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Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (the leading robotics and spacecraft design and manufacturing NASA center), Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, California School of Culinary Arts Pasadena and the Norton Simon Museum of Art.
As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936.
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Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (the leading robotics and spacecraft design and manufacturing NASA center), Art Center College of Design, the Pasadena Playhouse, California School of Culinary Arts Pasadena and the Norton Simon Museum of Art.
As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936. As of 2007, the estimated population is 146,518, making it the 160th largest city in the United States. Pasadena is the 6th largest city in Los Angeles County, and the main cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley.
Geography
Pasadena is located at (34.156098, -118.131808). The elevation is 864 feet (263 m) above sea level. The greater Pasadena area is bounded by the Raymond Fault line, the San Rafael Hills, and the San Gabriel Mountains.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 60.0 km² (23.2 mi²). 59.8 km² (23.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.30%) is water.
Pasadena is 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is bordered by 11 communities—Highland Park, Eagle Rock, South Pasadena, San Marino, Temple City, Lamanda Park, San Gabriel, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, La Cañada Flintridge, and Altadena. The communities of Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Garvanza are incorporated within the city of Los Angeles and Altadena is an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County.
Neighborhoods
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 133,936 people, 51,844 households, and 29,862 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,238.7/km² (5,798.7/mi²). There were 54,132 housing units at an average density of 904.8/km² (2,343.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 53.36% White, 14.42% African American, 0.71% Native American, 10.00% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 16.01% from other races, and 5.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.40% of the population.
There were 51,844 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 34.9% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $61,269, and the median income for a family was $73,143. Males had a median income of $41,120 and $36,435 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,186. About 11.6% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislature Pasadena is located in the 21st Senate District, represented by Democrat Jack Scott, and in the 44th Assembly District, represented by Democratic Anthony J. Portantino. Federally, Pasadena is located in California's 29th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +12 and is represented by Democrat Adam Schiff.
Though Pasadena has consistently leaned liberal in state politics, in national politics it was a stronghold for moderate Republicans until the 1990s, and was represented in Congress by a Republicans from 1945 to 2001.
History
The original inhabitants of Pasadena and surrounding areas were members of the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation (part of the Shoshone language group) that occupied the Los Angeles Basin. Tongva dwellings lined the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena and south to where it joins the Los Angeles River and along other natural waterways in the city. They lived in thatched, dome-shape lodges. For food, they lived on a diet of acorn meal, seeds and herbs, venison, and other small animals. They traded for ocean fish with the coastal Tongva. They made cooking vessels from steatite soapstone from Catalina Island. The oldest transportation route still in existence in Pasadena is the old Tongva foot trail, also known as the Gabrielino Trail, that goes along the west side of the Rose Bowl and up the Arroyo Seco past the Jet Propulsion Laboratory into the San Gabriel Mountains. That trail has been in continuous use for thousands of years. An arm of the trail is also still in use up what is now called Salvia Canyon. When the Spanish occupied the Los Angeles Basin they built the San Gabriel Mission and renamed the local Tongva people "Gabrielino Indians," after the name of the mission. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area.
Pasadena is a part of the original Spanish land grant named Rancho del Rincon de San Pascual, so named because it was deeded on Easter Sunday to Eulalia Perez de Guillén Mariné of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. The Rancho comprised the lands of today's communities of Pasadena, Altadena and South Pasadena.
Prior to the annexation of California in 1848, the last of the Spanish owners was Manuel Garfias who was allowed to retain title to the property after statehood in 1850. Garfias sold sections of the property to the first Anglo settlers to come into the area, Dr. Benjamin Eaton, and Dr. S. Griffin. Much of the property was purchased by the honorable Benjamin Wilson who established his Lake Vineyard property in the vicinity. Wilson, known as Don Benito to the local Indians, was also owner of the Rancho Jurupa (Riverside, California) and went on to become the first Anglo mayor of Los Angeles. He is the grandfather of WWII General George S. Patton, Jr. and would have Mount Wilson named for him.
