ORANGE COUNTY | Development News

[PotatoGuy]

true, and I never liked that either.. haha

[saiholmes]

Angels are rated most fan-friendly
Other Southland teams on an ESPN survey of the four major North American sports leagues include the Dodgers at No. 50 and the Lakers at No. 51. The Clippers are last at No. 122.
By Bill Shaikin
From the Los Angeles Times
July 1, 2009

The Lakers just won the NBA championship, and Southern California celebrated with them, with hundreds of thousands of fans attracted to a parade down Figueroa Street and a rally at the Coliseum.

There are 122 teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball. And Southern California is home to the team that best repays its fans "for all the emotion, money and time fans invest," according to an ESPN study to be unveiled today.

That team is not the Lakers. That team is the Angels.

The Angels have ranked as the most fan-friendly baseball team for six consecutive years in the annual ESPN study, but this is the first time the Angels have ranked No. 1 among all the teams in the four major North American sports leagues.

The Lakers ranked No. 51. The Clippers ranked last, at No. 122.

When Arte Moreno bought the Angels in 2003, he bet he could transform an intermittently successful team marketed to Orange County into a perennial powerhouse by expanding its reach to Los Angeles and beyond, in the process generating enough revenue to keep the player payroll up and ticket costs down.

Moreno negotiated a $500-million television contract with Fox, bought his own radio station and changed the call letters to KLAA, and prevailed in a four-year court fight that secured his right to call the team by the Los Angeles name.

In their first 43 seasons, the Angels never had three consecutive winning seasons, with a record attendance of 3.06 million in the year after winning the World Series. In five full years under Moreno, the Angels have won the American League West four times and drawn at least 3.34 million every year.

The Angels have fielded one of the top six player payrolls in baseball every year under Moreno. The cost for a family of four to attend a game at Angel Stadium has ranked among the bottom six every year since 2005, according to Team Marketing Report. The Angels offer a cap for $7 and charge $8 for parking.

The ESPN study used a combination of fan surveys and quantitative research to rate teams in eight categories: affordability, coaches, players, owners, fan relations, stadium experience, championships, and "bang for the buck" in converting revenues into victories.

"This honor means a great deal to our organization because it was voted on by the fans," Moreno said in a statement to ESPN.

"I am extremely proud of our staff for working day in and day out to provide what we call the 'baseball experience.' Their focus is always on our fans, which would include providing courteous service, affordable pricing, and a clean environment. And, of course, the baseball people work hard to put a winning team on the field!"

The Dodgers ranked No. 50, one spot ahead of the Lakers. The Dodgers and Lakers ranked highly for coaches and stadium experience -- and the Lakers for championships and owners -- but the Dodgers ranked below average in affordability and fan experience.

The Lakers' standing reflects in large measure their rank as one of the 10 least affordable teams in pro sports. The average price for a family of four, including tickets, parking and concessions, according to Team Marketing Report: $141.18 for the Angels, $221.64 for the Dodgers, $479.48 for the Lakers.

The Clippers ranked last for coaches and players, next-to-last for fan relations and in the bottom 10 for owners, championships and "bang for the buck."

[San Marino Guy]

City of Anaheim Selects HOK Los Angeles and Parsons Brinckerhoff to Design and Create the Iconic Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center
World-Class, Sustainable Transportation Hub Will Serve as a Major Gateway and Mixed-Use Destination for Orange County and Southern California
By: Marketwire .
Jul. 13, 2009 12:02 PM

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/13/09 -- The Los Angeles office of HOK, a global architecture design firm, and Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global infrastructure strategic consulting, engineering and program/construction management organization, announced its combined team was selected by the Anaheim City Council and Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to design phase one of the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC). The 66,000-square-foot structure features an iconic 180-foot archway offering expansive skyline views and will stand out as a landmark throughout the region.

The intermodal transportation hub is a sustainable, world-class transportation facility linking commuter and regional rail service as well as intercity bus, taxi and local transit. Future phases will expand the center to accommodate California high-speed rail to destinations such as San Francisco and Sacramento and serve as the terminus for the super-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California.

