Dear Readers:
As the founding publisher and editor of Irvine Community News & Views (ICNV), I have had the opportunity to read each and every email, letter, and written comment we receive — and there are hundreds of them! I also have the privilege to then share some of the comments and insights with the rest of our readers in these Open Forum/Community Voices pages.
For weeks now, most of our reader interest and comments has focused on the growth-control question posed in our December ICNV Irvine Community Poll. Beginning on this page — and continuing on the next page — we print the specific poll question we asked, the results of the poll, and a representative sample of the hundreds of responses we received. In this way, your voice can be heard, and you can listen to what your Irvine neighbors and friends are saying. Take a look.
Comments, Notes and Letters
Irvine needs to control growth and to take action to reduce and manage traffic congestion.
—T.K. McCranie
The construction of too many high-density residential buildings has put a huge burden on traffic and parking at local shopping centers. It is almost impossible to find a parking place at the local grocery store between the hours of 11a.m. to 2p.m. because there are so many eateries that are clogged with the lunch-time rush. The quality of life has been severely affected, negatively.
—Yuko Dunham
Overcrowding and increasing automobile traffic are deleterious to our City and our life experiences.
—Aris Papayoanou
We need a parallel plan on how we are going to implement an infrastructure growth improvement plan.
—Richard Martel
It would be wonderful if the City Council took our opinions to heart and stopped trying to make Irvine another big impersonal city. Let the developers find another place to ruin by putting housing on every available piece of land. Our schools are overcrowded as it is. The last thing we need is more houses.
—Diane Deighton
Not only is traffic congestion painful and annoying to me personally, my business has suffered because clients (new and old) no longer wish to travel a short distance that takes three times as long as it did just two years ago. If this keeps up, I’ll lose my business and I’ll be moving out of the area. Overdevelopment has ruined a community that I used to love.
—WM Froshay
Traffic has become a nightmare. Uncontrolled growth is affecting the quality of life of current Irvine residents. Additionally, there are not enough parking spaces in existing shopping areas to accommodate an increase in patrons.
—Tina Benson
Our elected officials do not seem to be interested in representing their constituents regarding the over-building and subsequent traffic mess in our City. What’s happening to our City is shameful.
—Joe Mistretta
The ability to provide water is my major concern, not to mention the utter traffic congestion.
—Annette Bork
We need to stop all those horrible multi-story apartments from going up, adding massive traffic. I moved to Irvine because of its Master Plan. Growth was always controlled and the Plan allowed for beautiful parks and open space. Former Mayor Steven Choi and Councilmember Christina Shea and Co. have allowed growth to skyrocket because they are in bed with developers. Now, our City is ruined. There appears to be no stopping them. They spend millions to get re-elected. Our infrastructure simply cannot handle the number of people added to our City with those ridiculous apartment buildings. Irvine is no longer a great City. It is like every other miserable traffic-ridden place. We need to go back to the Master Plan originally put in place.
—Debbie Greco
I have only lived in Irvine for 10 years, but even for me the increase in traffic and disappearing open fields are very worrisome.
—Matthias Jezek
The Irvine I loved is gone. It’s like a mini New York…traffic horrible, parking horrible, every inch covered with buildings. How the hell did this happen?!
—Lana Scott
There has been too much growth. Gridlock is everywhere in the City. Enough!
—Linda Gannon
Too many new residents have degraded Irvine’s environment. Building all the new homes near and around the Great Park must be immediately stopped.
—Wai Chiu
Nearby communities like Newport Beach and Costa Mesa share our concerns about excessive growth.
—Margaret Brakob
I am opposed to any more houses and apartments being built in Irvine. Our City is changing for the worse. Traffic is so bad, and the City is overcrowded. Restrictions should be placed on growth, and residents should have a voice.
—Tuyet Tran
When will cities, including Irvine, stop issuing so many residential building permits? The more of these permits that are issued, the worse our traffic will be. Of course, I favor adopting a City growth-control ordinance, including requirements for voter approval.
—Maria Baur
Irvine has grown too big too fast! We do not need more houses and more cars. We have lost that small town feel.
—Kathie Standart
The staggering number of high-density apartments is ruining Irvine and creating traffic congestion whenever and wherever you go. The beautiful City my family and I moved to 22 years ago is long gone — things are getting worse every month. The greed of a few has destroyed the reasons we moved to Irvine.
—John Howard
I have been living in Irvine for five years, and I saw a huge change in this City in the past two years, especially the traffic situation and crowded residential development in every possible area. My husband and I are so surprised that they built so many apartments in nearby Spectrum in such a short time. The cars of the apartment residents are going to jam Alton Parkway in the near future. Even now, the traffic around Spectrum is terrible. Yes, we need growth control.
—Tifany Liu
Enough is enough. I have lived in Irvine since 1972, and I have seen it overdeveloped. Too much traffic…too many apartments and houses…we are choking! Irvine is no longer the beautiful planned City it was.
—Aggie Piampiano
We have lived in Irvine for 33 years. Irvine does not have the infrastructure to support the overpopulation we currently have, and traffic has never been worse. Why on earth do we allow more units to be built for more people to live in Irvine? What about schools? You cannot go to a shopping center at noontime and find a place to park. The quality of life is at an all-time low for Irvine.
—Bobby Dunham
Just look back at our history. For 40 years, the City of Irvine grew in a controlled manner — until recently — and everyone benefitted.
—Frank Hsu
We are already busting at the seams. Bring back our small, quaint city.
—Sandi Graves
I have lived in Irvine for 40 years, and I have seen many changes. It is time we get back to careful planning.
—John Battey
I favor this proposal. I’m very concerned about the number of high-rises along Jamboree, and the amount of housing around the Great Park.
—Sherri Nussbaum
We have seen a plethora of new apartment complexes, hotels, and corporate high-rise buildings in Irvine in the last 3 to 5 years. It certainly seems logical that a growth-control ordinance would be wise. Let’s take a breather from building!
—Leah Jordan
Too many buildings. Too much traffic.
—Daniel Yau
We must stop the overdevelopment of our City! It is affecting traffic and the quality of life. We need to send a message to City leaders that the citizens of Irvine come before FivePoint and other builders.
—Sheila Rafat
I oppose adoption of a City growth-control ordinance. I am not qualified to make that assessment, nor do I have all the data to make the decision as to how much growth is good or bad for the City of Irvine.
—Desi Chandler
It is contemptibly selfish of NIMBYs to complain about “traffic” and blame everything on developers. If you think Irvine is too crowded, move!
—John Jaeger
A Trump Fan Writes ICNV
I usually toss the Irvine Community News & Views when it shows up, but I happened to notice the cartoon about Donald Trump in the current issue and the comment that Irvine voters didn’t support him since the (unofficial) vote count had come out as 52,000 for Clinton and only 27,000 for Trump. But so what? That just tells me there are 52,000 more seriously uninformed voters residing in Irvine than I would have otherwise thought. You would have to be incredibly ignorant to have cast your vote for Hillary. I find your publication’s liberal format most uninspiring and out of touch.
—Frank Hopper
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