Sustainability and the Irvine Company

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE IRVINE COMPANY

Introduction The term “sustainability” was popularized by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Bruntland Commission) in 1984. Established by the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly, the Bruntland Commission was asked to learn about the connections between issues of the environment and development. It held meetings on every continent with people from all walks of life and presented its report, Our Common Future, to the U.N. General Assembly in 1987.

In its report, the Bruntland Commission defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Since that time, increasingly complex and layered definitions of sustainability have proliferated, with each interest group offering its own spin on what the term really means. Environmentalists focus on the need to use renewable energy and preserve natural resources; economists believe that the economic viability of a community must be sustained over time to earn the label; and sociologists want to see a balanced community where people of every age, ethnicity, gender and social and economic class can live comfortably together without having to go too far to meet their educational, economic and social needs.

President’s Council on Sustainable Development In 1993, the President’s Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) brought experts from different areas together to discuss sustainability in the context of the United States. Effectively implemented, sustainable communities would, it was hoped, act as a bulwark against urban sprawl, or low-density development that spreads out from the edges of cities or towns, blanketing vast areas in look-alike developments built without regard to the overall design of a community or a region. Urban sprawl results in the types of developments – such as rambling, cookie-cutter subdivisions and strip malls – that perpetuate homogeneity, make inefficient use of land, and rely almost exclusively on automobiles for transportation. Sustainable communities, it was posited, would be the antidote, preserving land and improving quality of life for denizens of such communities.

PCSD adopted the Bruntland Commission’s definition--“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”—and noted that “while there is no single template for a sustainable community, cities and towns pursuing sustainable development often have characteristics in common.”

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Definitions of Sustainability But the attempt to define sustainability did not end with The Bruntland Commission’s 20-word definition.

The Commission also (more verbosely) stated that sustainability can be interpreted as:

“The optimum integration of the three e’s – environment, economy, and equity – which can be achieved only when stakeholders work together to make decisions that take into account long-term impacts; the interdependence of economic, environmental and social well-being; the importance of equity between and among generations and different societal and ethnic groups; and the importance of planning to prevent problems for future generations.”

PCSD established the following goal, which may also be considered a more complete definition of sustainable communities:

“To encourage people to work together to create healthy communities where natural and historic resources are preserved, jobs are available, sprawl is contained, neighborhoods are secure, education is lifelong, transportation and health care are accessible, and all citizens have an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives.”

The California State Treasurer’s Office publication Smart Investments offers this definition:

“Sustainable development means land uses that support transportation options beyond more freeways and roads; a better mix of housing in communities and neighborhoods; locating jobs near housing and balancing job growth with new housing; communities centered around civic spaces with features such as tree- lined streets and human-scale design; more efficient, well-planned higher density use of land; and protection of environmental resources.”

More recently, Joshua Wolfe, AICP, during the 1999 APA Proceedings, offered the following breakdown or “Building Blocks of Community Sustainability”:

A) Access: Coordinating land use and transportation design B) Biodiversity: Preserving land, habitat, and other species C) Community identity: Building a sense of community, preserving local culture D) Distribution: Ensuring a safe, healthful and equitable community for everyone E) Eco-efficiency: Preventing pollution through better use of energy and natural resources

Generally, definitions break down along the following lines: a) To environmentalists, a sustainable community may be one which uses renewable energy, alternative transportation (including walking), recycles and conserves

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water, composts and recycles waste, supports only environmentally friendly industry, and is developed in a way that does not threaten wildlife. (Economists may demur that such a community, in its purest form, is unlikely to be economically viable to build and maintain, and would resemble the experimental biospheres.) b) Some leaders believe that a sustainable community is a “balanced,” environmentally responsible community where people of every age group and economic level can live without the need to venture too far afield to meet their educational, economic, social and leisure needs—one which is economically sound over time; c) Economists may see a sustainable community as one that, over time, retains its value for residents and businesses that operate within its borders.

