Stonegate Vs. Pavilion Park

[bones]

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[Irvinecommuter]

IMHO, I think WB is still the best village so far in Irvine's newer northern sphere in terms of location and overall amenities that it provides.  It is better located and has a lot more amenities than SG, PS, PP, CV, LR, PA5.

WB is definitely the best location and the shopping center is great.  Only issue is the school zoning...still zones into Irvine High.

I agree having lived in both WB and in PS.  Wish the town center had better restaurants though.  The chinese place is beyond yuck.  The fish place is meh.  The japanese place is also meh.  The burger joint doesn't agree with my stomach for some reason.  The pizza place is only ok and is kinda pricey.  Chipotle/CFA/S-Bux/Panera are pretty generic to most neighborhood centers so nothing special there.  The new Med place is promising and pretty cheap.

Agreed on the restaurants...I actually like the Chinese place and the Japanese place is decent as a local option...everything does not appear to be that great.  OH has much better dining options.

 

[jerometl]

IMHO, I think WB is still the best village so far in Irvine's newer northern sphere in terms of location and overall amenities that it provides.  It is better located and has a lot more amenities than SG, PS, PP, CV, LR, PA5.

WB is definitely the best location and the shopping center is great.  Only issue is the school zoning...still zones into Irvine High.

I agree having lived in both WB and in PS.  Wish the town center had better restaurants though.  The chinese place is beyond yuck.  The fish place is meh.  The japanese place is also meh.  The burger joint doesn't agree with my stomach for some reason.  The pizza place is only ok and is kinda pricey.  Chipotle/CFA/S-Bux/Panera are pretty generic to most neighborhood centers so nothing special there.  The new Med place is promising and pretty cheap.

Agreed on the restaurants...I actually like the Chinese place and the Japanese place is decent as a local option...everything does not appear to be that great.  OH has much better dining options.

The Japanese place (Niko Niko) is decent but a little expensive I think.  we used to eat there often when they used to have the 20% discount that you can easily get online.  Now, without the 20% discount, it doesn't seem worth it.  Rarely go to the chinese place (only on rare occassion when we are bored of the chinese foods in the Jeffrey/Walnut shopping centers).    I agree that OH (and even the shopping center in Culver/Irvine) has much better selection -- a little too far from us though..

 

[jerometl]

IMHO, I think WB is still the best village so far in Irvine's newer northern sphere in terms of location and overall amenities that it provides.  It is better located and has a lot more amenities than SG, PS, PP, CV, LR, PA5.

WB is definitely the best location and the shopping center is great.  Only issue is the school zoning...still zones into Irvine High.

Another concern I have with WB is few years down the road, when all of Irvine empty lots are converted to residential, it is basically "sandwiched" by the other villages on all 4 sides, thus the traffic to just get out of the villages to the freeway or toll road or wherever.... Also, if say the major roads are getting full, people might start using the inner streets of Woodbury as alternative routes to go from one village to another ..

Woodbury has this tackled by not having thru streets. Cypress Village on the other hand has Roosevelt that goes straight all the way through.

But it's not really difficult to just go around the Woodbury perimeter streets to go from one entrance/exit to another (Regal/Hallmark/Townsend/Vintage).  At least for Cypress, as far as I know, there would be no houses facing Roosevelt (and I don't think they would allow curb parking on Roosevelt).  Can't say the same for the four streets above.

 

[ak]

IMHO, I think WB is still the best village so far in Irvine's newer northern sphere in terms of location and overall amenities that it provides.  It is better located and has a lot more amenities than SG, PS, PP, CV, LR, PA5.

WB is definitely the best location and the shopping center is great.  Only issue is the school zoning...still zones into Irvine High.

I agree having lived in both WB and in PS.  Wish the town center had better restaurants though.  The chinese place is beyond yuck.  The fish place is meh.  The japanese place is also meh.  The burger joint doesn't agree with my stomach for some reason.  The pizza place is only ok and is kinda pricey.  Chipotle/CFA/S-Bux/Panera are pretty generic to most neighborhood centers so nothing special there.  The new Med place is promising and pretty cheap.

Sadly it think Irvine will mostly only have "generic" type of eating places.  In regards to WB being zoned to Irvine High School as a negative, we have to remember that Irvine High is a GREAT school.  In the end, there is really no material difference between any of the 4 high schools in Irvine.  If your kid is a bright, well rounded student it doesn't matter if he/she gets a 4.0 GPA from Irvine High or Northwood High or any other high school in Irvine.  Your child will likely get into the college that is within those guidelines.  Remember that colleges like to have diversity....they will not accept all of the 4.0's from just one high school.  They want a little from here a little from there and so on and so on.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

IMHO, I think WB is still the best village so far in Irvine's newer northern sphere in terms of location and overall amenities that it provides.  It is better located and has a lot more amenities than SG, PS, PP, CV, LR, PA5.

WB is definitely the best location and the shopping center is great.  Only issue is the school zoning...still zones into Irvine High.

I agree having lived in both WB and in PS.  Wish the town center had better restaurants though.  The chinese place is beyond yuck.  The fish place is meh.  The japanese place is also meh.  The burger joint doesn't agree with my stomach for some reason.  The pizza place is only ok and is kinda pricey.  Chipotle/CFA/S-Bux/Panera are pretty generic to most neighborhood centers so nothing special there.  The new Med place is promising and pretty cheap.

