Endorsements
“In Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLAN, Pike Oliver and Michael Stockstill lay out in highly readable form the history of this most successful, and epoch-shaping development. There may be no other place with the resources and locational advantages of the Ranch, but there are many lessons to be learned by the next generation of planners and developers.”
— Joel Kotkin, the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and Executive Director of the Houston-based Urban Reform Institute, Executive Editor of the widely read website https://newgeography.com and a regular contributor to the City Journal, Daily Beast, Quillette, AmericanAffairs, and Real Clear Politics
“Drawing on oral histories, interviews, archival documents, and their own substantial recollections, Oliver and Stockstill provide a fascinating and richly detailed insiders’ account of the Irvine Ranch’s development into a substantial urban place.”
— Ann Forsyth, Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard University and author of Reforming Suburbia: The Planned Communities of Irvine, Columbia, and The Woodlands (University of California Press, 2005)
“Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLAN gives Irvine Ranch the recognition it deserves as one of the largest and most important master-planned communities in the United States. As Oliver and Stockstill document, this and other master-planned communities made housing affordable in the post-war era of rapid population growth on the West Coast. Sadly, under current land-use restrictions, such master-planned communities are almost impossible to build in California today. I hope that this book will help open people's eyes to the costs of such restrictions.”
— Randal O’Toole, former Cato Institute Senior Fellow specializing in land-use and transportation issues and author of policy papers and numerous articles and op-eds about free-market approaches to transportation, housing, and other issues
“Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLANis a must-read for anyone interested in local community planning, California history, and American real estate development. The authors provide a thorough, thoughtful, and behind-the-scenes account of the birth of a major city, university, and foundation that have had profound impacts on the people of California.”
— Mark Baldassare, President and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California, Founding Director (1982-2001) of the Orange County Annual Survey, Founding Chair (1992-1997) of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine
“Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLAN combines memoir, oral history, and in-depth research to show how big personalities and bigger ambitions propelled Irvine from ranchland to metropolis. Innovative urban planning, corporate infighting, and expansion of California’s university system are part of this fascinating story. Essential for real estate professionals and anyone who cares about the future of California.”
— D. J. Waldie, author of Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place (Angel City Press, 2020)
“Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLAN is an important contribution to our collective understanding of the development of Orange County in the second half of the 20th century and the fascinating and key role of the Irvine Ranch in that drama.”
— Carlyle Hall, Founder of the Center for Law in the Public Interest, which represented the Orange County Fair Housing Council in a mid 1970s lawsuit against the City of Irvine and the Irvine Company seeking production of more affordable housing
“In the 1960s, major landowners, large corporations, the Federal government, and practical visionaries brought enormous resources together to rebuild cities and meet the nation’s housing needs. Against that background, Transforming the Irvine Ranch: THE BIG PLAN shows how geography, timing, money, and extraordinary talent combined to create one of the most successful new cities in the United States. This is a ground-level view of how and why it happened, with lessons for any ambitious land-use agenda.”
— Laurence M. Netherton, Former executive at Chevron Land and Development and Sage Communities and co-author of Real Estate Development: Principles and Practices, 5th Edition (Urban Land Institute, 2015)