Later, using Joshua Wolfe’s “Building Blocks” (which seem to capture the key elements contained in most definitions) we will gauge how well The Irvine Company is doing in its role as a responsible developer.

THE DEVELOPERS ROLE How much responsibility should developers bear for the creation of sustainable communities? This is a topic that has subsumed almost as much time among interested parties as the search for a widely accepted definition of sustainability.

The Irvine Company believes that developers can and should help to create an infrastructure that encourages the evolution of a sustainable community (using any of the preceding definitions).

But The Irvine Company does not believe that developers can be held responsible for changing entrenched behaviors and attitudes, particularly in a capitalistic society such as ours where the rights of the individual are considered paramount. Ultimately, communities are a social construct, not a physical construct. Developers can have some influence, but not control, for example, whether Americans drive rather than to bicycle or walk to work; buy gas-guzzling SUVs; or choose to work close to home or far away.

And developers may build high-density, mixed-use housing in an attempt to optimize open space and minimize run-off, but a majority of Americans prefer detached single- family homes, and as a practical matter, most developers will continue to provide what the market demands. (A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders finds that 77 percent of respondents oppose single-family homes at a higher density in their neighborhoods, while 78 percent oppose multi-family apartment buildings.)

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However, in the view of The Irvine Company, it is the responsibility of developers to work closely with residents, federal, state and local governments, environmentalists, economists, business leaders and educational experts to create communities that are structured to make the best possible use of resources—including human resources, energy, water, and land—and that offer a comfortable, affordable place for people of every age, profession and ethnicity to live, work, learn and play.

THE IRVINE COMPANY PHILOSOPHY Mindful of the uniqueness of its holdings, from the beginning The Irvine Company has sacrificed obvious short-term financial gains that the company could have reaped by selling off portions of their land. Instead, early planners developed a visionary concept: the creation of large-scale, master-planned communities designed to provide an optimum balance of working, living, learning and playing, all integrated in a logical and aesthetically pleasing fashion.

The company is committed to the implementation of the master plan and holds a long- term view with regard to stewardship of the land. Development, while market-responsive, is implemented with the value of the community as a whole in mind.

William Pereira stated in the early 1960s that “Master-planning is not only a matter of deciding what is built on the land, but what is not.” With this in mind, as the Irvine Ranch evolved, The Irvine Company worked with community leaders to set aside nearly 35 percent of its land as open space. The company continues to partner with environmentalists to optimize the use of natural resources, such as water and energy, within their communities, and with public officials and business leaders to create balanced, economically viable communities.

The Irvine Company has had some notable achievements in planning for sustainable communities, with some notable successes, though inevitably, some challenges remain.

HOW THE IRVINE COMPANY STACKS UP The balance of this paper looks at a few of the definitions presented earlier and discusses how well The Irvine Company stacks up. Because it is the most recent, Joshua Wolfe’s definition is addressed first, and in the greatest detail (with some repetition, given the interdependence of each “building block to sustainability”).

As noted earlier, Joshua Wolfe, AICP, during the 1999 APA Proceedings, offered the following breakdown or “Building Blocks of Community Sustainability”:

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E) Eco-efficiency: Preventing pollution through better use of energy and natural resources

THE IRVINE COMPANY’S “BUILDING BLOCKS” TO SUSTAINABILITY

A) Access: Coordinating land use and transportation design

The Vision: Early in the 1960s, The Irvine Company envisioned balanced communities where people would live in close proximity to commercial, entertainment and educational centers, reducing the need for automobile trips. Distinctive “villages” were planned around elementary schools and parks, with residential areas linked by pedestrian walkways, paseos and bike paths to retail establishments and common areas. Residents would “live, work, play and learn” within city boundaries.

A hierarchical road system was developed to direct higher-speed, high-capacity traffic across town and around, rather than through, residential areas, where loop streets and cul- de-sacs dominate. A linear “activity corridor” was planned to accommodate light rail in the future.

Residential areas were planned to maximize available open space and provide enough density to support nearby retail and job centers, thus minimizing urban sprawl.

The Reality: Residents enjoy quick access (often just 10 to 15 minutes) to dense, synergistic commercial districts (Irvine Spectrum in the east and the Irvine Business District to the west) which bracket the city of Irvine, as well as to Newport Center and University Research Park (currently in development). In addition, they are close to shopping, retail, and entertainment centers—including Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum, and the Marketplace—as well as educational institutions such as the University of California, Irvine, and Irvine Valley College, all within a ten-mile radius. Eighteen bus routes traverse the area and residents do not have to travel far to meet their basic needs.

The success of these commercial districts has also attracted workers from outside the area, and though 30 percent of Irvine adults work in Irvine (more than most communities), the majority travels to employment centers beyond its boundaries, exacerbating the need for public transportation. Light rail remains controversial, but the space to build it exists through The Irvine Company’s foresight.

The Irvine Company has worked closely with Caltrans, OCTA and the Transportation Corridor Authorities to minimize traffic problems in the county as a whole, as well as in close proximity to Irvine, Tustin and Newport Coast.

Greatest successes:

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• Thirty percent of Irvine adults work in Irvine, a much higher percentage than the average community, reducing potential traffic and saving time and transportation costs. For these adults, Irvine is probably the closest thing to a “self-contained” community, where they do, in fact, live, work, play, and learn. (There are 3.79 jobs for every adult in Irvine.)

• At the thriving Irvine Spectrum, 2,700 companies employ more than 50,000 people and the area offers 500,000 square feet of entertainment, dining and retail establishments. The Irvine Spectrum has become a magnet for high-tech companies, including some of the most coveted tenants in the nation, and contributes significantly to the viability or “economic sustainability” of the area.

• The Irvine Transportation Center offers residents Greyhound, Amtrak, and Metrolink service within minutes of residential villages.

• The Irvine Transportation Research and Control Center monitors 95 percent of Irvine’s 220 signals to ensure a smooth traffic flow and the Irvine Transportation Analysis Model has been developed to prevent future problems. Few cities can boast such effective planning, monitoring and management of traffic.

• Toyota selected The Irvine Company executives to participate in a pilot program using Toyota’s electric cars. That Toyota chose this area to conduct the experiment is a testament to the fact that residents do not have to travel far from home to get everything they need to live well—an important requirement for shorter-range electric cars. Irvine is ideally suited for this futuristic mode of transportation, which minimizes pollution and preserve resources such as fossil fuel.

Challenges:

• Traffic is a problem at certain times of the day, because Irvine’s highly successful employment centers attract workers from outside the area. The situation is exacerbated by the high price of housing in Irvine, which does not offer sufficient affordable housing to people in the lower economic bracket—hence they need to travel to and from work along Irvine’s roads.

• Light rail remains controversial, though the infrastructure exists.

B) Biodiversity: Preserving land, habitat, and other species

The Vision: William Pereira stated in the early 1960s that “Master-planning is not only a matter of deciding what is built on the land, but also what is not” and this approach has driven The Irvine Company’s decision-making in the years since. Directors of The Irvine Company

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were determined to build a community with plenty of open space and parks where residents could relax—and as environmental issues began to gain prominence over the decades, the company realized, more than ever before, the importance of preserving habitat and protecting wildlife.

The Reality: The Irvine Company is a national leader in preserving significant amounts of habitat within and around their developments. Thirty percent of The Irvine Ranch has been set aside as open space. Seventy-nine percent of a new development on the coast, Crystal Cove, has been dedicated to permanent open space.

Also, relatively high-density housing with small lots (Oak Creek is a particularly good example of this strategy) frees up open space for parks, recreation areas, and habitat preservation.

However, most Americans still consider large yards preferable to small lots and resist the development of cluster and apartment homes in their communities.

