Portola Springs just released an entire new section, featuring five new home collections and two parks. This neighborhood is in the southeast corner of the village, bordered by existing homes off of Irvine Boulevard to the south, Modjeska to the west, Portola Springs Road to the north, and undeveloped land to the east. Additional apartment homes will open on the south side of the neighborhood later this spring. Some of the homes will be a very short walk to the new elementary school. Residents will be part of the Portola Springs Community HOA, with full access to all of the village parks and pools. Some tracts will also have a second HOA just for the tract.

Portola Springs is part of the Irvine Unified School District. A brand new elementary school opened in the fall of 2015, with advanced technology and modern amenities throughout. While I didn’t get to go in the school, even the parking lot seemed well designed, with numerous parking spots and two long drop-off areas. It has a Rainbow Rising center on-site for before and after school care.  The village is zoned for Jeffrey Trail Middle School, another high-tech, modern facility that opened in 2013. Finally, while Portola Springs currently feeds into Northwood High School, they will be rezoned to the brand new Portola High School, scheduled to open in the August of 2016. Students in Portola Springs will have access to all of Irvine’s newest schools.

The five new collections include townhomes, flats, courtyard homes, and single family homes. Below is a brief rundown of the collections. Over the next few weeks, I will review the tracts.

Legado and Cressa, the largest homes, are at the north side of the new development. They will be within easy walking distance of Portola Springs Elementary School. The new Greenfield Park will sit between them. Across the center of the neighborhood, there will be one section of Silverleaf homes at the far west, followed by all of The Vine homes, some Indigo homes, and finally the remaining Silverleaf homes at the east. The last section of Indigo homes sits just south of Silverleaf and The Vine. Another new park, Village Square Park, is right next to these last Indigo homes, at the southern end of the neighborhood. An open area to the right of the park will likely become future homes.

Village Square Park is the larger of the two new parks. It is located at the southern end of the neighborhood, while the other park is at the opposite end of the same street. Village Square Park features a club room, junior Olympic pool, wading pool, spa, sand volleyball court, putting green, shade structures, tot lot, and barbecue and picnic areas. The pool has a large deck around it, with the spa set apart from it at one end and the wading pool at the other. The pool has an accessible entry chair for those needing assistance entering the water. Outside the pool, there is a big lawn with plenty of room for kids to run around. The volleyball court is on one side of it and the tot lot on the other. The playground has a very modern look and includes a small, unique merry-go-round. This park only has two swings, both designed for older kids. I would have liked to see an additional set of swings for babies and toddlers.

Greenfield Park is toward the north end of the neighborhood. It has a lap pool, spa, half basketball court, tennis courts, barbecue and picnic areas, shade structures, and a tot lot. The playground is really interesting and unlike any that I have ever seen. Rather than a flat ground, much of the surface has what they call “landscape structures,” meaning it’s covered in small hills. I can imagine older kids loving to run around the grounds. The play structures have a modern, funky look to them, too. One is for 2-5 year olds and features a slide, mini rock wall, tunnel, etc. A pair of bucket swings is nearby. On the other side of the park is a big fort-like structure with a rock wall built into one of the landscaped hills. There is also a spider web-style climbing structure.

While I really liked the hilly terrain and funky structures, I did see one big problem with this park. In addition to the two bucket swings, it has one regular swing and one universally accessible swing. I was really excited to see the accessible swing, which I have not seen at any other local park, until I realized that anyone needing that swing would not be able to navigate the hills throughout the park. I wish they would have put this swing at Village Square Park instead, making it truly accessible for all.

In addition to the two new parks in this part of the village, Portola Springs has another 12 parks, including six with pools, ten with tot lots, three with basketball courts and three with tennis courts. All 14 parks throughout Portola Springs have shade structures and barbecue and picnic areas. A large community park is planned for the eastern edge of Portola Springs, right where Portola Parkway meets the 241 toll road. This park, called Portola Springs Community Park, will have a community center, lighted fast-pitch softball fields, lighted soccer fields, a sand volleyball court, lighted tennis courts, lighted pickleball court, a tot lot, native garden, and barbecue and picnic areas. Walking trails, public access to trailheads, and a new pedestrian bridge over Portola Parkway offer great opportunities to explore the outdoors.

For the most part, I liked this new area of Portola Springs. Aside from the swings, I thought both parks had great amenities and looked really fun for kids. It is conveniently located near the elementary school and those who drive will be going the opposite way from most traffic. It is also going to be closer to the new Portola High School than any other current part of the village.