"HOK Los Angeles and Parsons Brinckerhoff's Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center is a melding of great engineering and design to create an awe-inspiring structure which will serve the transportation needs of commuters and travelers throughout the region," said Eric Anderson, senior project manager of Parsons Brinckerhoff. "HOK Los Angeles has successfully demonstrated its knowledge and understanding of creating designs that are both inspiring and functional."

"HOK has established a reputation for creating distinctive gateways around the world that provide stunning visual landmarks and serve as a source of pride for cities where they are located," said Riccardo Mascia, managing principal of the HOK Los Angeles office. "Parsons Brinckerhoff chose to partner with HOK Los Angeles because they recognized that our collaborative efforts would result in the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center being the world-class and iconic structure sought after by the City of Anaheim."

HOK's ARTIC project leadership team includes Riccardo Mascia, managing principal; Ernest Cirangle, architecture design director; Arnold Lee, lead project designer; and Todd Osborne, facilities design manager. Team members have been instrumental in designing other high-profile projects including Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport People Mover system; Anaheim Convention Center; Sendai International Airport in Japan and Central Japan International Airport, Nagoya Japan.

HOK, a national leader in sustainable design, credits the City's visionary environmental leadership that has resulted in a LEED Platinum goal for ARTIC -- the highest rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. This goal affords the design team an opportunity to incorporate innovative technologies and sustainable features into the building such as solar panels, ETFE cushions -- a highly insulating enclosure system one-tenth the weight of glass -- and a solar water heater built into the roof to reduce energy use, water use, solid waste production and carbon emissions.

The new transportation hub is scheduled to break ground in 2010 and be completed by mid-2013. Phase one is valued at approximately $180 million and will consist of the transportation center and supporting facilities, rail tracks and platforms, parking, public art and street improvements. ARTIC will accommodate passenger arrivals, departures and transfers, with supporting retail, restaurants and passenger services within the structure. It will also provide easy transfer and connectivity between area entertainment destinations and sports venues including the Anaheim Convention Center, Angel Stadium, Disneyland and Honda Center.

"The design for ARTIC was inspired by grand, open rail stations like Grand Central in New York, and from the historic, monumental hangars in nearby Tustin which housed Navy blimps," added Cirangle. "We wanted to design ARTIC as a breathtaking structure which would be instantly recognizable throughout the region."

Additional partners on the HOK/Parsons Brinckerhoff team include Thornton Tomasetti, structural engineering; Buro Happold, mechanical and electrical engineering; and SWA Group, public space design and landscape architecture.

Specialty consultants include: Horton Lees Brogden, lighting design; Arellano Associates, community relations and public involvement; Arlington Group, development coordination; Merry Norris Contemporary Art, public art programming; and Selbert Perkins Design, wayfinding, signage and graphics; CommArts Design, retail design; Diaz Yourman & Associates, geotechnical engineering; Faithful + Gould, cost estimating; Faith Group, LLC, communications and security; International Parking Design, parking; Intueor Consulting Inc., traffic engineering; Newson Brown Acoustics LLC, acoustics; Rolf Jensen & Associates, fire/life safety; Thomas Consultants, retail market analysis; and VT excellence, vertical circulation.

For more information about ARTIC please visit www.articinfo.com. To request high-resolution project renderings, please e-mail hokla@allisonpr.com.

About HOK

HOK, founded in 1955, is a global architectural firm specializing in planning, design and delivery solutions for buildings and communities. Through its collaborative network of 24 offices worldwide, the firm serves diverse clients in the corporate, commercial, public and institutional markets. HOK is committed to developing resources and expertise to help lead the world toward sustainable communities and building environments. The HOK/LA practice was founded in 1983, and brings to their clients expertise in architectural design, interiors, planning, graphics, facilities planning and assessment and construction services.

[saiholmes]

Laguna is best in the West, say Sunset magazine readers
The lifestyle magazine's July reader issue ranks the city's beaches as No. 1.
BY VIK JOLLY
The Orange County Register
Monday, July 13, 2009

LAGUNA BEACH - You probably already knew it.