Greatest Successes: • Regionally, the company was instrumental in establishing the Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP) multi-jurisdictional open space and habitat preserve of 38,000 acres, 21,000 of which were part of the original Irvine Ranch.

• The Irvine Company has preserved 79 percent of a soon-to-be-developed 10,000-acre community – Crystal Cove – as permanent open space.

In a landmark agreement in 1998, The Irvine Company donated 9,536 acres of permanent open space -- 35 percent of Irvine -- to the City of Irvine, including Bommer Canyon, Quail Hill, Limestone Canyon and the San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Preserve. The open space will be managed by The Nature Conservancy.

• Working with the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD), The Irvine Company helped to preserve the 300-acre San Joaquin Marsh Wildlife Preserve, located in the midst of the Irvine Business District and residential areas. IRWD and The Irvine Company worked with the National Audubon Society, leading environmental groups, and city and state government, to restore the area, diverting water from the San Diego Creek and planting 24,600 trees and 8,300 shrubs to create the wetlands. California least terns, least Bell’s vireo, light-footed clapper rail and more than 200 other bird species can be found here. Mary Nichols, secretary of California Resources Agency, lauded The Irvine Company for its work. The company funded more than one third of the restoration work than was mandated by the state.

• The Irvine Company donated $20 million for preservation and public access to open space in Orange County.

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The Irvine Company preserved wildlife connections between Buck Gully and Los Trancos Canyon in Newport Coast.

Coastal sage scrub has been retained in Newport Coast and Shady Canyon; and the Pelican Hill golf course is ecologically sound in terms of landscaping.

Challenges: A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders finds that 77 percent of respondents oppose single-family homes at a higher density in their neighborhoods, while 78 percent oppose multi-family apartment buildings.

C) Community identity: Building a sense of community, preserving local culture

The Vision: Ray Watson and William Pereira envisaged Irvine as a “self-contained” environment with a distinctive sense of place. Watson believes that a sense of place can be achieved through creative landscaping and architecture, and that it may encourage—but is not the same as—a sense of community, which emerges when people share common goals and interests. A developer can therefore create a sense of place, which encourages residents to develop a sense of community or community identity.

The Reality: Irvine is organized into ten villages, each with its own distinctive character based on topography, landscape and architecture, and each with elementary schools and parks at its center. Residents can live, work, play and learn within city boundaries.

The master-planning process has resulted in a city known internationally for its order, beauty and functionality—and residents identify their place of residence with pride. In fact, 97 percent of residents surveyed say that, if they were given the opportunity to rethink their decision, they would once again pick Irvine as their preferred place to live— and this pride translates into a “sense of community.”

The Irvine Unified School District boundaries mirror the city’s, increasing residents’ identification with, and pride in their place of residence.

Greatest Successes: Sense of Place: • Each of the ten villages in Irvine offers its residents a distinctive sense of place through unique architecture (for example, the “estate homes” that fringe Yale Loop), attractive entries and landscaping, and the placement of elementary schools and parks at the center of residential areas.

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• A 420-acre mixed-use linear activity corridor provides a concentration of retail centers in one area—shops, restaurants, medical and dental buildings, movie theaters —thus preserving the unusually quiet ambiance of villages surrounding the corridor and making it easier for residents using public transportation such as buses. And the linear activity corridor was also envisaged by planners as the possible site of light rail.

• Residents and visitors are within sight of open space almost anywhere in Irvine, because of the number of parks and habitat areas. The topography contributes to the “sense of place” and increases residents’ pride in their city.

• The Irvine Company has literally “gone the extra mile” with streetscapes, to ensure that major roads and freeways offer a consistent experience to drivers in and through Irvine (for example, Jamboree Road, Interstate 5 and the 405) while routing them around, rather than through, residential villages.

Sense of Community • The city ranks as one of the best places to raise a child; one of America’s safest cities (according to FBI crime statistics); and one of the best cities for women to live in. The vision of The Irvine Company planners—who hoped to create a community where families would thrive—is validated by these achievements.

