Thinking of moving to Qual Hill. Give me the Plus and Minus'...

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frank69m_IHB

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Thinking of buying a house in Quail Hill. There seems to be low inventory in my price range right now 1 million to 1.15 million. but wanted to get your guys' opinions on the plus and minus of that area. One thing that drew me to this area was the fact that it was a little secluded from other areas in irvine. Opinions?
 
[quote author="frank69m" date=1223283931]Thinking of buying a house in Quail Hill. There seems to be low inventory in my price range right now 1 million to 1.15 million. but wanted to get your guys' opinions on the plus and minus of that area. One thing that drew me to this area was the fact that it was a little secluded from other areas in irvine. Opinions?</blockquote>


Quail Hills is a great Village. See the <a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/blog/comments/irvines-quail-hill/">Community Profile</a> I did on it.



I would tell you the same thing I am telling everyone else about buying there: wait, prices will drop further.
 
A few positives:



Good schools.

Good topography. Gentle sloping, not flat.

Close to 405, colleges/universities, bike/hike trails, and (relatively) the ocean.

Close to hospitals/health care.

Decent tax burden.

Relatively new village.



A few negatives:

Fire hazard, depending on specific location.

Traffic bottlenecks.

Still too high on pricing.



-IR2



<em>edit to add: can't believe IR beat me to the punch. what was that, like 30 seconds?</em>
 
I have lived in Quail Hill for the past 4 years and I love it. It's nice and quiet and you don't get the congestion you get if you live in the middle of Irvine. The traffic is really light going in and out of QH (you can either use the 405 or the 133). It's very close to the Spectrum and not far from Laguna Beach. I've also heard from people that QH is a little cooler than other parts of Irvine (3-5 degrees). I would wait on buying and maybe rent a place to get your feet wet and see if you like the area. Even with selling my condo, I chose to stay in QH via a TIC rental.
 
I too have lived in Quail Hill for over 2 years now.

Very safe area as well. It is a couple degrees cooler

thanks to the elevation and being closer to the effects of the Ocean.

Being so close to the 133 is a great benefit to living in this area.

But as others have mentioned. I think we have another 30% to come down in

home prices still. And rentals will be coming down as well.
 
We are looking to rent there too.



My main concern is that traffic circle on Shady/Sand Canyon in the morning... I realize TCs are designed to improve movement but there is still a light at the shopping center not to far from it that would probably be the bottleneck. How is it at about 8-9am?
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1223341586]We are looking to rent there too.



My main concern is that traffic circle on Shady/Sand Canyon in the morning... I realize TCs are designed to improve movement but there is still a light at the shopping center not to far from it that would probably be the bottleneck. How is it at about 8-9am?</blockquote>


I've never had a problem with traffic. Compared to the other on-off ramps, this exit's a breeze. A much smaller fraction of the area around the exit is developed and the traffic from Shady Canyon is small since there are few homes up there. I've never waited for more than one light change before going over the bridge. Coming home on the 405 is the only problem, so I take Alton, which parallels the 405.
 
Yeah... the traffic on the 405 is my other concern... going north in the morning it's backed up until Culver and then going south on the 405 in the afternoon back into Quail Hill... it's backed up until the 133.



Does anyone know what the new building they are putting up in the retail center is going to be?
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1223344662]Yeah... the traffic on the 405 is my other concern... going north in the morning it's backed up until Culver and then going south on the 405 in the afternoon back into Quail Hill... it's backed up until the 133.



Does anyone know what the new building they are putting up in the retail center is going to be?</blockquote>
The traffic usually breaks up once you get past Culver/Jamboree if you are going North in the morning (I work in Long Beach). Heading South in the afternoon, the traffic usually starts at Jamboree/Culver and breaks up at Jefferry. I either get off at Jeffery (if I want to hit up the El Pollo Loco) or just get off Sand Canyon. The traffic in the morning getting out of the community is a piece of cake, you'll never wait longer than one red light.



The buiding they are constructing now is going to be a Bank of America branch and should be open in Q1 2009 (thank goodness because I bank at BofA and have to go all the way to the Alton/Technology branch now.
 
Local traffic is of little concern in Quail Hill.

Shady/Sand side is just a single light at its worst at 8:00AM.

Just be aware of the traffic circle. People will make mistakes

at that junction.



I commute to Orange daily. Lately the 5 has been better northbound in the morning.