It comes as no surprise to Lagunans.

Now, Sunset magazine's readers have picked Laguna Beach as the best in the West.

Laguna came in first in Sunset's July reader issue story on the West's top 10 beaches, beating out 'Aliomanu Beach on Kauai's northeast shore and Cape Blanco State Park in Oregon.

The Menlo Park-based magazine with a circulation of 1.3 million and some 4.5 million readers polled them in print and online for the last few months for their biggest ever reader issue and Laguna was the highest vote getter, an editor said.

"Laguna Beach is No. 1," said Peter Fish, Sunset's editor-at-large. "We used reader input and then our own expertise. It's such a special place. The coastline there is so phenomenally beautiful and the nice trails and all the flowers and city parks. It just doesn't get any better than that."

Fish acknowledged that he was a tad surprised by the pick.

"I would have expected a beach in Hawaii and our readers tend to love the Oregon coast a lot," he said. "I can't entirely explain it, but it's certainly justified."

Lagunans are not amazed.

Mayor Kelly Boyd grew up surfing the beaches in town, like those at Brooks and Thalia streets.

"Of course it's an honor," he said of Sunset readers' top 10 list. "It doesn't surprise me, no. We've got some of the best coves and beaches on the coast, have had them for years."

"Wow," said Ann Christoph, longtime Laguna Beach resident and former mayor of this seaside city when she was told of the No. 1 ranking in the West. "We'd probably rather keep it top secret, not that we could."

Christoph said she didn't have one favorite beach in Laguna, but the landscape architect pointed out the ability to see the beaches from so many different vantage points.

"It's a whole series of interesting coves and each cove has its own character," she said. "Some are quite secluded and some like Main Beach are very busy.'

[saiholmes]

[DVD AI]

Originally Posted by elrusodan

Improving speed is not as necessary. It has many other issues to address. To me the major problem is the schedule. If the trains would go by more often than every other hour, and the service would continue after 8 pm, that would make the trip scheduling much better already. And possibly lowering fare cost would be nice. Why would I take metrolink when I could pay less for gas to drive and get to OC quicker? And not have a possibility of getting stuck there until next morning if I miss the 7 pm train?

Exactly! I've ridden the metrolink many times and there are plenty of inconveniences about it, but If it cost me significantly less than driving, that's all I would take to get from Riverside to L.A. Now why is it overpriced?

Originally Posted by elrusodan

I might be wrong, but I believe that the scheduling and the cost issues of Metrolink are because Metrolink shares same rail with the commercial trains. That is why it does not get to make trips too often and the use of rail itself costs too much. If and only if Metrolink would have its own rail...

this is exactly why metrolink charges so much and has limited departures. At some places, Amtrak will own the track and other places, metrolink has split off, but in the end, sharing the tracks with commercial freight limits everything. There have been proposals to simply tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountain range and have a high speed rail, freight tunnel and two opposing directional two-lane tunnels...this could work but it wouldn't be built until like 2023 or something.

Nevertheless, populations are still rising here, people are still moving inland and commuting, and adding a friggin lane is not going to solve the problem...changing peoples' attitudes about public transit, making it more affordable, and more convenient is the answer. Limiting the number of cars on the road should be the primary goal, not expanding the roads!!!

[PotatoGuy]

I love disney all the time always.

[saiholmes]

‘Disneyworld of golf’ store to open before holidays
September 16th, 2009, 5:44 pm
posted by Ian Hamilton, OC Register

OC golfers and tennis players will have a new place to spend their time and money come November or December.

Golfsmith Xtreme, expected to open before Christmas in Irvine, is described by a company official as the “Disneyworld of Golf.”

What makes it the Disneyworld of Golf?

The store will occupy a 40,000-square-foot space and feature a “big indoor driving range with 9 hitting bays, a huge putting green” and three simulators, said Matt Corey, senior vice president of marketing for Golfsmith. It will also have a full service tennis department.