In 1873 Wilson was visited by one Dr. Daniel M. Berry of Indiana who was looking for a place in the country that could offer better climate to his patients, most of whom suffered from respiratory ailments. Berry was an asthmatic and claimed that he had his best three nights sleep at Rancho San Pascual. To keep the find a secret, Berry code-named the area "Muscat" after the grape that Wilson grew. To raise funds to bring the company of people to San Pascual, Berry formed the Southern California Orange and Citrus Growers Association for which he sold stock. The newcomers were able to purchase a large portion of the property along the Arroyo Seco and on January 31, 1874 they incorporated the Indiana Colony. As a gesture of good will, Wilson added 2,000 acres (8 km²) of then useless highland property, part of which would become Altadena.
Naming Pasadena
The mail came to the Indiana Colony via Los Angeles so marked. In an attempt to obtain their own Post Office, the Colony needed to change the name to something the Postmaster General would consider more fitting. The town fathers put three names up to a vote. The first was Indianola. The second was Granada, in keeping with the area's Spanish heritage.
The third was proposed by Dr. Thomas Elliott, who had contacted an Indian missionary friend in Michigan who had worked with the Minnesota Chippewa Indians. He submitted four names for translation: "Crown of the Valley," "Key of the Valley," "Valley of the Valley," and "Hill of the Valley." The names came back starting with "Weo-quan pa-sa-de-na," "Hat of the Valley." All the names ended in "pa-sa-de-na (of the valley)". The name was put to a vote, and due to its euphonious nature, it was accepted as Pasadena. Pasadena was incorporated, the second incorporated municipality of Los Angeles County after Los Angeles, in March 1886. In 1892, John H. Burnett of Galveston, Texas had visited Pasadena and when returned to his home near Houston, Texas he plotted a town along two bayous and named it Pasadena, Texas after the California city for its lush vegetation.
The popularity of the region drew people from across the country, and Pasadena eventually became a stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which led to an explosion in growth. From the real estate boom of the 1880s until the Great Depression, as great tourist hotels were developed in the city, Pasadena became a winter resort for wealthy Easterners. The first of the great hotels to be established in Pasadena was the Raymond (1886) atop Bacon Hill, renamed Raymond Hill after construction. The original Mansard Victorian 200 room facility burned down on Easter morning of 1895 and was not rebuilt until 1903. It was razed during the Great Depression to make way for residential development. The Maryland Hotel existed from the early 1900s and was demolished in 1934.
Two hotel structures have survived, the Green Hotel (a co-op since 1926) and the Vista Del Arroyo (now used as a Federal courthouse).
Hotel Green
The Hotel Green started construction on South Raymond Avenue at Kansas Street in 1887 by Mr. Webster who was unable to finish it. Colonel George Gill Green, a wealthy patent medicine distributor from New Jersey, finished the six story edifice in 1888. In 1898, he finished construction on a second edifice on the other side of Raymond and connected the two buildings with a bridge and a tunnel. The patrons arrived by train at the adjacent station. In 1902, the hotel was extended to the P.G. Wooster building at the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Green Street. In 1924, the hotel became a private residence. The annex was razed to its first story and sold, today known as Stat's Floral Supply. In 1970, the two wings of the hotel were partitioned creating two separate buildings. The 1898 section remained the private residence now called the Castle Green. The 1902 portion was taken over by the government's HUD program for senior residents and disabled persons, and is called the Green Hotel. In 1929, Kansas Street was widened and renamed Green Street.
Vista del Arroyo
The Vista Del Arroyo Hotel on Grand Avenue, commandeered by the Navy as a hospital during World War II, now houses the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Pasadena in the late 19th & 20th Century
Pasadena's role as a regional hub was cemented by other events, among them:
- The Tournament of Roses Parade, which began in 1889.
- The first Busch Gardens was open in Pasadena from 1905 to 1937.
- The rise to prominence of the California Institute of Technology (which became publicly funded in 1911).
- The opening of the Colorado Street Bridge (also known as "Suicide Bridge" from the Great Depression) in 1913 which spans the Arroyo Seco.
- The opening of the Rose Bowl Stadium in 1922.
- The Arroyo Parkway, now Pasadena Freeway (State Route 110), opened as the first freeway in the state in 1940.
- Completion of the Los Angeles Metro Gold Line in 2003.