But the 405 really opens up at Culver and is free flowing at top speed to the 55

and beyond.



Just what we need. Another stupid Bank.

What about the Countrywide closer to the Starbucks?

Thats B of A now as well ? Soon to close ?
 
[quote author="bltserv" date=1223349728]Local traffic is of little concern in Quail Hill.

Shady/Sand side is just a single light at its worst at 8:00AM.

Just be aware of the traffic circle. People will make mistakes

at that junction.



I commute to Orange daily. Lately the 5 has been better northbound in the morning.

But the 405 really opens up at Culver and is free flowing at top speed to the 55

and beyond.



Just what we need. Another stupid Bank.

What about the Countrywide closer to the Starbucks?

Thats B of A now as well ? Soon to close ?</blockquote>
Isn't that Coldwell Banker (I think it is...faces Quail Hill Parkway)? If it is a Countrywide loan center, then it will probably close down.
 
The Coldwell is a little farther south in the complex.

Thats also our Voting/Polling place as of the March Primary at least.



There is a CountryWide right next to the Bank across from the

Starbucks. I think its a WaMu. Or it was.



So that makes 5 Banks in the Quail Hill Center.
 
I was hoping it was another food place.



Don't get me wrong... the dining choices at Quail Hill are excellent... but sometimes you want to sit in a restaurant-style place. Actually... it would have been okay as a drive-thru joint... but I guess you don't put those on "the Quill".
 
Quail Hill has very limited traffic. There's only Shandy Canyon with private-gated road behind it.



When Laguna Crossing neighborhood opens and is populated, you might get more traffic around Alton/Sand Canyon area (405 entrance/exit), but that's about it.



Whoever designed the traffic circle needs to be tar and feathered.
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1223361530]Whoever designed the traffic circle needs to be tar and feathered.</blockquote>
You don't want to live in the newer communities in Carlsbad then... the Lennar planned neighborhood is full of them.



I thought traffic circles were good (who is a traffic engineer here?) for congestion. They're just hard to give directions on.... uh... go down Shady Canyon... then turn left on Quail Hill Pkwy... no wait... go around the circle then turn right on Quail Hill Pkwy.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1223361833][quote author="momopi" date=1223361530]Whoever designed the traffic circle needs to be tar and feathered.</blockquote>
You don't want to live in the newer communities in Carlsbad then... the Lennar planned neighborhood is full of them.



I thought traffic circles were good (who is a traffic engineer here?) for congestion. They're just hard to give directions on.... uh... go down Shady Canyon... then turn left on Quail Hill Pkwy... no wait... go around the circle then turn right on Quail Hill Pkwy.</blockquote>
Hahaha They use a lot of them in Europe, but they do safe on not having to put in a traffic light. I think those things cost like $200k-$300k per intersection.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1223361833][quote author="momopi" date=1223361530]Whoever designed the traffic circle needs to be tar and feathered.</blockquote>
You don't want to live in the newer communities in Carlsbad then... the Lennar planned neighborhood is full of them.



I thought traffic circles were good (who is a traffic engineer here?) for congestion. They're just hard to give directions on.... uh... go down Shady Canyon... then turn left on Quail Hill Pkwy... no wait... go around the circle then turn right on Quail Hill Pkwy.</blockquote>


I always give directions in degrees for the roundabout.



" Go 270 degrees on the roundabout"
 
Why would you want to spend 1M + on a property in Irvine? If I had that kind of money to spare, I'd move to Newport or CDM in a heartbeat.

I laughed when I read momopi's comment on the roundabout, I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm one of the people who gets confused there all the time, runs into traffic and get honked at and yelled at :) That's why I never cross there, except for the one occasion I went to see the neighborhood and the Alderwood elementary. Didn't like that at all. But hey, to each their own...
 
They just "paint restriped" the Traffic Circle on the other end of Quail Hill.

Where it heads over to the 133. Someone was drunk when they painted it.

It forces you to cut into the inner circle to get to Quail Hill Dr.

Totally confusing. Every once in awhile you see where a car has just blown

the Circle late at night and gone over the curb. Saw one on its side one time

earlier this year. You would think for all the money TIC made on this development

they would have made the way "in and out" just a little easier to navigate.



And one more thing.

The darn paper signs for the Election are EVERYWHERE.

I counted like 30 around the Shady traffic circle yesterday.

Really tacky.
 
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