There’s already a Golfsmith store in Santa Ana but this new one will be larger. The Golfsmith Xtreme moniker (rather than simply Golfsmith) denotes the size of this place - 40,000 square feet. Most Golfsmith stores are about half that size, and only about six of these Golfsmith Xtremes have been opened.

“We feel like this is going to be so different than anything they’ve seen in Southern California. I don’t think anybody has brought this type of experience to Orange County,” Corey said.

The store will be at 16175 Lake Forest Drive in Irvine, that’s just South of Interstate 5 right at the border of Lake Forest. It will be right next door to a Best Buy.

What say you, Orange County golfers and tennis players? Does this place interest you? Is it the Disneyworld of golf?

[milquetoast]

Is this in Florida? Because that should be Disneyland of Golf

[saiholmes]

It's Golfsmith Xtreme.

[saiholmes]

LAX's FlyAway bus service coming to Irvine -- a first for Orange County
October 6, 2009 | 4:03 pm
The Los Angeles Times



LAX officials announced that the popular FlyAway bus service will add a new line from Irvine in time for the holiday travel season.

Officials estimate that the Irvine line -- the first from LAX into Orange County -- could serve up to 72,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

FlyAway already has lines connecting LAX to Van Nuys, Westwood and Union Station.

“We are pleased to reach an agreement with the city of Irvine to better serve our Orange County customers who travel through LAX, especially those traveling internationally,” said Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey in a statement. “Our FlyAway service is very popular with Los Angeles travelers. We believe Irvine has the potential to be a viable alternative for travelers who prefer to ride rather than drive to LAX.”

Officials said they hoped the service would reduce vehicle traffic into the airport as well.

--Shelby Grad

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...unty.html#more

[saiholmes]

One of California's toughest commutes getting relief with 91 Freeway widening
Ari B. Bloomekatz
The Los Angeles Times
November 2, 2009 | 5:25 pm

One of Southern California’s toughest commutes is about to get somewhat easier.

Officials Tuesday will break ground on a $59.5-million project to widen the eastbound 91 Freeway with the hopes of easing congestion for commuters along the heavily traveled stretch between Orange and Riverside counties.

The section through the Santa Ana Canyon has long been considered one of the worst freeway bottlenecks in the nation, connecting bedroom communities in the Inland Empire to job centers in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The roughly 6-mile-long project will run from the 241 Freeway, a toll road, to the 71 Freeway and will add one lane to the four existing eastbound lanes, excluding two express lanes.

“The 91 corridor, that’s been one of the toughest puzzles to solve,” said Peter Buffa, chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority. “There’s 300,000 cars traveling that route each day.”

He said the agency also hopes to eventually widen the freeway in both directions from the 55 Freeway to the 241 toll road. Commuters in that area got another boost this week with today's grand opening of new lanes on the 241 toll road, another route channeling Inland Empire commuters into Orange County.

The “Fast Trak” toll lanes run through the Windy Ridge toll plaza. Some 50,000 commuters pass through that plaza each weekday and the new lanes on the 241 Freeway are supposed to ease traffic flow to and from the 91 Freeway, said Jennifer Seaton of the Transportation Corridor Agencies. Seaton said that stretch of the 91 Freeway east of the 241 Freeway can be “very, very congested” and that the backup affects commuters using the toll road.

Transportation officials have been talking for decades about how to ease the commute between the Inland Empire and Orange County.

More than a decade ago, officials opened toll lanes along a portion of the 91 Freeway, offering less congestion for commuters willing to pay the price. The 241 toll road, which runs from the 91 into South Orange County, was also designed to improve the commute.

The 91 runs through a narrow canyon amid several mountain ranges, making it hard to build additional freeways between the Inland Empire and Orange County. In recent years, planners have talked about tunneling 11.5 miles through the Cleveland National Forest to build a new route, but those plans are still very much in the conceptual stages.

