Spotlight on Irvine: where businesses come to live, work, learn, shop and play.

A Popular theory holds that humans cannot reach their full potential until their basic needs are met--food, shelter, safety, and so on. Back in the 1960s when the notion was first gaining prominence, The Irvine Company, a private real estate investment firm, put the theory into practice with a planned community that seamlessly integrated home life and the work environment. The City of Irvine became the country's first master-planned community.

In Irvine, modern business parks co-mingle with world-class university facilities, home is a few miles away and parks are plentiful. The city's population quadrupled in the last quarter century, but it suffered none of the urban sprawl or congestion typical among growing communities; Irvine's growth was planned.

Today, Irvine is not only a world leader in biomedical research and technology, it is also one of the safest places to live. It not only boasts a 5-thousand,000 acre commercial/technical complex, it also boasts miles of open space. It not only houses a world-renowned university, it boasts some of the most highly educated residents in the nation.

Irvine is located near the Pacific Coast, 40 miles south of Los Angeles and 80 miles north of San Diego, putting residents and businesses alike within easy access of world markets, unmatched R&D facilities, a vast labor supply, and first-class entertainment.

Irvine is a breeding ground for experimentation, research, and innovative thinking. A major influence is the University of California, Irvine (UCI), offering undergraduate through doctoral studies, as well as a medical school. The National Research Council ranks UCI 11th among public universities in overall quality of the doctoral program. UCI's Office of Corporate Relations helps industry navigate the campus, and the Office of Technology Alliances links companies with the university's faculty and extensive technological resources for development of commercial products. The Research Park, slated to employ 10-10,000thousand by 2010, further strengthens the ties between UCI and the business community.

Irvine is strategically located in Orange County, with immediate access to interstate highways, railways, seaports, and air transport. Start-up entrepreneurs and corporate giants are equally good fits for Irvine's synergistic business environment.

Four Business Parks

Irvine Business Complex, the first of four business parks in the city, is home to more than 4,500 companies, which employ more than 110-thousand110,000 people. The complex encompasses more than 18- million square feet of Class "A" corporate office space--almost half of Orange County's total--and some 30-million square feet of research and development and industrial facilities. IBC Irvine Business Complex generally surrounds John Wayne Airport and adjoins the San Diego (I-405) freeway, the Costa Mesa (55) freeway and the Corona del Mar freeway/San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor (73).

The Irvine Spectrum is home to more than 2,200 companies, including 25 Fortune 500 facilities. Twenty-two million square feet of meticulously planned retail, office, manufacturing, research and development facilities have already been built with another 20 million square feet under construction or yet to be developed. Located at the confluence of the Santa Ana (I-5) and San Diego (I-405) freeways, Irvine Spectrum is an environment for world-class business achievers. Its diversity is its most important product and is recognized for a wide variety of cutting-edge technologies.

The Irvine Technology Center, Irvine's newest business park, provides accommodations and services for smaller, up-start high-tech companies in a campus-like setting. It's adjacent to the Santa Ana (I-5) freeway between Jamboree Road and Culver Drive. It is a focal point for companies whose vision, energy, and products predict a successful future.

University Research Park adjoins UCI at Irvine's College of Medicine and its affiliated research biomedical research centers. The 184-acre park, with 2.4 million square feet at build-out, is ideally suited for research and development, light manufacturing, bio-tech and professional companies that wish a close research relationship with the university. Broadcom recently announced plans to relocate 1,2-hundred00 employees to new offices in 8 buildings occupying 700-thousand,000 square feet at University Research Park.

As and internationally recognized master-planned community, Irvine offers the very best in housing, outstanding schools, leading-edge businesses, retail shopping, and entertainment.

Information for this article was provided by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.