All good hoods, what made you decide on those areas?
CG and Woodbury are newer, Westoark Ii is 90s (and MRs expired) and Woodbridge is the oldest (including Westpark I).
Good question, hopefully my response is also helpful to future home buyers exploring neighborhoods in Irvine. I know it’s Irvine and the suburbs and most people just drive everywhere but my wife and I enjoy walking (20 mins max) to coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores etc. Of course we have multiple cars and also drive to places but we genuinely enjoy walking when we can. Keeping this in mind, Westpark ll/parts of Columbus grove is one of our top choices. We currently rent here and the walkability to Westpark retail (crossroads/westpark plaza) and the District beats every other part of Irvine/other neighborhood centers and makes this area pretty unique in my opinion. Besides coffee shops and grocery stores, my gym and pilates studio is here, my wife has her nail salon and waxing place. There is a daycare. I think what Westpark retail does right compared to other centers is that they have plenty of non food businesses like a sauna studio, a gym/activity area for kids, etc. so there is something unique and it’s not just dry cleaners, banks and UPS/Fedex There is a lot of that as well but it’s not just that unlike other centers. We have it pretty good here and it’s all within walking distance. It’s almost like we are having our cake and eating it too- we get the cleanliness, safety and comfort of the suburbs but also the convenience and access to amenities we like kinda like how we would in an urban area. I get that for some being away from civilization in Portola springs or orchard hills is a feature and not a bug but to each his own and for us it’s not something that we really desire. Same goes for nice and expensive communities like shady canyon, turtle ridge, Laguna altura, etc.
While we like Westpark ll, not a huge fan of Westpark l though since a lot of homes literally look the same with the same paint color and spanish style red tile roof. it’s kinda bit much even for Irvine standards. Parts of Woodbridge (closer to Woodbridge high) also gets you good access to Westpark and Woodbridge retail. No walkability to the district but you get the lake instead. The only other community that is in east Irvine for us is Woodbury. It’s on our list because we just like the aesthetic- floor plans are a bit more modern than Westpark, Woodbridge and Columbus grove, we like the homes, think it’s a great place to raise kids, love the Jeffery trail and walkability to the town centers in Woodbury and cypress village. Still think retail in Westpark is better but we are keeping Woodbury in our list because of limited inventory so more options we have the better for us, there is still above average walkability to town centers in Woodbury and cypress village, the Jeffery trail, marketplace is an easy 10 min drive taking just surface streets and the canopy/future great park retail looks interesting and is pretty accessible.