Honest Review about Living in Irvine
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9/14/2012
I've lived in Irvine for almost 5 years. I've ultimately decided to move out of the area for several reasons (see my opinion of the negative aspects below). I'll start with the positives:
1. "Cultural" which generally means good variety of Asian and Middle Eastern/Arabic restaurants.
2. Conveniently located (basically in center of Orange County, close to major freeways, only about 15 min from pretty beaches).
3. Plenty of things to do in the surrounding areas (but not Irvine itself)
4. Good shopping centers such as the Irvine Spectrum
Negative aspects of living in Irvine:
1. TOO EXPENSIVE! Irvine's top priority is making money by building homes and apartment complexes. Therefore there is very little greenery left. Plus, most of your salary will be devoted to housing as homes and rentals are double that of the rest of the country (apartments average at least $1500 per month for 1-bedroom and $2000 for a 2-bedroom, and this price increases the closer you are to the beach). Insurance, tax, utility bills are extremely high as well!
2. VERY FAKE- Materialistic people and overall fakeness of Irvine
3. TOO MANY ASIANS! The population consists at at least 30% Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese) which means that people are quite rude, unfriendly toward people outside their culture, and rarely speak English. There are plenty of Middle Easterners (Persian, Indian) that this applies to as well. It seems like almost everyone is angry, and I have witnessed several road rage incidents. There are also plenty of inconsiderate wealthy people of all nationalities (including White) that feel that they are entitled to everything!
4. NO JOBS! You basically have to sit in traffic for hours commuting toward Los Angeles or San Diego.
While I have made the decision to move out of Irvine, I will let you decide for yourself. If you want to relocate to Orange County, there are certainly better places to live. Based on my experiences, I would not recommend living in Irvine. Good luck in your relocation search :)
Todd | Irvine, CA