Great Park

Great Park is a neighborhood located on the East side of Irvine, CA. It is a large community built of several unique neighborhoods and tracts, and made up mostly of newer constructed homes with wonderful amenities and great outdoor living options.

2019

• Irvine Ranked 2nd Happiest City in America by WalletHub, a personal finance website, that examined each city based on 31 key indicators of happiness, ranging from depression rate to income-growth rate to average leisure time spent per day.
• ​Irvine Ranked No. 1 in Latest Fiscal Strength Survey
• The City of Irvine’s Budget Office was awarded national and state awards: The national award came from the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA). The award represents the highest form of recognition in government budgeting for a municipal entity. In addition, the City received the Excellence Award for Fiscal Year 2018-19 Operating Budget from the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers.

2018

• City of Irvine received the prestigious National Procurement Institute’s Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award (AEP). This national award recognizes organizational excellence in public procurement. Awardees demonstrate high levels of innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership. The continuously evolving AEP criteria are designed to measure state-of-the-art public procurement best practices. The City of Irvine is one of only 47 government agencies in California and one of only 65 cities in the United States and Canada to receive the award. This is the thirteenth consecutive year the City’s Purchasing Division has been awarded the AEP.
• The City of Irvine has received the Rose Award from the Orange County Taxpayers Association for its efforts to protect taxpayers. The City was awarded this honor for placing Measure C on the ballot in the June 5 election, making Irvine compliant with Proposition 62, which requires 2/3 vote of the City Council to propose taxes.
• The City of Irvine was awarded for its “exemplary Information Technology (IT) practices” by MISAC, the Municipal Information Systems Association of California.
• Irvine remains the Safest City of 250,000 or more in the nation for the 13th consecutive year, based upon FBI statistics for violent crime.
• Irvine was voted “Best City to Live in” for the third consecutive year by Orange County Register readers in the 25th annual Best of Orange County publication.
• In 2018, IPD’s Office of Emergency Management developed a first-of-its kind Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program delivered entirely in the Mandarin language. IPD received an award for this effort from the California Emergency Services Association. The team was also asked to present on the program at the National CERT Conference in summer 2018.
• Irvine ranked #27 overall among 300 U.S. cities for Best Real Estate Markets. The ranking was prepared by WalletHub, a personal finance website, based on factors such as housing market attractiveness and economic strength.
• Irvine ranked #2 as Best Places to Raise a Family by the personal finance website WalletHub based on scores for family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability, and socio-economic criteria.
• Irvine is 10th on the list of 50 Safest College Towns in America. The rankings compiled by SafeWise, a professional review and comparison website, are based on the most recent FBI crime data.
• Irvine ranked #10 as the Most Pet-Friendly Cities in America by the personal finance website WalletHub based on our outdoor pet-friendliness and pet health & wellness scores.
• The national nonprofit The Trust for Public Land ranked Irvine’s park system 10th best park system in the United States. The methodology used for 2018 includes the main criteria of park access; park size and investment; and popular amenities.
• Irvine ranked #15 on the list of Best Cities for Young Families in the U.S. by Consumer research group ValuePenguin.
• The City of Irvine in 2018, for a second straight year, has been ranked No. 1 in fiscal strength. The Truth in Accounting ranking of America’s 75 largest cities calculated the funds that would be left over after the bills are paid. Irvine was given a surplus score of $5,200 per taxpayer, earning the distinction as the most fiscally healthy large city in the United States. Truth in Accounting is a nonprofit that looks at public agencies’ fiscal practices.
• Irvine ranked #13 for Fittest City in America by American College and Sports Medicine American Fitness Index.
• Irvine received the 2017 Award of Excellence for Facility Design from the California Park & Recreation Society for Quail Hill Community Center.
• Irvine ranked #15 on Livability.com’s list for the 2018 Top 100 Best Places to Live list based on our parks and open space, strong local economy, access to medical facilities and low crime rates.
• The City of Irvine received the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) award for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
• The City received two other prestigious awards for the financial report: The GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award honoring the City’s commitment to the highest principles of governmental budgeting, and the award for Excellence in Operational Budget from the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers.