I’m a pretty positive person and normally don’t post rants against anyone, so I apologize in advance for this one, but I just have to get this off my chest.
I was watching CNN during lunch and they announced that Irvine, California has been named, again, as one of the places people would most like to live. All apologies for the people who live there, but I don’t see it. Let me rephrase that, if want to live with the feeling that “big brother is watching” then OK, then I can understand why people voted that way.
Perhaps, the vote came from people who happened to drive through Irvine and thought how nice it looked. Sure, the city is clean, but all of the houses look the same…on purpose! Irvine is a planned city where everything, I mean everything, is controlled. If it’s fun, there’s a city ordinance banning it.
Sure, there are beautiful parks and swimming pools, but they’re all members-only.
Sure, they have a lower crime rate, but that’s because you’re too scared to piss off the home-owners association or get another ticket for going past the curfew or j-walking.

Freeway onramp to the 405 North at Jamboree Ro...
This photo shows a rare moment
when the traffic isn’t too bad.

Sure, its minutes from the beach and mountains, if you’re a bird and can fly, otherwise you’ll be stuck in traffic for hours in what would take minutes in other cities.
U-turns are illegal. Well not illegal, just non-existant. If you’ve missed your turn, you’re out of luck!
Like your neighbors? I hope so, you can reach out, literally, and hug them because houses are a foot apart.
Sure the crime rate is low. That’s because there’s nothing happening. Everything is closed by 10, some places much earlier. You have to go out of the city to do anything. If you want to drink you’ll have to leave the city. There are no bars.
You have to pay a fee just to “request” painting your own home and if the color isn’t some form of beige don’t bother filing the request.
Not that I have pets, but dogs over 50 pounds are not allowed.
I realize that the residents of Irvine pay a lot of money for the “right” to live there so its not my desire to bash their beloved home. I didn’t set out to bash the city, but I really question the results of the poll. I’m sure I’ll probably end up getting lots of nasty comments about this, but something’s just wrong here. I simply can’t believe that people voted for control over freedom. Are we so fed up with rising crime rates that we’re willing to let groups of people tell us what kind of flowers (the number of flowers, the position of flowers, etc.) we can plant in our gardens? If you want to live in Orange County, why not pick a place like LaJolla, Laguna, or Newport?

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