Biking has always been a popular mode of transportation and a favorite form of outdoor exercise for Irvine residents. Our City offers more than 100 miles of off-street bike trails and over 250 miles of on-street bike lanes.

On January 27th, the City Council voted 6-1 to adopt tougher e-bike regulations.

Here at Irvine Community News & Views, we want to publicly thank longtime Irvine resident...

Sweet Shade Universal Playground has been named the Best Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association Southern California Chapter!

The universal playground is located within the 7.9-acre Sweet Shade Neighborhood Park. The park is also home to the Sweet Shade Ability Center, where the City’s Disability Services program offers activities for individuals with sensory, physical, or cognitive disabilities to enjoy alongside their families. The creation of the City’s first universal playground complements the Ability Center and expands inclusive recreational opportunities for all Irvine residents.

The Irvine City Council has unanimously approved the City’s 2026-2028 Economic Development Blueprint.

The Blueprint also lays the groundwork for the City to partner with the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce to establish an Irvine Center of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The new Center will serve as Irvine’s hub for startups and innovators by connecting entrepreneurs with investors, providing resources for early-stage companies, and making it easier to start and grow a business in Irvine.

On December 9th, Councilmembers Mai, Go, Liu, and Treseder voted against building a Veterans Wall of Honor & Columbarium within the grounds of the Veterans Memorial Park & Gardens at the Great Park.

However, on January 13th, Councilmember Mai — supported by Councilmember Treseder — introduced a motion for City staff to study sites for a public columbarium. Mai & Treseder suggested the Cultural Terrace in the Great Park as one of their preferred sites, even though millions of community members and children will visit the Cultural Terrace every year.

More than a year before New York City made news for a plan to no longer charge residents for riding the bus, Irvine established its own program that provides residents with free transportation to parks, schools, hospitals, and shopping centers through the Irvine CONNECT shuttle bus service.

The City is now launching a new transportation program for Irvine seniors 60 years of age and older with its WeRide program, which is a same-day, on-demand transportation service powered by volunteer drivers.

During his State of the City address early last year, Mayor Larry Agran proposed ambitious plans to make Irvine the Safest, Smartest, Greenest, Healthiest, and Kindest city in America.

One of the programs in need of more volunteers is the City’s Care Call program, which is designed to brighten an older adult’s day through a phone call. Care Call volunteers provide friendly conversation, companionship, and support to help reduce loneliness and foster connection.

Thanks to its abundance of parks, bikeways, open spaces and trees, Irvine is now ranked the fourth Greenest City in America and the greenest city in Southern California according to the finance website WalletHub.

An impressive 28% of Irvine’s land is dedicated to parks and green spaces, which is nearly double the national average. And 96% of Irvine residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. 

On December 1st, Orange County’s first cancer specialty hospital opened in Irvine. The 174,000-square-foot City of Hope medical facility is located at 16300 Sand Canyon Parkway.

The new hospital is part of a 72-acre academic research campus that connects the hospital to an adjacent outpatient center, which opened last year, at City of Hope’s $1 billion Irvine campus being developed at Barranca and Alton.

Last August, the City of Irvine celebrated the official opening of its new City-run public library system, with more than 1,200 residents in attendance.

The transition has allowed the City to begin expanding and modernizing existing branches; plan for new branches in town; tailor library services to better meet the needs of the City’s residents; and expand programming, collections, and services.