• More than half of UCI grads stay in OC which suggests that planners were correct in assuming that a community such as Irvine would be attractive to every age level. Many adults now living in Irvine grew up in the area.

• Because villages are centered around elementary schools, and each have their own retail centers, residents interact with each other daily—seeing the same faces at PTA meetings, at the doctor’s office, and in the grocery store. The perception that they share the same goals for their families is key to creating a sense of community.

• Residents express tremendous civic pride in Irvine schools, where children of every economic level and ethnicity receive some of the best education in the country—an achievement aided by The Irvine Company’s dedication to local schools. The company recently donated $20 million to the school district and continues to encourage excellence through Teacher of the Year awards.

• Irvine boasts two newspapers (Irvine World News, and Irvine Spectrum News), suggesting that residents are interested in local affairs and active in community matters.

• Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) are extremely active in Irvine.

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• Almost half the demand for new housing in Irvine comes from existing residents who don’t want to leave the city—and 97 percent of residents said that if they had to do it again, they would once again live in Irvine.

Challenges:

• The Irvine Company will continue to encourage special interests to work together to maintain the quality of the schools and preserve open space into the future.

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D) Distribution: Ensuring a safe, healthful and equitable community for everyone

The Vision: When Irvine’s master plan was established in the 1960s, one of the goals of the plan was to create a balance of housing reflecting a wide range of options and pricing, so anyone choosing to live in Irvine could establish roots, moving up or down in the housing market as their circumstances and preferences changed.

The Reality: Irvine’s ten villages offer a mix of housing densities (from 5 to 35 dwelling units per acre), types (a mix of ten different types in each village) and pricing. This approach offers suitable homes for a wide variety of people at different stages in their lives: first- time and move-up buyers, families, seniors, students, and renters, for example.

Affordable housing continues to be a problem (as it is county-wide). However, The Irvine Company does promote housing assistance programs such as Families Forward and Irvine Rent Assistance. And 37 percent of residents are renters.

The city is ranked one of the safest in the nation based on FBI crime statistics.

Greatest successes: • The mix of housing densities, types and pricing means that Irvine is home to both blue-collar and white-collar workers, and also (serendipitously, perhaps) provides the ideal setting for home-based companies at a time when outsourcing is becoming more common.

• People of every age, ethnicity and economic level live in Irvine. It is one of the top ten cities for women.

• Irvine is one of safest cities in America, according to FBI crime statistics. This is in part because of its visionary design, including limited entrances to villages, well-lit streets and strategic landscaping. Residents have worked together to create Neighborhood Watches and community groups focused on creating safe environments for families.

Challenges: • Affordable housing remains a problem, shutting out some mid- to low-income workers, including teachers and firefighters, for example. As a result, traffic increases as workers stream in from Riverside and outlying areas. A new development, Oak Glen, which offers innovative floor plans and excellent amenities at a relatively low cost and is located close to Irvine Spectrum, may help to ameliorate the situation, but a more comprehensive solution has yet to be found.

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E) Eco-efficiency: Preventing pollution through better use of energy and natural resources

The Vision: Mindful of the uniqueness of its holdings, The Irvine Company’s directors many years ago made a conscious decision to forego obvious short-term financial gains they could reap by selling off portions of their land. Because of that decision, they were able to plan ahead to create large-scale “balanced” communities where natural resources could be maximized and pollution minimized.

The Reality: The Irvine Company has made remarkable strides in preventing pollution, working with state, federal, and local authorities as well as environmental groups, to establish wetlands such as the San Joaquin Marsh and build the “greenest” buildings possible while still maintaining profitability. In this area, there is always more that could be done.

The conflict between “preservation” and “presentation” means that despite The Irvine Company’s efforts, some landowners may uproot drought-resistant plants and coastal sage scrub, preferring more attractive plants in close proximity to homes.