Orange County transportation officials said the bulk of the 91 widening project, $47.9 million, is being funded with federal stimulus dollars and local agencies.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...-widening.html

[saiholmes]

How much time will new freeway lane save commuters?
Addition of eastbound 91 lane among many projects planned for freeway.
By ERIC CARPENTER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

ANAHEIM – How much time could one extra lane to the eastbound 91 save commuters traveling from Orange County into Riverside County?

Fifteen minutes, Caltrans officials said Tuesday during a groundbreaking ceremony for a 6-mile-long addition scheduled to open to motorists by the end of 2010. That's according to traffic studies of the area, they said.

The start of a construction of a new lane was cause for celebration among transportation officials and some motorists – while it left other commuters skeptical that it will ease congestion.

Under a tent on a dirt road overlooking the 91 freeway stood Caltrans officials, four mayors and transportation leaders from Riverside and Orange counties – counties that for years had been at odds over what to do with the 91.

But Tuesday's ceremony was a symbol that help is on the way – on more than one front – for a notorious choke point.

"Commuters saving 15 minutes. That's time they can spend with their families instead of on the road," said Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, also a member of the Orange County Transportation Authority board. "That will have a huge impact on very many lives."

The project will use $47.9 million in federal stimulus funds to add six miles of lane to the eastbound 91, between the 241 toll road in Anaheim Hills and the 71 freeway in Corona.

The eastbound 91 has five freeway lanes – narrowing to four near Green River Road – and two toll lanes.

Riverside County contributed $5 million and Orange County $6.6 million to planning and designing the project.

Several motorists who routinely travel the 91 said they were skeptical that more than $58 million is going toward adding a single lane.

"It'll be just another snail trail," said Brad Larsen, who commutes between Riverside and Orange each weekday. "That's a waste of money. I wish I knew what the solution was out there, but I think they could start by opening up the toll lanes to everybody."

Officials with the Orange County Transportation Authority said they plan to keep the 91 Express (toll) Lanes, which funded the county's share of designing the 91 expansion.

But other changes could come.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission wants to:

‧Extend the toll lanes in each direction from where they end, just east of the 241, to Pierce Street in Riverside – about 12 miles.

‧Add one freeway lane in each direction between the 15 and 71 freeways.

Also, the OCTA hopes to:

‧Add a westbound lane to the 91 freeway, between the 57 and I-5 freeways.

‧Add a lane in both directions to the 91 freeway, between the 55 freeway and the 241 toll road.

"I love where I live, and I love where I work," said Jorge Mendoza, who lives in Riverside and works in Cypress. "I just hate the commute. And I'm glad to see they are trying to make it better."

[saiholmes]

Buses or monorail in Anaheim resort area?
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register
2009-11-12 18:59:16

ANAHEIM – A monorail that runs not just through Disneyland but through Anaheim to the theme park.

That's what Anaheim is considering as it looks for the best way to connect tourists and local employees who travel into a new transportation hub near Angel Stadium to the Anaheim Resort District.

City and transportation officials put the question to the public Thursday of whether a monorail – or other elevated system – or more buses should be the preferred option as they move forward with plans to build a 3.5-mile connection between the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) and Disneyland.

About two dozen people attended the scoping meeting Thursday night to give their input.

The alternatives the city is considering include:

‧Increasing bus traffic in existing lanes.

‧Building dedicated lanes for more buses.

‧An elevated monorail (25-40 passengers per car, 30 mph)

‧An elevated people mover (80-100 passengers per car, 20 mph)

‧A low-speed magnetic-levitation train (150 passengers, 30 mph)

Natalie Meeks, the city's public works director, said all options are on the table, but Anaheim sees strong benefits to building an elevated system.

"There is a huge need to move a high number of passengers to their actual destination (from the transportation hub) and we think elevating that system and taking that traffic off of local streets would be most beneficial," Meeks said.

The monorail – or other elevated system – would run from ARTIC at the 57 freeway and Katella Avenue west to Gene Autry Way, north on Haster Street, west on Disney Way, then south on Harbor Boulevard. (If the option for more buses is selected, it would follow a slightly different route along Katella.)

