Preserving and Keeping Safe at the Trails of the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks


Living in Quail Hill Irvine puts 50,000 acres of open spaces of the Irvine Ranch right within your very reach. The Quail Hill Trailhead which connects to the Quail Hill Loop Trail and the Back Bay and Shady Canyon Loop Trail are just some of the many Natural Landmarks that you can explore by yourself or through guided tours.

While there are many interesting spots to see and discover as you go in your trek in the “backyard,” of every Quail Hill Irvine home, do keep in mind that what you are exploring are Natural Landmarks. These are protected spaces and as such, you should not take anything from the area. Leave the rocks, plants, fossils and other items right where they are on the trail so that others can also enjoy them and more importantly, so you don’t damage the balance in the environment. Moreover, the rule “Pack it In, Pack it Out” applies to the things you bring to the Quail Hill Irvine Preserve and in other Natural Landmark areas in The Irvine Ranch. Leave no trace that you came to visit so you preserve the natural beauty of the land. Finally, you can preserve the tranquility of the land while you are there if you remain quiet during your visit. This is also your way of respecting the other visitors who are there. Let Mother Nature speak to you and you’ll be amply rewarded with more animal sightings if you remain quiet. The most important rule to follow on your trip, however, is to stay on the designated trails. You will not only damage the preserve if you make your own trails, you will also be putting yourself in danger if you do.

Safety always begins with preparation. Always wear clothing that will protect you from the elements. You should also bring sufficient water and food supply with you. Bring your cellphone as well. Make sure you get a map of the trail you plan to take on at the designated station before you head out and try to know all you can about the area before going. Be prepared with a hand sanitizer or alcohol and don’t forget to wear hiking or walking shoes so you can finish the trek.

Note that the trails in the preserve are multi-use trails. As such you must observe trail etiquette at all times. Bikers must always yield to hikers and both bikers and hikers should always give way to equestrians.

Remember that except for the Quail Hill Preserve, you can’t bring your beloved dog on your hiking trip. This is done to preserve and protect the land as well as for safety reasons. On the Quail Hill Preserve, you need to keep your pet pooch on a leash at all times during the hike.

It’s all right to bring cameras or videos so you can capture the amazing vistas and take home memories of your outdoor adventure. But always make safety a priority before you head out. Remember that the overarching trait that should dominate your trip is respect for the environment and respect for others. When you observe these, your treks at the Natural Landmarks will surely be bountiful.

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More than Shopping at the Irvine Spectrum Center and the Quail Hill Village Center


Those who turn to shopping for solace know that there’s more to it than just buying. In itself, shopping is a form of stress-relief as the undaunted individual scours through hundreds or thousands of clothes and bags or fits the most perfect pair of shoes. As the itinerant shopper hops from store to store, gets lost in the racks and finds the best-fitting jeans, the feeling that emanates from it is incomparable. Women know the value that shopping gives and often turn to it when they feel depressed, gloomy or frustrated. Admittedly, retail therapy is expensive, but what form of therapy isn’t?

Quail Hill Irvine residents are lucky. They’ve got two shopping centers that offer them the chance to splurge located so close to home: Irvine Spectrum Center and the Quail Hill Village Center. But these are more than shopping places. They actually offer a lifestyle of leisure and recreation where buying, dining, playing and business are placed under one roof.

The Irvine Spectrum Center has more than 130 retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues to provide each Quail Hill Irvine resident or guest a complete and as they would like to call it, “most energized retail experience.” Nordstrom, Macy’s and Target, just to name a few, can all be found here. Restaurants like Javier’s Cantina & Grill and Yard House all cater to your gastronomic cravings. Aside from the shops and numerous services, kids can also enjoy the in-center attractions tailored specifically for them. The Center has a carousel (a ticket costs $2 on weekdays and $3 on weekends), a giant wheel ($3 on weekdays and $4 on weekends) and a kiddie train ($2). You can bring your beloved pooch to the Center but you’ll have to check with the individual stores if they will allow your canine friend entry. Valet parking costs $8 to $9 and should you or your loved one need a wheelchair, they are available at no cost. The Irvine Spectrum Center opens at 11 am and closing times vary depending on the days and the type of attractions.

The Quail Hill Village Center, meanwhile, is the neighborhood complex of Quail Hill Irvine, accessible to its residents by foot or bicycle since it’s right at the entrance of the village itself. Starbucks Coffee, Mitsui Sushi Bar and Grill and Red Brick Pizza are just some of the dining establishments in the Village Center. Some of the shops here are Dogma, Pure Barre and Albertson’s. Those who would like to relax can go to Goddess Nails & Co. while those who would like to erase those worry lines can avail of the services of the Eternal Youth MedSpa. Health and wellness services include: Eye World Optometry, Palmview Medical Center and The Center for Optimal Health. Banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Union Bank are also housed here.

The Irvine Spectrum Center and the Quail Hill Village Center are more than shopping complexes. They are at the heart of fun and relaxation of those who live in Quail Hill Irvine.

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Education at Quail Hill Irvine


Parents know that education is an integral part of childhood. It is even crucial in the lives of fyoung adults who know the significance that a college degree makes in their lives. Aside from providing learners with facts about the various subjects in the curriculum, going to school provides rich interaction with teachers and classmates. It is a place where lasting life-values are formed, where lifetime relationships are forged and where the skills for survival in the real world are learned.

It is no wonder that one of the standards by which real property developments are measured against are its proximity to schools and centers of higher learning. Families with children always make the presence of schools part of their evaluation of their prospective home. At Quail Hill Irvine, schools are right smack in the village or a short drive away.

As part of the Irvine Unified School District, residents here are assured of quality education responsive to the needs of its students. Alderwood Basics Plus Elemetary School, a California Distinguished School is right in the heart of Quail Hill Irvine. The Rancho San Joaquin Middle School which is a Blue Ribbon School is located three miles away. High school students in the area are served by the University High School situated five miles from Quail Hill Irvine homes. University High School is one of the schools of the Irvine Unified School District that have ranked high year after year in Newsweek’s list of Top 1,300 Public Schools in the country.

While these schools of basic education are located within or very near Quail Hill, the City of Irvine itself holds a number of institutions of higher learning that are also very accessible to residents of this exclusive village. Concordia University, Irvine Valley College and of course, the well-regarded University of California Irvine are all here. It does not come as a surprise, then, that the 2000 US Census ranked Irvine seventh in the nation for having a great number individuals– 3,589 residents to be exact– who are at least 25 years old holding doctoral degrees.

The presence of three public libraries in the city also promote learning. These are the Heritage Park Regional Library, the University Park Library and the Katie Wheeler Library. In addition to the vast collection here, the libraries of the University of California Irvine are also open to the public.

The importance of education cannot be underestimated. In fact, it is so crucial that it affects your ability to get a job and your capacity to survive in the world around you. It even affects home prices. Real estate properties that are close to centers of learning and education are often highly-valued at present and over time. Asking prices and foreseen future values are reflective of this truth. The cost of getting a Quail Hill Irvine home might seem too pricey at first glance, but the education you are giving your children is certainly worth every dollar of your mortgage.

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Mortgage Tips for Getting Your Quail Hill Irvine Home


The process of buying a home is not a simple one. Unlike regular grocery shopping where you can get the food item or toiletry of your choice, pay for it at the counter and eat or use it afterwards, buying a home requires much more of your time and a little bit of background knowledge. After you have chosen a Quail Hill Irvine property that suits your needs, you will need to determine which kind of mortgage you would like to get. There are basically four types of mortgages that you can avail of. These are fixed rate, adjustable rate (ARM), convertible or balloon mortgages.

