University Park is a
master-planned
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
neighborhood in
Irvine,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It is bounded by University Drive to the south,
Culver Drive
Culver Drive is a major arterial road in Irvine, Orange County, California, running approximately from southwest to northeast.
Its southwest end is at its junction with Anteater Drive and Shady Canyon Drive, at the meeting point of the Turtle Ro ...
to the west, and the
San Diego (I-405) Freeway to the north. Commercially advertised as Irvine's first "village", the neighborhood was named University Park due to its proximity to the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
. University Park celebrated its 50th anniversary in July 2016.
History
University Park was built in phases beginning in 1965 shortly after plans for a nearby
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
campus were announced. The neighborhood, whose opening predates Irvine's city-hood by five years, was envisioned to attract buyers from a wide range of demographics and was designed to offer various housing types to meet the diverse needs of its target residents. Designed in collaboration with Peter Walker, Dick Law, and Kalvin Platt of Sasaki, Walker and Associates, the neighborhood utilized the
Garden City approach to planning by designing clusters of homes to face publicly-accessible park areas and
greenbelts tucked away from principal roadways in order to create a lower dependence on automobiles. These greenbelts were also designed to link neighborhoods and amenities in the neighborhood, including schools, shopping centers, the library, and recreation areas. At the time of its construction, the neighborhoods's planning concepts were considered experimental, such as the use of rectangular
cul-de-sacs containing greenery in the center. Home sales initially were slow due of the neighborhood's isolation from other built-up areas and also due to the incompletion of the nearby I-405 freeway. However, upon its eventual completion, the neighborhood contained Irvine's first library, high school, and retail shopping center.
Amenities, facilities, and neighborhoods
University Park comprises multiple neighborhoods and associations
and contains a high concentration of community facilities and amenities. In addition to its greenbelts and bikeways, the neighborhood contains community facilities, parks, schools, religious institutions, a library, commercial centers, adjacency to open space and recreational areas, and access to transportation.
Neighborhoods and associations
* University Community Association
* The Terrace Community Association
* Parkside Community Association
* Parkcrest Community Association
* Village Park Community Association
* Parkwood Apartment Homes
Schools and library
*
Rancho San Joaquin Middle School
* University Park Elementary
* Village Montessori
* University Park Library (a branch of Orange County Public Libraries system)
Parks and open space and recreational facilities
* University Community Park
* Adventure Playground
* Dave Robins Park (private)
* Quail Hill Preserve (access from Shady Canyon Drive in the
Quail Hill neighborhood)
* Sand Canyon Wash
* Tanaka Farms
* Strawberry Farms Golf Course
*
William R. Mason Regional Park (access from University Drive in the Rancho San Joaquin neighborhood)
Religious institutions
* Light of Christ Lutheran Church
* University United Methodist Church
Commercial centers
* University Park Center
* Parkview Center
Transportation
*
Orange County Transportation Authority
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for ...
(OCTA) bus routes
* San Diego (I-405) Freeway
*
San Joaquin Hills (SR-73) Transportation Corridor (2.1 miles west via University Drive)
*
John Wayne Airport (2.3 miles west via Michelson Drive)
References
{{Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Orange County, California
Villages of Irvine, California