3 minute read
How many amenities are nearby?
from Metropolitan Futures Initiative Report
by University of California, Irvine - School of Social Ecology
Figure 5.2b
How many amenities are nearby?
Table 5.1 shows how close parks and retail locations are to residential blocks in 2010 in Irvine in comparison to those in the rest of Orange County. Regarding nearby parks, we see that Irvine residents indeed have good access. Within ¼ mile, Irvine residents have 75% more parkland nearby than do residents in the rest of the county (4.8% vs. 2.7%). The gap narrows, however, if we consider longer distances. Irvine residents have 54% more parkland within ½ mile compared to residents in the rest of the county (see the ratio column), 37% more within ¾ mile, and 24% more within 1-mile.
On the other hand, Irvine residents have fewer retail establishments nearby. This is somewhat surprising given that one of the many goals of the city’s village model was to provide residents with easily accessible retail and commercial opportunities. We see that the average Irvine resident has 4.1 retail firms within ¼ mile, whereas the average resident in the rest of the county has 8.2. Thus, there are about half as many retail establishments within ¼ mile of Irvine residents compared to residents in the rest of the county. If we expand the buffer and consider ½ mile, Irvine residents still have fewer retail businesses nearby (18 vs. 35). Even in a 1-mile buffer, Irvine residents have half as many nearby retail businesses as do residents in the rest of the county.
If we take into account the size of retail locations, Irvine residents do a little better but still lag the rest of the county. Irvine only has about 2/3 as many retail employees within ¼ mile compared to residents in the rest of the county, and only about 80% as many retail employees within 1-mile compared to residents in the rest of the county. The story is similar for food firms, as Irvine residents only have about 2/3 as many within 1-mile as do residents in the rest of the county, and 90% as many employees within 1-mile. At short distances, Irvine residents only have about 60% as many food locations and 75% as many employees within ¼ mile compared to residents in the rest of the county.
28 The top 6 cities in the county for a greater nearby retail presence within ¼ mile (with the number of retail establishments in parentheses) are: Laguna Beach (16.7), Costa Mesa (14.8), Stanton (13.1), Westminster (13), Los Alamitos (11.5), and Santa Ana (10.3). Again, Irvine residents have just 4.1 firms within ¼ mile.
Table 5.1. Comparing blocks in Irvine to rest of Orange County based on number of retail or food firms nearby, and park space nearby
Irvine Rest of County Ratio: Irvine to
Parks Mean S.D. Mean S.D. county
1/4 mile 4.8 7.9 2.7 7.4 1.75 1/2 mile 5.6 6.1 3.7 7.5 1.54 3/4 mile 5.6 4.4 4.1 7.2 1.37 1 mile 5.4 3.6 4.4 7.1 1.24
Retail firms
1/4 mile 4.1 5.2 8.2 10.7 0.50 1/2 mile 17.9 16.9 34.9 31.0 0.51 3/4 mile 39.9 29.1 79.3 57.0 0.50 1 mile 71.4 49.4 139.5 86.9 0.51
Retail employees
1/4 mile 39.9 76.4 62.1 114.0 0.64 1/2 mile 241.3 408.1 301.3 382.2 0.80 3/4 mile 536.6 628.1 725.8 728.4 0.74 1 mile 1059.9 1140.4 1303.4 1083.8 0.81
Food/lodging firms
1/4 mile 2.7 4.7 4.4 5.9 0.62 1/2 mile 12.3 11.0 18.4 15.3 0.67 3/4 mile 27.1 17.7 40.7 26.7 0.67 1 mile 46.5 28.9 70.7 40.1 0.66
Food/lodging employees
1/4 mile 41.6 90.7 55.0 115.4 0.76 1/2 mile 228.6 283.5 247.4 339.0 0.92 3/4 mile 516.9 539.8 564.0 626.9 0.92 1 mile 907.0 931.5 1003.0 991.1 0.90 Note: all values are weighted by the population in the focal block
