Planning the Village of Woodbridge in the City of Irvine

Oct 28

The Village of Woodbridge is a 2.65 square mile portion of the Irvine Ranch located in the City of Irvine. It was planned by the Irvine Company in the early 1970s and the grand opening took place in June 1976. Here are images, many of which were created by the SWA Group, to present the site planning concepts incorporated in the design of the village.

The following three exhibits highlight how the site planning of the initial development area of the village, the northwest quadrant, evolved as builders refined their product plans.

Below is a site plan of the Village of Woodbridge as ultimately built out circa 1990. According to the Woodbridge Village Association, there are over 9,600 residential units within Woodbridge with an overall population of approximately 30,000 residents.

The village encompasses approximately 1,700 acres and includes 41 recreational facilities including the two landmark lakes. There are 22 pools, a spalsh pad, 16 spas, 2 beach lagoons with boat ducks, 23 tennis courts, 4 pickle-ball courts, a big wheel park and a fitness course.

The Woodbridge Village Association operates and maintains all of the recreational facilities and commonly-owned landscape areas. It also enforces the rules and regulations of the community.

H. Pike Oliver

H. Pike Oliver focuses on master-planned communities. He is co-author of Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and THE BIG PLAN, published by Routledge in 2022.

Early in his career, Pike worked for public agencies, including the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, where he was a principal contributor to An Urban Strategy for California. For the next three decades, he was involved in master-planned development on the Irvine Ranch in Southern California, as well as other properties in western North America and abroad.

Beginning in 2009, Pike taught real estate development at Cornell University and directed the undergraduate program in Urban and Regional Studies. He relocated to Seattle in 2013 and, from 2016 to 2020, served as a lecturer in the Runstad Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington, where he also served as its chair.

Pike graduated from San Francisco State University's urban studies and planning program and received a master's degree in urban planning from UCLA. He is a member of the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute and a founder and emeritus member of the California Planning Roundtable.

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Planning the Village of Woodbridge in the City of Irvine

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