Recent content by ocresident73_IHB

Agreed. I certainly didn't mean to start a war of words over whose schools or community are best - particularly since I greatly respect the IHB community and the vast knowledge base that is so generously shared here. Everyone makes their housing decisions based on many factors, and I'm sure...

Point noted. However, while it is true that I noted the ranking of the elementary schools, I wasn't referring solely to academic ranking when I characterized ElMo as "crappy". I'll admit that I have no current knowledge of the school's API rankings, other than what has been cited in this...

tmare - thanks for your thoughts. I didn't want to get too long winded in a blog post, so I left out all of the crazy crap that happened in my 10 years years of Orange residency to the non-white folk in Orange. Basically if you're white or Asian, you're acceptable. If you even kinda look like...

Yes, I did mean it, but because I speak from experience, not from some inherent sense of Irvine snobbery. I lived in East Orange for 10 years. I found most of my neighbors, as well as many of the Old Towne historic society people to quite bigoted and intolerable. I attended the raucous school...

Even with the kids in private school, she'll still be living near yahoos who apparently care so little about their schools that they'd rather pay thousands a year to a private operator than improve their own public district.

I totally empathize with her nesting instinct, but what I don't get is why she would want her kids in the crazy school district. The elementary schools in that area rank pretty high, but if they stay through high school, they'll be at El Mo - one of the crappier high schools in the county. Not...

McDonna - A basic registration w/ Guidestar is free and takes about 2 minutes. It's always a good thing to have on hand, not only for researching blog info, but for anyone who gives money to a non-profit. Always good to have some idea of how your favorite charity is spending it's donors'...

Seraphim is correct. Here is the very brief description of the complicated federal tax credit program from the website of the CA Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC): "For 2009, each state has an annual housing credit ceiling of $2.30 per capita for 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits. In...

SCAG stands for the Southern California Association of Governments. There are regional councils of governments around the state that fulfill a pseudo-governmental role. In this case, regional councils of governments are given the power by the housing element law to be the sole "decider" of...

Whether you believe that housing is a fundamental right or a privilege, state law requires that ALL California communities must accommodate the housing needs of its population at all income levels. Frankly, if land use laws at the local level weren't so restrictive, and there weren't so much...

I have to disagree with that assertion. The Irvine Company and the City of Irvine are just as particular about the architectural condition of the affordable products as they are about market rate. There are already thousands of affordable units in the city, and most folks would have no idea...

I was incredibly disappointed to hear of the outcome of Irvine's appeal of the SCAG decision. Current state law requires every city and county to submit a "housing element" to the state - basically a plan for how many housing units a jurisdiction will build within a certain time period (in this...

The PD is also required to submit an annual crime report to the FBI. You should ask the PD consultant you're working with to access that info for you. It may not break down into each specific village or gated neighborhood in those villages, but may be a good start. However, since that data...

Have you tried speaking with someone in either the city Planning or Community Development departments? Those are the two departments that have to have a hand in everything - residential, commercial or industrial - that gets built in the city. Although they may not be able to open all of their...

MdD - A couple of other thoughts. Yes, it is true that the social stigma attached to mental illness has made research funding difficult. But, there are some advocates out there who are working to change that. I know that NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is one of the key national...