Transportation
Public transit
Pasadena is the eastern terminus of the Los Angeles Metro Gold Line light rail, which originates at Union Station in Los Angeles. There are currently 6 Gold Line stations in Pasadena: Fillmore Station, Del Mar Station in Old Pasadena, Memorial Park Station in Old Pasadena, Lake Station in Downtown, Allen Station and Sierra Madre Villa Station. Plans are under consideration to extend the Gold Line east through several additional foothill communities of the San Gabriel Valley.
Pasadena is also served by various bus services. Pasadena ARTS exclusively serves the city while Los Angeles metro area bus services Foothill Transit, LADOT, Metro Local and Metro Rapid also serve Pasadena.
Airports
Bob Hope Airport (also known as Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport) in nearby Burbank serves as the regional airport for Pasadena. The airport is owned and operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which is controlled by the governments of the three cities in its name. Since most destinations from Bob Hope Airport are within the western United States, Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles and LA/Ontario International Airport in Ontario are also important airports less than an hour from Pasadena.
Freeways and highways
Four freeways run through Pasadena and Pasadena is a control city for all of them. The most important is the Foothill Freeway (I-210) which enters the northwestern portion of the city from La Cañada Flintridge. The Foothill Freeway initially runs due south, passing the Rose Bowl before its junction with the Ventura Freeway. At this interchange, the Foothill Freeway shifts its alignment and direction, becoming an east-west freeway, exiting the city on its eastern boundary before entering Arcadia. The Foothill Freeway connects Pasadena with San Fernando (westbound) and San Bernardino (eastbound).
The Ventura Freeway (SR 134) starts at the junction of the Foothill Freeway (I-210) at the edge of downtown Pasadena and travels westward. This freeway is the main connector to Bob Hope Airport and the San Fernando Valley.
A spur of the controversial Long Beach Freeway (SR 710 in Pasadena) is also located in Pasadena. The Long Beach Freeway was intended to connect Long Beach to Pasadena but a gap, known as the South Pasadena Gap, between Alhambra and Pasadena has not been completed due to legal battles involving the city of South Pasadena. The spur starts at the junction of the Ventura Freeway and Foothill Freeway and travels south along the eastern edge of Old Pasadena with two exits for Colorado Boulevard and Del Mar Boulevard before ending at an at-grade intersection with California Boulevard. Currently, Caltrans is researching the possibility of using advanced tunneling technologies to build the Long Beach Freeway under South Pasadena without disturbing the residential neighborhoods on the surface. This would create twin 4.5-mile-long tunnels, which would be the longest in the United States.
The Pasadena Freeway (SR 110) is the first freeway in California, connecting Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco and is the primary access to Downtown Los Angeles. The freeway enters the southern part of the city from South Pasadena. Only one exit is actually inside city limits, the southbound exit connecting to State Street with access to Fair Oaks Avenue. At Glenarm Street, the freeway ends at the six- and four-lane Arroyo Parkway continues northward to Old Pasadena.
Three state highways enter the city of Pasadena. Arroyo Parkyway (SR 110), maintained by the city of Pasadena, runs from the termination of the Pasadena Freeway at Glenarm Street to Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena. While Arroyo Parkway continues north two more blocks, SR 110 ends at Colorado Boulevard.
Rosemead Boulevard (SR 19) is a state highway on the eastern edge of Pasadena and unincorporated Pasadena from Huntington Drive to Foothill Boulevard.
An obscure portion of the Angeles Crest Highway (SR 2) in the San Gabriel Mountains cuts through Pasadena near the Angeles Crest Ranger Station. This stretch of highway in the Angeles National Forest is north of La Cañada Flintridge and west of Mount Wilson and is approximately in elevation.
Historic U.S. Route 66 used to run through Pasadena until it was deleted in 1964. The historic highway entered Pasadena from the east on Colorado Boulevard and then jogged south on Arroyo Parkway before becoming part of the Pasadena Freeway (SR 110).
Surface Streets
The intersection of Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Old Pasadena is the zero-zero, east-west, north-south postal division of Pasadena.