A monorail would likely make four stops – two in the Platinum Triangle area, one at Anaheim GardenWalk/Disneyland and one at the Anaheim Convention Center

The cost of building the system is estimated at $300 million to $500 million. The city would seek funding from Measure M – the county's half-cent sales tax for transportation projects – and state and federal money to pay for it.

So far, $5.9 million from the Orange County Transportation Authority "Go Local" funds and $100,000 in city funds have paid for planning and design.

Riding the monorail or other elevated system would be kept relatively cheap – or perhaps free, Meeks said.

The city would need to ensure it's a more affordable alternative than driving and paying to park, Meeks said.

David Wain, a property manager and Anaheim resident, reviewed the plans at Thursday's meeting and said he's impressed by the monorail concept – even if it is expensive.

"More traffic on the streets is the last thing we need," Wain said. "Any good alternative is going to cost a fortune, but I think it's something the city needs."

The Platinum Triangle is expected to include 22,000 residents and 37,000 jobs when completed. And the Resort Area, including Disneyland and the Convention Center, employs 25,000 people and attracts more than 20 million visitors annually.

The City Council would vote on the final plan, including the preferred route, next summer.

Public input is still invited. Written comments are due by Dec. 10.

For more information on that project, visit www.anaheimfixedguideway.com.

[pesto]

Repeating myself, but anyway: anything aimed at sponsors of conventions, sales-meetings, retreats and the like, should give the organizer maximum opportunity to control the environment that his guest are in. An elevated, closed-circuit transportation system provides this, allowing you to move from accommoodation to work space to entertainment without tripping over the homeless, hostess bars and drug dealers.

And in any event, you want to give tourists and conventioners something different and interesting to see and ride on. They can see buses every day back home.

Every company has a CFO, but none of them let him make the business decisions.

[saiholmes]

Flyaway Bus Service Between Irvine Station and LAX Offers Easy Parking, Transportation. Irvine Station, at 15215 Barranca Parkway, will have 500 parking spaces, where FlyAway passengers can park for free for up to 30 days.

[saiholmes]

UC Irvine takes video games to the next level
The hobby will move out of dorm rooms and into classrooms as the university creates a four-year undergraduate program in 'game science,' to debut next fall.
By Tony Barboza
The Los Angeles Times
November 30, 2009

UC Irvine has long sought to be known for preeminence in fields such as engineering, medicine and business. But now the university is embracing a new discipline: video games.

Once ridiculed within university halls as merely a nerdy pastime, computer games are being promoted to a full-fledged academic program at the Irvine campus, a medium as ripe for study as the formats before it: film, radio and television.

This fall UC Irvine established the Center for Computer Games & Virtual Worlds, and construction is underway on a 4,000-square-foot, 20-room "Cyber-Interaction Observatory" for faculty research. Plans call for floor-to-ceiling projection screens, 3-D stereoscopic displays and gesture-based interfaces.

If all goes according to plan, next fall UC Irvine will debut a four-year undergraduate program allowing students to declare "game science" as their major -- an idea that drew snickers when a few professors first proposed it a decade ago.

"There are people who will say we're pandering to a trend," said Dan Frost, an informatics lecturer who teaches a popular computer game development course. "But this really is intellectually justified. Universities are always doing things that seem crazy at first."

It's a fitting development for a campus where some students are so gaga for gaming that they spend sleepless nights writing code for their homespun games and like to unwind with pizza-fueled Street Fighter tournaments and Rock Band contests.

"People go to school to become painters," said James Dalby, 30, a senior information and computer science major and vice president of the campus game development club. "Well, companies need that kind of skill to dream up all the fantastic worlds that they're going to make into a virtual reality."

The Irvine campus is one of a number of schools expanding offerings aimed at a generation that grew up well after the advent of Pac-Man and Pong.

"They're so used to playing with computers that they get bored stiff with plain old textbooks," said Magda El Zarki, a computer science professor and director of the center.

Computer game studies are growing in popularity at other universities. USC, for instance, admitted 31 students this fall majoring in computer science (games).