Greatest Successes:

High-density development is the opposite of urban sprawl, and traditional town developments such as Woodbridge result in three times less pollution, in terms of run-off. Therefore The Irvine Company’s communities are, by definition, more eco-efficient than average.

The San Joaquin Wildlife Preserve, in addition to providing habitat for wildlife, serves as a purification filter for runoff-laden water. Thousands of cubic yards of sediment and tons of nitrogen and phosphorous are removed before they reach Upper Newport Bay about 1 ¾ miles downstream.

The Irvine Company worked with the Irvine Ranch Water District to maximize the use of reclaimed water for irrigation and for use in office buildings. The program is so successful that excess usable water is given to other cities or channeled into the ocean.

• The Irvine Company encourages the extensive use of native- and drought-tolerant plants in common areas and streetscapes in Newport Coast and University Research Park.

• The Irvine Company’s University Research Park will use environmentally-friendly fuel cells to help power the development.

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• [How many] office buildings are double-piped.

• McCarthy Center has a water-polishing system that improves the quality of storm water.

The Irvine Company is considering providing golf carts with each new residence in Crystal Cove, which could result in significant energy savings.

Challenges: No objective criteria exist to confirm that a community is “eco-efficient.” However, responsible developers such as The Irvine Company must continue to do what they can to provide an infrastructure that allows residents and business-owners to be as “eco- efficient” as possible.

ADDENDUM ONE

PCSD Definition: A Brief Summary of How The Irvine Company Measures Up

Ideal (PCSD) THE IRVINE COMPANY

Encourage people to work together… NCCP agreement City of Irvine/1988 Open Space agreement/The Nature Conservancy IRWD/ Environmentalists/govt. work together to preserve wetlands

…to create healthy communities where Preservation of San Joaquin natural and historic resources are preserved… Marsh; wetland and filtration 35% of Irvine is open space 79% of Crystal Cove is open space “Green” buildings; double-piping, reclaimed water, water-polishing high-density development minimizes runoff use of native/drought-tolerant plants for landscaping/golf courses

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…jobs are available… Irvine Business District; Irvine Spectrum; Newport Center; Marketplace; UCI Research Center, Fashion Island 3.79 jobs per household

…sprawl is contained… Master plan/long-term vision High-density, mixed-use housing with small lots Jobs, shops, schools accessible by foot and by bike (195 bike trails) 30% of Irvine adults work in Irvine

…neighborhoods are secure… Irvine ranked among the safest cities in the nation (FBI statistics)

…education is lifelong… UCI; Irvine Valley College; excellent elementary, middle and high schools

…transportation and health care are accessible… Hierarchical system of roads Proximity of homes to jobs, medical/dental buildings Short distances facilitate electric vehicle use/Crystal Cove, golf cart use Linear activity corridor eases public transportation access/offers potential light rail site Irvine Transportation Center

…and all citizens have opportunities… Variety of housing, jobs …to improve the quality of their lives. Quality of educational and cultural centers (UCI, schools) Homeowners’ Associations Efforts to increase affordable housing, e.g., Oak Glen; 37% renters

ADDENDUM 2

Why the City of Irvine is the Antithesis of Urban Sprawl

Irvine is sometimes mistakenly considered an exemplar of urban sprawl because some of its villages appear to be “cookie-cutter” in design. But in fact Irvine is the reverse of urban sprawl because:

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• Lots are kept small/density is high to maximize the amount of open space where interactions among residents can occur and/or habitat can be preserved • Each village is distinct in appearance, and offers a “sense of place” • Each village contains a mixture of densities, housing types, and housing values • Most villages feature a “town center” so that residents do not have to travel far to shop, work, or learn • “Hierarchical” roads ensure efficient traffic patterns within, and to and from, each village and the surrounding region • An abundance of trails, walkways and bike paths encourage pedestrian activity rather than the use of vehicles requiring fossil fuel