Sadly it think Irvine will mostly only have "generic" type of eating places.  In regards to WB being zoned to Irvine High School as a negative, we have to remember that Irvine High is a GREAT school.  In the end, there is really no material difference between any of the 4 high schools in Irvine.  If your kid is a bright, well rounded student it doesn't matter if he/she gets a 4.0 GPA from Irvine High or Northwood High or any other high school in Irvine.  Your child will likely get into the college that is within those guidelines.  Remember that colleges like to have diversity....they will not accept all of the 4.0's from just one high school.  They want a little from here a little from there and so on and so on.

Agreed on Irvine HS...we're talking relativeness and real estate prices.  People who buy at that level of the market and are focused on education see a big difference between Northwood and Irvine.  A lot of people buy 30 year old houses so their kids can get into University.

As for the eating establishments, it is TIC so your options are limited...the ones at Woodbury are particular bad though.  Woodbury is like a death trap for restaurant for some reason.

 

[bones]

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[irvinehomeowner]

Yeah, I couldn't be Elsa from Frozen.

In the long run land is more valuable than the house so I'd prefer PP due to the larger lot sizes. At the moment Stonegate is more centrally located but once the whole Great Park retail and schools are built they might be more tied in that regard.

slightly flawed in that developed land is more valuable.  The majority of the value of the home comes from the enclosed structure. 

Have you looked at your tax bill? Usually the land value is higher than the improvements (which usually means the house)... and the improvements value decreases while land value rises. Or do I have that wrong?

The bigger yard is a plus but it's not super significant.  Factoring in the extra cost of landscaping and maintenance, I think it's a wash.

So what benefit were you pointing out here? You say it's a plus but then you take that all away so how am I to believe that you actually can see the benefit of a larger lot size?

Maybe it's the medium, and you can say that I'm the one not making that link but...

 

[jmoney74]

So someone who has a bigger house and yard in Stonegate?  He just wasted his money!  Should have bought that zero lot home with shared driveway motorcourt. 

 

[herefortheschools]

PP is hands down the better of the two! Bigger lots, 3 car garage, the look and feel. When you drive thru PP it doesn't feel like you are in Irvine. I love it and in the long run the pricing of these homes will skyrocket! Oh and don't forget its so diverse: Asians, Indians, Persians, and Americans. I've seen a good mix of all these nationalities!!!!!

 

[homer_simpson]

PP is hands down the better of the two! Bigger lots, 3 car garage, the look and feel. When you drive thru PP it doesn't feel like you are in Irvine. I love it and in the long run the pricing of these homes will skyrocket! Oh and don't forget its so diverse: Asians, Indians, Persians, and Americans. I've seen a good mix of all these nationalities!!!!!

I agree it feels like Tustin especially Columbus Square. 

You just lost credibility with the diversity posting... 

 

[jmoney74]

I have white neighbors.. that's already pretty diverse for new builds.  1 white family = Diversity.  There are at least 2 on my street.. so now it's ultra diverse. 

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Irvine is truly Bizarro World, where people prefer smaller lots and diversity means more Caucasians.

 

[jmoney74]

OH MY GOSH.. IT'S A WHITE FAMILY!  OOOH, SO EXCITING. 

 

[socal78]

in the long run the pricing of these homes will skyrocket!

Do trees grow to the sky?

 

[homer_simpson]

I have white neighbors.. that's already pretty diverse for new builds.  1 white family = Diversity.  There are at least 2 on my street.. so now it's ultra diverse. 

The 2 you saw were the general contractors bud... nice try!

 

[jmoney74]

I have white neighbors.. that's already pretty diverse for new builds.  1 white family = Diversity.  There are at least 2 on my street.. so now it's ultra diverse. 

The 2 you saw were the general contractors bud... nice try!

That counts homie!

 

[socal78]

I have white neighbors.. that's already pretty diverse for new builds.  1 white family = Diversity.  There are at least 2 on my street.. so now it's ultra diverse. 

The 2 you saw were the general contractors bud... nice try!

Hehehe. You know what, incidentally, when I stopped by the park there to plant that Valentine's Day treasure hunt item where you found it, I noticed a white guy from afar doing some kind of tour of the grounds but his eyes were fixed on me the entire time. Finally, after a while, he made his way closer did a little greeting / acknowledgement. He had a real wide smile, head nod. I had a feeling he might be mistaking me for a new neighbor just like what you describe even if that was jokingly. I wanted to tell him I was just dropping by briefly to let my kids run wild at their park, then leaving, but I didn't. lol. Never know, could be somebody just swinging by.

 

[zubs]

Perhaps Irvine should rent some Caucasians to spruce up the place.http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.people/index.html

I had an experience with a Chinese company who hired an old white guy as a "consultant".  That dude knew nothing of the business and did not know how to talk to customers.  It was just a huge joke....He was cordial enough, but seemed like he did not belong in the corporate world.

 

[lnc]

I have white neighbors.. that's already pretty diverse for new builds.  1 white family = Diversity.  There are at least 2 on my street.. so now it's ultra diverse. 

The 2 you saw were the general contractors bud... nice try!

Hehehe. You know what, incidentally, when I stopped by the park there to plant that Valentine's Day treasure hunt item where you found it, I noticed a white guy from afar doing some kind of tour of the grounds but his eyes were fixed on me the entire time. Finally, after a while, he made his way closer did a little greeting / acknowledgement. He had a real wide smile, head nod. I had a feeling he might be mistaking me for a new neighbor just like what you describe even if that was jokingly. I wanted to tell him I was just dropping by briefly to let my kids run wild at their park, then leaving, but I didn't. lol. Never know, could be somebody just swinging by.

I think that guy just thinks you are hot.