Culture
Performing arts
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The Pasadena Symphony, founded in 1928, offers several concerts a year at the Pasadena Civic Center and the Pasadena Pops plays at nearby Descanso Gardens. The Civic Center also holds a few traveling Broadway shows each year. The Pasadena Playhouse presents seven shows a season, each show running six to eight weeks. The Furious Theatre Company is one of several small theatre companies in Pasadena. They are currently housed in the Carrie Hamilton Theatre adjacent to the Pasadena Playhouse. Boston Court Performing Arts Complex, opened in 2003, is near Lake and Colorado. Its resident theatre company, the award-winning Theatre at Boston Court presents four productions a year. Zebulon Projects presents numerous music concerts each year, ranging from classical to jazz. The Friends of the Levitt organization presents a free summer concert series in Memorial Park, with the 2008 summer season marking its sixth year.
Beckman Auditorium and other venues on the Caltech campus present a wide range of performing arts, lectures, films, classes and entertainment events, mainly during the academic year.
The California Philharmonic performs two series in Pasadena, Cal Phil at the Ambassador Auditorium from November through April, and Cal Phil Music Martinis & the Maestro in the Romanesque Room at the Green Hotel from January to May. They also perform Cal Phil Festival on the Green at nearby Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia from July to September, and from July to August Cal Phil at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In conjunction with The Old Mill Foundation, they perform a summer chamber concert series Cal Phil at the Mill in San Marino.
For more than ten years, twice annually Pasadena's cultural institutions have opened their doors for free during ArtNight Pasadena , offering the public a rich sampling of quality art, artifacts and music within the city. This has evolved into the yearly PasadenART Weekend , a three day citywide event which, as of 2007, encompasses ArtNight, ArtWalk, ArtHeritage, ArtMarket, and ArtPerformance, a vibrant outdoor music event showcasing emerging and nationally recognized talent. Free concerts take place on multiple stages throughout Old Pasadena.
In 2007, the native Pasadena band Ozma reunited and produced the album "Pasadena" in tribute to the city. The album photos and artwork were shot at the Colorado Street Bridge.
The 1960s song The Little Old Lady from Pasadena parodies a popular Southern California image of Pasadena as home to a large population of aged eccentrics. In the song, an elderly lady drives a powerful "Super Stock Dodge" muscle car and is "the terror of Colorado Boulevard."
Visual arts
A number of artists of national repute, such as Guy Rose, Alson S. Clark, Marion Wachtel and Ernest A. Batchelder, made Pasadena their home in the early twentieth century. The formation of the California Art Club, Pasadena Arts Institute and the Pasadena Society of Artists heralded the city's emergence as a regional center for the visual arts.
The Norton Simon Museum contains over 2000 years of art from the Western world and Asia. The Pacific Asia Museum, with its tranquil garden in the center, features art from the many countries of Asia. The nearby Pasadena Museum of California Art hosts many temporary exhibits from Californian artists. The Gamble House, a National Historic Landmark, is a masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts Movement open for tours. The Huntington Library and its botanical garden are adjacent to Pasadena in the city of San Marino.
Literature
In 2002 David Ebershoff published the long novel, Pasadena. The novel won praise for its accurate recreation of Pasadena before World War II.
Radio
Pasadena has been home to a number of notable radio stations. In 1967 radio iconoclasts Tom and Raechel Donahue took over an aging studio in the basement of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church and introduced Los Angeles to FM freeform radio. Broadcasting under the KPPC-FM call sign at 106.7 FM it quickly became the voice of the counterculture and provided the soundtrack to LA’s hippie era. Early on-air personalities included Michael McKean, David Lander, Harry Shearer and Dr. Demento. The staff was fired en masse in 1971 and the station lost its distinctive personality.
By 1976 KPPC had changed owners, station managers and its format and would reemerge on the radio dial as KROQ 106.7. Broadcasting from cramped studios on Los Robles Ave in central Pasadena, it wasn’t long before KROQ would become one of the most influential radio stations in the United States. Soon after being purchased by Infinity Broadcasting in 1986, KROQ was moved part and parcel to new studios in nearby Burbank, and eventually ending up in Los Angeles proper.
Today the primary radio station in Pasadena goes by the call sign KPCC located at 89.3 FM. Broadcasting from the Pasadena City College campus, this public radio station carries many of the best shows from National Public Radio but maintains a fierce independent streak, committing a large chunk of air time to presenting local and state news. Accordingly, the station has received numerous awards for journalistic excellence and continues to be an important part of the city’s heritage.
