Turtle Rock, Bonita Canyon, Canyon View and Alderwood Basics Plus Elementary Schools ranked #2, #5 ,#6, and #7 respectively, and Rancho San Joaquin Middle School ranked #9.

Turtle Rock elementary is the district school for the part of Turtle Rock village located in the 92612 zip code as well as the University Town Center. Bonita Canyon elementary encompasses homes located in Turtle Rock within the 92603 zip code.

Canyon View elementary is located in a newer part of Northwood villlage in the 92620 zip code.

Alderwood Basics Plus elementary, located in Quail Hill, serves Quail Hill and the Spectrum area residents.

Rancho San Joaquin Middle School is the district school for the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock, Turtle Ridge, Rancho San Joaquin, University Park and University Town Center.

To ensure that the desired school falls within your neighborhood, please look up the street address at: http://www.iusd.org/asp-bin/whichschool

To see how your schools rank among all of Orange County, go to:

http://school.hiwhy.com/orange-county

First published yesterday in http://robin4homes.activerain.com

Photo of my very own “I Voted” Sticker

Exercise Your Political Muscle and Vote!

Exercise is good for your body and mind. Exercising your political muscle strengthens your community and the nation. Your vote matters. Just do it!

Go on, get to the polls and vote!

Crystal Cove Historic District

We have some idyllic places just a short bike ride from Irvine, CA. One of these places is a throw-back to an earlier time–Crystal Cove State Park in Corona del Mar, CA. We had a pleasant, sunny afternoon strolling on the beach, catching some raysand cogitating how fortunatewe are to live in this little piece of paradise.

Back in the 1920’s Crystal Cove was transformed into “a paradise of the south seas” by a budding silent film industry, and small cottages were built and thatched with palms to reflect the exotic appearance of Tahiti or Hawaii. Silent movies were filmed on location here as it was easily accessible by rail and much more affordable than shooting in a far off location.

A tradition evolved that allowed employees and friends of the James Irvine family to return each summer, make improvements tothe existing cottages, and buildadditional cottages throughout the 1920’s and ’30’s. In the late 1930’s the summer dwellers were asked by the Irvine family to choose either move their cottages or relinquish their ownership and lease the cottages from the Irvine Company. The lease agreements specified that no dimentional changes could be made to the cottages, thus preserving the cottages original integrity.

In the mid 1970’s one of the long time summer cottage residents together with another Crystal Cove resident and historian and a local preservationist worked on a successful proposal to place Crystal Cove on the National Register of Historic Places, thus preserving it for future generations to enjoy as it was originally conceived.The State of California purchased the land from the Irvine Compnay in 1979 to form a state park named after Crystal Cove. Today visitors to Crystal Cove State Park may rent these historic beach cottages on a “first come-first serve” basis.

In addition to enjoying the If you’re looking for a great place to have brunch, a midday snack, or a romantic sunset dinner, you may want to check out the Beachcomber cafe–

The Beachcomber Cafe

Views from The Beachcomber Cafe

a restaurant right on the sand in Crystal Cove State Park. Parking is free with a Beachcomber cafe validation and is located across the street on the Pacific Coast Highway and Los Trancos. A tram will take you from the Beach parking lot and let you off a few steps from the Beachcomber restaurant. There is a nominal $1.00 per person charge each way with children under 12 years riding free. Or if you are to traveling by foot, it’s a pleasant ten-minute walk from the parking lot to the beach.

“Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon…in the summertime…in the summertime…”

(Lyrics by The Kinks)

Photo Courtesy of Asiir

You won’t want to miss one of the highlights of this summer by attending this free performance by the Pacific Symphony, sponsored by Target, as part of their 2008 “Symphony in the Cities” concert series this Saturday evening, August 16th at 7:00 p.m. in Irvine’s Heritage Park.

It’s a great opportunity to hear our beloved Pacific Syphony, with Musical Director Carl St. Clair, while enjoying a picnic in the park with family and friends. And did I mention that it’s free! If you have children (nieces, nephews, friend’s/neighbor’s children) you definitely want to show up by 5:30 p.m. for the “musical playgound” in which the kids will participate and share in interactive and hands-on activities that include a conducting workshop and a chance to assist Maestro St. Clair during the concert. What an opportunity! It’s a sure bet to be a highlight of your summer experience here in Irvine.

By the way, you can attend a repeat performance in Lake Forest, CA on Sunday, August 17th in Pittsford Park (21849 Pittsford) at 7:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. for the “musical playground).

Date: Sat., August 16, 2008; Location: Heritage Park, 14301 Yale Avenue, Irvine, CA

Program

Hope to see you there!

The Academic Performance Index is a composite of standardized test scores and other measures used by the state to rate student achievement. These tests include the California Standards Tests, the California Achievement Test and the high school exit exam. Students in grades 3 through 11 undergo testing each spring.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Click here to see the complete list of Orange County public school rankings.

Before moving to Irvine, California, we lived in Tucson, Arizona.

Most people think of the desert as rugged and hearty, certainly not fragile and fleeting. With the temperature hovering over the century mark from April through November during the daytime, one can only imagine how difficult it is for the flora and fauna to thrive and persevere.

I am reminded of a flower that blooms only one summer night in Tucson, and closes up at sunrise the very next morning, called the Night Blooming Cereus, or Queen of the Night.

I am reminded how fortunate we are here in Irvine, California to live so close to the Upper Newport Ecological Preserve, a sanctuary for migratory birds, and other critters including ourselves.

