Irvine is located in Orange County, California. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine
Company since the 1960s. The layout of Irvine was designed by Los Angeles architect William Pereira,
and is nominally divided into townships called villages. The townships are separated by six-lane
streets. Irvine has 23 villages that include a spectrum of similar types of dwellings, along with shopping,
religious institutions and schools. Commercial districts are checker-boarded in a periphery
around the central townships. All streets have landscaping allowances. Rights-of-way for powerlines also serve as bicycle corridors, parks and greenbelts to tie together ecological preserves. The greenery is irrigated with reclaimed water.
Each of the villages was initially planned to have a distinct architectural theme, though many have been clouded by later development.
The city is notable for its well-regarded public elementary and high schools and exceptionally low crime rate.
