Irvine

We got to Irvine CA on Tuesday afternoon, we had a good trip. We were just ahead of the snow in a few places, but we didn't have to drive on it anywhere. We have had a nice stay with the girls, Naomi, Daphne and Maggie. Andrea, Arthur and Jack are also here, but it is mostly about the girls, Jack will get in the mix as soon as he gets a little older. They are just so much fun, Andrea and Arthur are good parents and manage to spend time with each of the kids individually everyday.

I was in Irvine for a week in October when Jack was born. Irvine seems to be the perfect community. Every yard is manicured, there are no rundown houses, any vacant spaces are mowed. The construction sites have nice fences around them. I have not seen a single panhandler or homeless person on either of my visits here. The streets are all wide with most having landscaped medians and in good repair, unlike I 5 from central CA to L.A. There are lots of newer stores in well done neighborhood malls, they can be hard to find because tall signs are not allowed. There are well maintained parks and trails everywhere. Andrea said she got a letter reminding everyone that Christmas decorations could not go up until November 28 and had to be down by January 14. This is a prime example of a planned community. I must say it is very nice. For this to work there has to be a lot of rules and conformity.

I do like the look and feel of Irvine, but what is lost? You don't have that neighbor who thinks a bright blue house with pink shutters would add character to the block. There are no homes with junk cars in the driveway or chickens as pets. There are no sandwich board signs on the sidewalks, or garage sale, lost dog or any other signs on the telephone poles. I haven't seen any home operated businesses. I don't know where the poor are, I guess they outlawed them along with all other unpleasantness.

To achieve this a certain amount of individuality has to be sacrificed. I think that we have placed the importance of individuality way to high, but should we sacrifice it for pleasant surroundings?

I am not really sure what to make of all this, it would be wonderful if we could all live in a pleasant beautiful community and never have to confront poverty or crime or decay, but removing those things from sight doesn't mean that they don't exist. I really do like this place, but it just doesn't seem real.

I have not explored all of Irvine, and I am sure some of my observations are not accurate. I am pretty sure there are other communities like Irvine around, my question is, is it wrong to want to build a community like this? Should we live with the poor and unfortunate around? I certainly am not saying all the people that live here are evil, shallow people, I love one family here a lot, and they are really good people. I'm not really sure what is bothering me so much, but for some reason this just doesn't seem right.