Congratulations, Irvine, on a golden anniversary

Seeing the community come together this holiday season – hiking on trails or strolling through retail centers with family and friends – is especially rewarding knowing that 50 years ago next week, Irvine formally incorporated as a city.

Seeing the community come together this holiday season – hiking on trails or strolling through retail centers with family and friends – is especially rewarding knowing that 50 years ago next week, Irvine formally incorporated as a city.

That historic moment, on December 28, 1971, made it possible for the new City of Irvine and Irvine Company to fulfill the Master Plan’s vision of balanced and responsible growth while preserving 60% of the Irvine Ranch as open space.

“It isn’t every day a reporter gets a chance to observe the birth of a new city,” the Daily Pilot’s George Leidal wrote at the time. “Somehow the past few weeks have led me to feel like I’ve just been assigned to cover, via time capsule, the sailing of the Mayflower.”

“Unlike any other in history,” Leidal predicted, Irvine “may indeed set the standard for a new city.”

And it has. Today, Irvine ranks nationally as the best place to live for its parks, safety, fiscal strength and schools, all surrounding a world-class university.

In recognition of this, the Los Angeles Times recently published “At 50, New City of Irvine is Evergreen,” describing Irvine’s Master Plan “as a Blueprint for a Green Utopia” that, decade-after-decade, has created a diverse and sustainable city with a tremendous quality of life.

As 2022 approaches, we look forward to seeing you on the trails and throughout our community as we cover the people, places and experiences that make Irvine such a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Happy Holidays!

The Irvine Standard