Fixed-rate loans are usually for 15 or 30 year- loan terms. These mortgages, as their name suggests, offer a fixed monthly payment for the duration of your home loan. The good thing about fixed-rate mortgages is that you know how much you are going to be paying for each month for the next 30 years. It is protected from interest fluctuations and is generally the most common type of mortgage availed by individuals in getting their Quail Hill Irvine home.

Adjustable-rate mortgages or ARM, meanwhile, resets the initial interest rates after a certain predetermined time period. If you take a 3/1 ARM, you get a fixed rate for the first three years. It then gets adjusted once a year thereafter. A 5/1 ARM follows the same principle, only you get your fixed rate for the first five years. The good and bad side about adjustable-rate mortgages is that it is reflective of the current interest rates in the real property market. As such, you can either pay a higher or lower interest for a set time period depending on the market valuation of your property.

A convertible mortgage is an adjustable-rate mortgage that gives you the privilege to turn your ARM to a fixed-rate loan before a set time limit. Loans of this type generally start with low interests and enable you to lock the rate at a fixed amount depending on the conditions of the housing market. If you are able to convert your mortgage to fixed-rate before your time is up and the valuation is such that you are able to get very competitive interest rates, then this can be a very homebuyer-friendly type of mortgage.

Balloon mortgages, meanwhile, enable you to pay only the interest for a set number of years. The principal amount of your home, however, remains the same. You pay the whole principal loan amount at the end of the term. The obvious advantage with balloon mortgages is that it makes for relatively low monthly payments for the time duration. A big disadvantage is that if you can’t save up for the principal amount at the end of the loan term, you stand a chance of losing your Quail Hill Irvine home.

After you have decided on the type of loan you want to get the home of your dreams in Quail Hill, call your mortgage broker and get pre-qualified and pre-approved for your mortgage. Not only will this give you a clear idea as to how much you can actually get for your home loan, the amount you know you are going to get is going to help you further narrow down your home search so you can make your offer of the Quail Hill Irvine property that you really desire.

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Youth Sports at Irvine


In the past thirty years, data from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the CDC showed that rates of childhood obesity has tripled. Obesity rates for children aged 6 to 11 years old increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008 while those of adolescents 12 to 19 years of age also rose from 5 percent to 18.1 percent in the same years. These data should concern parents all over the nation for with obesity comes high blood pressure, diabetes and all sorts of cardiovascular diseases. And it is the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children stay as fit and healthy in their younger years.

One of the ways by which this is accomplished is through encouraging them to participate in sports. Living in a city that has sports programs catered to the young certainly makes the responsibility easier. This is one of the benefits that Quail Hill Irvine residents get. As part of its community services, youth athletic services in the City of Irvine include programs in basketball, baseball, soccer, softball, football and lacrosse.

Parents can encourage their little ones to join the following baseball teams: the Central Irvine Little League, Irvine Little League, Irvine Pony Baseball, Northwood Little League or the South Irvine Little League. For those interested in basketball, the Irvine Boys and Girls Club, the Irvine Youth Basketball League and the So Cal Elite Sports are the teams in the area. The North Irvine American Youth Soccer Organization and the South Irvine American Youth Soccer Organization are the teams for, what else, youth soccer. Irvine Girls Softball Association, Irvine Youth Football and Irvine Youth Lacrosse are also the teams for these respective sports. Quail Hill Irvine parents can also check out the various travel or club programs for these athletic games as well. Moms and dads can find more information on youth sports in the website of the City of Irvine through this link: http://www.cityofirvine.org/cityhall/cs/athletics/youth_sports_links.asp

Childhood obesity is a serious threat in the life of our young. These days, it is not anymore surprising to hear of young people dying from heart attacks or strokes because they happen to feast on highly-processed food every single day and their parents thought that nothing was wrong with it. Unregulated junk food eating and sedentary living are the biggest promoters of obesity and premature death. Thus, diet and exercise are keys to ensuring that our kids stay in shape.

Parents of Quail Hill Irvine kids are fortunate with the abundance of youth sports programs in their area. It is much easier to combat children’s unhealthy weight gain when the city they live already has these programs in place.

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