Irvine, California
Irvine (/ˈɜːrvaɪn/) is the largest city and a master-planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 1971. The 66-square-mile (170 km2) city[11] had a population of 307,670 at the 2020 census; it is the 63rd most populous city in the United States.
Irvine, California
A number of corporations, particularly in the technology and semiconductor sectors, have their national or international headquarters in Irvine. Irvine is also home to several higher-education institutions including the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Concordia University, Irvine Valley College, the Orange County Center of the University of Southern California (USC),[12] and campuses of California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), University of La Verne, and Pepperdine University.
Arts and culture[edit]
The Irvine Global Village Festival[edit]
Every October, Irvine hosts the Irvine Global Village Festival to celebrate the diversity among the citizens of Irvine and Orange County. The festival consists of exhibits from local merchants, entertainment from diverse cultures, and sampling of foods from various regions of the world.[41] The event is held at the Orange County Great Park.
Irvine Community Television[edit]
The Irvine Community Television (ICTV) produces and broadcasts television programs on news, sports, arts, culture, safety for the Irvine community. The motto of ICTV is "For You, About You". ICTV airs on Cox Communications channel 30 and online.[42][43]
Libraries[edit]
Irvine has three public libraries: Heritage Park Regional Library, University Park Library, and Katie Wheeler Library. The Heritage Library serves as the regional reference library for Central Orange County and has a strong business and art focus while the University Park Library has 95,745 books, including a substantial Chinese collection.[44] Katie Wheeler was the granddaughter of James Irvine, and the library is a replica of the house owned by Irvine in which she grew up.[45] Additionally, most UCI Libraries are open to the public.[46]
Sports[edit]
Irvine is home to USA Water Polo, the national governing body of the sport of water polo.[47]
Irvine is home to Orange County SC, a professional soccer team who is a member of the USL Championship. The team plays its home matches at Championship Soccer Stadium, located inside Great Park.
Community parks in Irvine have public facilities located on each site, and neighborhood parks provide open space and some recreational amenities within the various villages of Irvine.
Northwood Community Park features the Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial, a memorial to U.S. soldiers who died in the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, and the first memorial in the United States built before the wars ended.[48]
Other parks include:
Government[edit]
Local government[edit]
Irvine is a charter city, operating under a Council/Manager form of government.[5]
Education[edit]
Primary and secondary education[edit]
Most of Irvine is located in the Irvine Unified School District (IUSD). The five high schools in IUSD are University High School, Irvine High School, Northwood High School, Woodbridge High School, and Portola High School. Arnold O. Beckman High School is located in Irvine but is administered by Tustin Unified School District. The five high schools in IUSD, as well as Beckman High School, have consistently placed in the upper range of Newsweek's list of the Top 1,300 U.S. Public High Schools. Crean Lutheran High School, a private Lutheran high school, and Tarbut V' Torah, which is a Jewish day school, are also located in Irvine.
Irvine is also home to elementary and middle schools, including two alternative, year round, open enrollment K-8 schools, Plaza Vista and Vista Verde.[59][60] Parts of the north and west of the city are within the Tustin Unified School District. A very small portion of the city, near Orange County Great Park, is located within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.[61]
Colleges and universities[edit]
Irvine is home to the University of California, Irvine, which is the second-newest campus (established 1965) in the UC system after University of California, Merced. Other higher education institutions in Irvine include California Southern University, Concordia University, Westcliff University, Irvine Valley College, Fuller Theological Seminary, FIDM, The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Orange County Campus, Stanbridge University, and a satellite campus of California State University, Fullerton.
According to the 2000 United States Census, Irvine is ranked 7th nationwide, among cities with populations of at least 100,000, for having the highest percentage of people who are at least 25 years old with doctoral degrees, with 3,589 residents reporting such educational attainment.[62]
Irvine has four sister cities:[69]