Evolution of The Plan

The search for a new UC campus, increasing pressures from surrounding cities to make land use decisions, as well as politics prompted the Irvine Company to consider a bold plan: Maintain The Ranch under single ownership and develop a Master Plan for its orderly transition form agriculture to urban land uses.

By the late 1950s, the urban sprawl of Los Angeles was marching southward, following the freeways into Orange County. This prompted the Irvine Company to take its stewardship of The Irvine Ranch® into a new era. Mindful of the uniqueness of its holdings, the company's directors made the decision to forego obvious short-term financial gains realized from selling off holdings. Instead, they explored a visionary concept: the creation of a large-scale, master-planned community designed to provide a careful balance of working, living, learning and recreational environments-all integrated in a logical and aesthetic fashion.

By the early 1960s, Orange County was one of the nation's fastest-growing counties. The area attracted the attention of the University of California Board of Regents as it was considering sites for a new campus. The concept of building a new town in concert with a new campus provided the Irvine Company and the university system with a rare opportunity to create a vibrant campus and adjacent town environment that would complement one another.

To help fulfill this dream, the Irvine Company sold 1,000 acres to the University of California for one dollar. This was the genesis for the creation of a new University of California campus. Pereira was commissioned to draw up a Master Plan for a community that would grow up around this new campus.

Pereira's plan for The Irvine Ranch was completed in 1960, the same year plans were approved to build the University of California, Irvine. Soon after, work began on the adjacent 10,000-acre city of Irvine.