parks. An early decision to eliminate strip development means that berms and planting-covered walls rather than buildings line most of the arterials, which are typically four to six lanes wide. In some cases, these setbacks are a result of public policy rather than a company directive, however.
As former Irvine Company urban designer Robert Dannenbrink explained to me, some of those improvements are the result both of the city's noise attenuation requirements and of the company's design approach, which requires that the wide, well-maintained paths along the arterials be lined with trees and shrubs.
Cul-de-sacs were a feature of both initial and later plans for the villages. In many parts of Irvine, the cul-de-sacs are similar to those made famous in Radburn, New Jersey's "town for the motor age."
As in Radburn, many of the cul-de-sacs are part of a connected open space network that links to the pedestrian paths that are characteristic of Irvine. Although cul-de-sacs have generally fallen out of favor among planners, in interviews with Irvine residents, they talked about the safety and quiet of their streets. The community also has a strong network of bicycle paths, although many of them are part of the road right-of-way.
On the whole, however, despite its relatively high density and its path system, Irvine remains a car-centered place.
Ahead of its time
The planners of Irvine Ranch and their counterparts in the city of Irvine both deserve credit for adopting what we now call smart growth principles. The development mixes large open space protection areas with an intensively developed city in a pattern that is often touted by proponents of both energy-efficiency and habitat preservation. It was an early leader in water recycling.
The town's fine-grained mixture of housing types — part of a deliberate sales strategy to appeal to many market segments — has led to a fair
Photo by Ann Forsyth
A pedestrian walkway at Fashion Island in Newport Center.
amount of household diversity. Partly because of local government policy, Irvine has an affordable housing program that is as significant as that of Columbia, Maryland, a new town that designed for and promoted its racial and economic mix far more strongly.
Nevertheless, Irvine's design has been controversial, even with its visually striking plantings, innovative attached housing, and a habitat protection program covering almost half of the original ranch.
The Irvine Company's quest for profits and its huge successes in the areas of business park development and high-end housing have combined to polarize opinion. Some see the company as a leader in habitat preservation and landscape architecture. But a number of vocal critics, including new urbanists, argue that the new town is architecturally monotonous, overly commercialized, and too timid about issues such as racial and income mix.As in most places, the reality is complex, but overall Irvine's master planning and landscape design have been striking and distinctive. The community offers many lessons about the potential and limits of private-sector comprehensive planning.
(To be continued; page 3)