Alameda, Northwood

Situated on east side of the 5 freeway in Irvine away from the center of things, Northwood is a community that we haven’t visited often. I had the occaission to visit the neighborhood on a recent visit to a friend’s house. Compared to many of Irvine’s newer planned communities, Northwood exudes an established and homey feel which is very welcoming. The shady streets are lined with huge eucalyptus trees and the foliage is lush and leafy.

The homes, mostly of 1970’s vintage, sit on large lots (at least they are larger than those found in the newer Irvine communities) and the neighborhoods are all anchored by one of the many parks.

The Northwood Community Park sits near the center and is full of amenities that attract residents of all ages every weekend. We took our kids to a cute park that had a huge cinder block castle and several play structures sitting among picnic areas and play fields. We couldn’t tear our kids away from this park.

My friend lives in the Park Place neighborhood which has its own community pool and clubhouse. Her kids have just one short block to walk to Santiago Elementary school, on five highly ranked elementary schools in the area. The main reason my friend moved to this area was because of the schools which have earned many accolades for their high scores on the API. Her kids will be attending Northwood High which was listed by Newsweek as one of the top high schools in the nation.