Pasadena
Pasadena's neighborhoods include Old Town, San Marino, and South Pasadena.
Pasadena is a very community-oriented area; there are almost 100 different neighborhood organizations for a population of only 135,000! NATHA is considered to be the most active of all the organizations. Originally, the Howard, Navarro, and Tremont associations made up the city's northwest area. In time, recognizing that all three associations had the same concerns, they decided to join forces and become one association. The name not only stands for the three original organizations but also Neighbors Acting Together Helping All.
Northwest Pasadena has become an affordable site for many prospective homebuyers. It's location is also appealing because of its close vicinity to Old Town Pasadena. Homes in the area can run from $350,000 for a 1,000 square foot two-bedroom one-bath house and for a four-bedroom two-bath house one expect a list price of $442,500.
The Pasadena Unified School District serves the NATHA neighborhood. For the 2003 Academic Performance Index, Jackson Elementary scored 699 and Washington Middle School scored 565 out of a possible 1000. The score for John Muir High School was unavailable.
Old Town
Located in the San Gabriel Valley, the historic Old Town Pasadena is just minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Its boundaries are Pasadena Avenue to the west, Marengo Avenue to the east, Green Street to the south, and Holly Street to the north. Colorado Boulevard is now the main street of Old Pasadena, it is also famous for being the site where the annual Rose Bowl parade takes place.
Old Town Pasadena has become a major tourist attraction with a variety of shopping, dining, entertainment, night life options. Over fifty restaurants are available to quench any sort of craving. The avid shopper will find furniture, antiques, and clothing shops featuring items from all over the world. The night life offers many choices for entertainment: blues, rock, and jazz bands perform weekly, billiard clubs, comedy clubs, and dance clubs can all be found in old town.
San Marino
San Marino is the most prestigious area of the San Gabriel Valley, mansions are scattered throughout the land and the median household income is $125,000. This area is ideal for those with children, crime rate is low and schools rank in the top 1%.
San Marino is notorious for its Huntington Library which was formerly Henry Huntington's estate. The Library sits on 207 acres and 105 acres are solely gardens. Another breathtaking area of San Marino is Lacy Park which is a 30 acre area in the middle of a residential area. It is open to the public during the week but non-residents are required to pay a $3 admission fee.
San Marino is undeniably different from other areas, and it is because of its strict ordinances that make it so. New residents are given a 24-page handbook titled "Informational Guide for San Marino Residents." For example, trash cans must be kept out of sight even on trash pick-up day, their trash companies walk up to the back of the house to retrieve full trash bins. Also, two-car garages may be used to park cars only; no storage of any kind other than vehicles is permitted. Design guidelines are just as strict; from 1913 to 1940 churches were not allowed to be constructed within the city. Currently, theaters, cemeteries, bowling alleys, overnight street parking, malls, multi-unit housing, and secondhand stores are all prohibited. Only until three years ago was the sale of beer and wine in restaurants allowed.
Highly desired areas are Las Flores and Euclid Avenues; these areas are modest in price compared to other neighborhoods, being between the high $400,000s to the high $800,000s. On the other side of the spectrum, The Oak Grove neighborhood features the highest number of mansions. A starter home would be listed at 2 million dollars.
San Marino's schools are some of the best in the Los Angeles area. The two elementary schools are ranked in the top 10% of Los Angeles County and Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School are ranked in the top 1% of California schools and are #1 in Los Angeles County.
Resources & Links:
- Local School Links
- Crime Statistics
- Southern California Home Sale Activity
Los Angeles home sales data, organized by ZIP code. Updated monthly. - Southern California Home Sale Data
Comparative Los Angeles home sales data, organized by city. - LA County Online
- The Los Angeles Times
Online version of the local periodical. - KCRW
National Public Radio station, based at Santa Monica College. - MovieLink/777-FILM
Local movie listings and show times. - ArtScene
Guide to California's museums.
- National Park Search
Great National Parks link. - California State Parks
Highly recommended.
- Yahoo! Neighborhood Profiles
For neighborhood demographics, cost of living and quality of life. - Local Real Estate Stats