But the cadre of video game fanatics behind UCI's new center, including dozens of students and 20 faculty members from different disciplines, has had to battle an obvious perception: that what they're studying is just fun and games.

Not everyone, after all, sees the analysis of Halo or Half-Life as a legitimate academic pursuit.

A decade ago, computer science instructors at UC Irvine who tried to get a minor in computer games approved were laughed at and the idea was shot down. But now, whatever hesitation there was seems to have faded, at least within academia.

Faculty members have had success in winning research funding, though at times the awards have caused outsiders to shake their heads.

When UC Irvine researchers were awarded a $100,000 federal grant last year from the National Science Foundation to study the differences in how gamers from the U.S. and China play World of Warcraft, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) held it up as an example of fiscal irresponsibility in a report called "2008: Worst Waste of the Year."

Yet the school has persisted, courting industry partners and raising millions of dollars in corporate funding and federal grants to study computer games and "virtual worlds," or simulations that can be used for everything from stroke rehabilitation to courtroom reenactments.

"A lot of people, when they hear 'games' and 'university,' they see nothing in common," said Walt Scacchi, a senior research scientist who helped found UCI's Game Culture and Technology Lab in 2001. "They think games are mindless and not something to be studied seriously. Like many new disciplines, there's often a high degree of skepticism."

But the appeal of video game studies is broad, attracting even studio art majors such as 22-year-old Joel Youkhanna.

He transferred to UC Irvine because it was one of only a few schools that offer gaming as a course of study.

"I like coming up with ideas, characters and stories," he said. "That's what drew me to the world of video games."

And now that he's a few months shy of graduating with a concentration in game culture and technology, he's hoping to find work at a major game company.

He smiles when asked if he ever thought he could turn a hobby into a college degree.

"I actually have a lot of friends who are really jealous of what I'm doing," he said.

In Frost's 10-week computer game course, students work in small teams to create a short game for a PC or cellphone. It could be a puzzle, a role-playing game, a jumping-based "platform game" or a first-person shooter.

One of the games students have collaborated on is Colossal Crisis, in which students under attack by Godzilla have to collect debris to bring back to their professor in order to build a robot to defeat the monster.

Frost is thinking about using the game's characters as mascots to announce the new major.

He and other faculty believe video game studies are gaining acceptance, despite the naysaying.

"When people first started studying film at USC, I'm sure people were like, 'C'mon!' " Frost said. "People said it isn't serious. The attitude has changed."

So in his course, Frost sometimes picks apart just a few minutes of a computer game like a film professor would classic cinema.

"Let's see how that sequence of cuts worked," Frost often tells his students. "It's like listening to Beethoven's Fifth in a music appreciation class."

UC Irvine sees the program as a natural fit for Southern California, home to dozens of video game companies such as Activision Blizzard, which created the popular Call of Duty and World of Warcraft from corporate offices in Irvine and Santa Monica.

And the school plans to maintain a tight link with the industry by inviting professionals to give presentations as well as send students on tours of local game studios.

That exposure could help students make the transition from seeing gaming as a hobby to viewing it as a career.

"It's not a bunch of nerds clamoring around a dark basement," said Dalby, of the game development club. "It's actually an office environment of people that have jobs and benefits and are really interested in what they do."

As administrators wrangle for lab space to dedicate to gaming, students do most of their work -- and play -- on their personal laptops.

The center doesn't yet have a physical location, after all.

"I guess," Frost said, "it's the virtual world."

[elrusodan]

Originally Posted by saiholmes

Buses or monorail in Anaheim resort area?
The monorail – or other elevated system – would run from ARTIC at the 57 freeway and Katella Avenue west to Gene Autry Way, north on Haster Street, west on Disney Way, then south on Harbor Boulevard. (If the option for more buses is selected, it would follow a slightly different route along Katella.)

Nice! But why north on Haster and west on Disney Way? Why not continue on Katella all the way to Harbor? And then later it could be extended by running north to DT Anaheim, maybe even Fullerton. And the other end (At the ARTIC) could be extended south, to Santa Ana, John Wayne and South Coast Plaza, and then even UCI...

