trolls will be trolls so I'm still around...

We just moved into Parasol Park and we love it.  We lived in a walled off community before and I hated the stuffiness and lack of personality, here we walk to the park almost every day, we bike, we go to the pools (can't wait for the water park to be finished!). We are happy here and superfund or not we love the community so far.  We really are looking forward to meeting more neighbors!
 
With Woodbury, TIC had no walls separating the sub neighborhoods and tracts.  I believe Stonegate is where they really changed that format and now is prevalent in every one of their projects.  I never understood that is Woodbury won them so many awards for master planning.  Any idea why TIC made that change?

 
rickr said:
Took my son to the zip line today. I could not get him to go home after.
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Ya, IHS can you get them to add a few more zip lines, sheesh.  My son had to wait for some kid who wouldn't let go of the zip line until his mom yelled at him from the car that they had to go home.

We need like 3 zip lines so kids can race each other.
 
Blame the families from the Irvine Ranch driving their kids over to Parasol Park to play the zip line. Since there is the lack of creativity there and the kids beg their moms to take them to the GP because the parks on the other side is a lot more fun.  They should send a spy over take measurements and take photos of the construction methods of the zip line and mass produce it, copy and paste it into the pocket parks. It is unfair to the Parkers when the Villagers drive over and use the Greatpark amenities.
 
That is by design. You see, if you have too much of the good thing then the desire will dissipate. This is how 5-Points continue to attract and innovate in designs. There are no parks like the Great Parks, anywhere in Irvine. From the old world charm Pavillion Park, to the Look Out at Beacon Park and then Parasol Park the theme continues to progress high desire of owning in this part of town.

5-Points hit a home run and then a grand slam. What will the design team comes up next.....Looking forward to their next innovation.
 
I have been around Irvine for a very long time. My preaching and complaining got me black listed from designing on the Ranch. Since I left the Ranch it became stale with wash-rinse- repeat and stamping out the same floor plan and photocopying  one floor plan up to large, medium and small. Products lack innovation. Every now and then I sneak  something in.  I am so grateful that Five Point brought me back to Irvine to play a small part of a grand vision. Trust me, you have not seen much yet. The talents there are immense.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
Blame the families from the Irvine Ranch driving their kids over to Parasol Park to play the zip line. Since there is the lack of creativity there and the kids beg their moms to take them to the GP because the parks on the other side is a lot more fun.  They should send a spy over take measurements and take photos of the construction methods of the zip line and mass produce it, copy and paste it into the pocket parks. It is unfair to the Parkers when the Villagers drive over and use the Greatpark amenities.
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Could not stop laughing.... :D
 
I drive my kids to play at Orchard Hills playgrounds, both gated and non gated side.  I guess we can call it even.
 
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