I am reminded that Sabino Canyon–a desert oasis in Tucson’s Coronado National Forest–had as a reminder of its fragility at its entrance which read:

Leave only footsteps, and take only memories…

I usually make it a point to scan the Real Estate sections of the L.A. Times, the Orange County Register, and the New York Times at some point over the weekend. However, I overlooked an article regarding 10 zip codes in Southern California that actually experienced price appreciation in the 1st quarter of 2008 as compared with the 1st quarter of 2007. Thankfully I came across Elaine Carlson’s article in PalosVerdesSource.com entitled Hottest SoCal Zip Codes.

The numbers were based on at least 20 sales in each of the zip codes as reported by DataQuick Information Systems. In Orange County, Irvine’s zip code 92603, which encompasses the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock (including Shady Canyon), and Turtle Ridge, experienced an 18.0% increase in the median sales prices for existing single family detached homes as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007, Newport Coast’s 92657 zip code had an increase of 27.4% in the median sales price, and Newport Beach’s 92663 zip code encompassing Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula had a 66.8% in the median sales price as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007.

Why do “some markets sizzle, while others fizzle?” Proximity to the beach where demand is high and inventory is relatively low has a great deal to do with price appreciation. These coastal areas have buyers who are able to qualify for good fixed rate loans, whereas the interior part of the state had borrowers who were stretching to afford homes, many of whom fell victim to the sub-prime mortgage debacle. (See my article entitled Which Cities are on Top for Home Sellers in California).

To view the cities with the biggest losses, Click here.

The question arises time and time again: If I buy such and such property in Irvine, will my child be able to attend X elementary, middle, high school? The answer is: Don’t assume anything! If you want your child to attend a specific school within the Irvine Unified School District, the best course of action is to check, and then, double-check again!

All too often, buyers do not verify the school boundaries prior to purchasing a home. They assume that if a particular school is within a few blocks of the property they wish to purchase, then it follows that the school is within the property’s school attendance boundary. Wrong! In fact, a school can be within walking distance of the property, and still be outside the school’s designated attendance boundary.

I’ve seen real estate agents make the mistake of inputing the wrong school in the multiple listing service. In so doing, they are unwittingly misleading prospective buyers. For instance, today I had a prospective buyer e-mail me regarding whether University High School is within the attendance boundary of the high-rise condos in the 92612 zip code. This would include the airport area’s mid and high-rise condos of Watermarke, Avenue One, the Plaza, and the Marquee–all of which happen to fall within the Santa Ana Unified School District, not the Irvine Unified School District. There are some buyers (and, indeed, even some real estate agents) who are under the assumption that just because these condos are located in the city of Irvine (92612), that they necessarily fall within the Irvine Unified School District’s attendance boundaries. Not so.

One other caveat: Be sure to check the attendance boundary changes for future years. Just because a school is located in an attendance boundary for 2008 doesn’t preclude the school from a future boundary change. Again, in the airport area, the Metropolitan neighborhood used to be within the Irvine Unified School District’s boundary. However, now the attendance boundary of the Metropolitan falls within the Santa Ana Unified School District. Similarly, the neighborhood of Las Palmas, within the village of Westpark, used to be within the University High School attendance boundary. A homeowner of a Las Palmas condo wound up selling her condo and moving to the University Town Center just so her daughter would be able to attend University High School. She sold her condo because University High was removed from the attendance boundary of Las Palmas a few years ago. To her chagrin, her former neighborhood was recently re-installed and is now again within the University High School attendance boundary.

Therefore, I always recommend that if parents are bent on having their child/children attend a specific school, then the best way to verify if a particular school falls within the desired attendance boundary is to go to the Irvine Unified School District’s web site and check. This is very easy do. Scroll down to Enrollment, and then over to Assigned Neighborhood Schools. Click on this and it will bring you to an area where you can type in the address of the property, and it will display the elementary, middle, and high school attendance area for that particular address. You may also wish to click on the Irvine Unified School District’s School Boundaries. The site also provides a future map indicating boundary changes.

Currently the attendance boundaries for University High School include the villages of Quail Hill, Rancho San Joaquin, Turtle Ridge, Turtle Rock, University Park, and University Town Center.
Better to be informed than sorry!

Everyone has his/her own reason for moving from one place to another. Over the past century we have become an increasingly mobile people. We uproot ourselves and our families seeking a better life, reinventing ourselves.

We move for a job relocation. We move to improve the quality of our lives and of those of our children or grandchildren. We are looking for a vacation or second home. We are looking for a retirement community. We are looking to move near excellent schools for our children or future families. We are seeking to move close to a university environment. We are looking to move from a colder to a milder climate. We are looking to move from a large single family home into a condo, town home or high-rise. We are seeking to move from a condo or town home into a larger single family home. We are looking to move to a golf course community. We are seeking to move to a coastal or a beach community. We are looking to move to a safer environment. We are looking for cultural enrichment.

In short, welcome to Irvine, CA whose everyday motto is “another day in paradise.” Irvine, CA has a dynamic and healthy business environment. Irvine, CA has real estate catering to the taste of one and all: homes, properties, condos, high rise and low rise town homes, second homes, vacation properties, golf course communities, beach communities, and retirement communities.

Welcome, home to Irvine, CA where lifestyle and real estate meet and fulfill the wants and needs of people of all ages in which one and all find their very own piece of paradise.