But if run the other end south on Harbor to the Convention Center, there is not much reason for expanding that end in the future... Unless they turn it west again and run it all the way to Long Beach. Then I'm all for it!

[saiholmes]

Irvine on-track to defend safest large city crown
By SEAN EMERY
OC Register
2009-12-21 11:02:17

IRVINE – The community is on track to grab the safest large city in America crown for the sixth straight year, according to preliminary FBI statistics covering the first half of 2009.

Irvine Police officials on Monday touted the results of the preliminary FBI report, which covers violent crimes – including murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults – in cities with more than 100,000 residents between January and June of this year.

"We consider a safe community to be the cornerstone for everything that we accomplish in Irvine," Mayor Sukhee Kang said in a written release. "This latest news is an acknowledgement of a job well done, as well as an understanding that our job is never done."

The FBI stats showed drops in several violent crime categories compared to the previous year, including:

‧ Property crimes, which dropped from 1,621 reports in the first half of 2008 to 1,565 in the first half of 2009.

‧Larceny reports, which dropped from 1,285 to 1,224.

‧Motor vehicle theft reports, which dropped from 104 to 70.

‧Arson reports, which dropped from 23 to 13.

Other categories rose, including:

‧Robbery reports, which rose from 23 in the first half of 2008 to 31 in the first half of 2009.

‧Aggravated assault reports, which rose from 21 to 36.

‧Burglary reports, which rose from 232 to 271.

Irvine police officials have previously attributed their success to community partnerships and a system of geographic-based policing that gives officers the chance to develop a rapport with residents and businesses.

The FBI information is based on crime statistics voluntarily provided by law enforcement agencies nationwide.

A separate ranking of communities by crime rates by CQ Press released last month listed Irvine in fourth place, behind nearby Mission Viejo. That report included a larger number of cities – dropping the population floor to 75,000 – and took into account other crime such as non-violent burglaries and auto thefts.

[saiholmes]

Fisker Automotive raises $115.3 million
The private equity funds allow the start-up Irvine firm to tap $528.7 million in federal loans for development of its plug-in hybrid Karma.
By Jerry Hirsch
The Los Angeles Times
January 19, 2010

Fisker Automotive Inc., the Irvine developer of electric cars, said it had raised an additional $115.3 million in private equity funding to develop plug-in hybrid cars.

The money from three firms allows Fisker, founded by Danish design guru Henrik Fisker, to satisfy a U.S. Department of Energy condition to gain access to $528.7 million in federal loans. The agency's money is part of a $25-billion fund approved by Congress in 2007 to spur automakers to build electric and fuel-efficient vehicles.

The funds will help Fisker develop its Karma, the company's first plug-in hybrid.

The company said it was glad it could obtain the private funding "at a time when capital is scarce, the auto industry is struggling and the global economy is just beginning to rebound."

Fisker said development of the $87,900 Karma would pave the way for a lower-cost plug-in hybrid that the company is calling Project Nina.

Project Nina is expected to be built in Wilmington, Del., at a former General Motors assembly plant starting in 2012.

"Raising $115 million in these times speaks volumes about the value of our business model and the vast potential of plug-in hybrids," said Fisker, who is the company's chief executive and known for designing the BMW Z8 as well as Aston Martin's DB9 and V8 Vantage.

The Karma will be assembled in Finland, using mostly U.S. parts, and production will start late next year, with a target of 15,000 vehicles annually.

Project Nina will be a "family oriented" plug-in hybrid sedan that will cost $47,400 (less a $7,500 federal tax credit). It has a production target of 100,000 vehicles a year.

Fisker, a start-up company, is about to face increased competition from mainstream automakers. Toyota Motor Corp. is testing a plug-in version of its Prius hybrid. Ford Motor Co. announced that it would build an electric version of its new-generation Focus.

Nissan Motor Co. plans to start selling its Leaf electric car later this year for about $30,000 and General Motors Co. plans the first sales of its $40,000 Volt electric vehicle this fall.