Newspaper
Pasadena's largest newspaper is the Pasadena Star-News. The alternative Pasadena Weekly is published by Southland Publishing.
Education
The California Institute of Technology is in the southern-central area of Pasadena, with Pasadena City College located just to the northeast. Fuller Theological Seminary, one of the largest multidenominational seminaries in the world, sits just east of downtown Pasadena. The California School of Culinary Arts is located on Green Street and Madison. The school offers the Le Cordon Bleu accreditation and has five campuses around Pasadena. Pacific Oaks College is located next to Pasadena's National Historic Landmark — The Gamble House. The Art Center College of Design is in the San Rafael Hills overlooking the Rose Bowl, and ranks as one of the top five art schools in the United States and one of the top 10 art schools worldwide; it is particularly known for its design programs. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (managed for NASA by Caltech) is in Pasadena. Ambassador College was opened in the western part of the city just east and south of the route of the Rose Parade. The Pasadena campus of Ambassador was consolidated with its sister campus in Big Sandy, Texas in 1990. The campus is now home to Maranatha High School.
The encompasses Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre. The private Westridge School for college-bound girls is located on South Orange Grove Boulevard.
The Polytechnic School is a private K-12 institution, adjacent to Caltech's campus.
Shopping and dining
Old Pasadena
Old Pasadena is the revitalized old downtown that spans 3 city blocks and provides both locals and tourists a genuinely urban mix for living, shopping, dining, and entertainment. It boasts upscale retail shops like Diesel, J Crew, Guess, Kenneth Cole, Juicy Couture, and Tiffany's. A wide variety of restaurants, nightclubs, posh outdoor cafés, pubs, and comedy clubs keep this vibrant part of the city alive seven days a week. Locals refer to it as "Old Town".
Paseo Colorado
Paseo Colorado is an upscale shopping mall designed to be a modern urban village. It's an open-air mall that covers three city blocks and includes upscale shops like Tommy Bahama, Coach, BCBG Max Azria, Maxstudio, Sephora, and Lucky Brand. Restaurants include an Islands, PF Changs, Yard House, Tokyo Wako, and Porte Alegre. Paseo Colorado is anchored on the west end by upscale grocery store Gelson's and on the east end by Macy's. Pacific movie theaters center's the middle portion of the mall on the upper level along with 400 loft-style condominiums called Terrace Apartment Homes.
The Rose Bowl Flea Market
The Rose Bowl Flea Market is a large swap meet that involves thousands of dealers and tens of thousands of visitors in and around the grounds of the Rose Bowl. The merchandise on display ranges from old world antiques to California pottery to vintage clothing. The flea market has been held every second Sunday of the month, rain or shine, since 1967.
South Lake
A shopping district is located in the South Lake Avenue neighborhood. On Lake Avenue is a Macy's department store and Furniture Gallery. A California historical landmark, the building (formerly Bullock's department store) was constructed in the mid 1940's and recently underwent a major renovation to preserve its unique and historic character.
Sports
The Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl, a National Historic Landmark, is host of the oldest and most famous college football postseason bowl game, the Tournament of Roses Rose Bowl Game, every New Year's Day. It is the home field for the UCLA Bruins football team and has hosted five Super Bowls. Important soccer matches include the 1984 Summer Olympics, the final of the FIFA World Cup 1994 hosted in USA, and the final in FIFA Women's World Cup 1999.
The Rose Bowl stadium was the home ground for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer from the team's inception in 1996 until it moved into the soccer-specific Home Depot Center in 2003; the venue additionally hosted the 1998 MLS Cup.
For some time, Los Angeles has been seeking another National Football League team to replace the Rams and the Raiders, both of whom played in Los Angeles from 1946-1994 and 1982-1994 respectively. In November, 2006, a voter initiative to encourage a deal between the Rose Bowl and the NFL failed at the polls, effectively ruling out a return of the NFL to Pasadena.
The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center is an aquatics facility located adjacent to the Rose Bowl Stadium. The pools hosted the final practices of the 2000 US Olympic swimming and diving team. In 2008, the facility held the US National Diving Championships.
Rose Bowl Tennis is Pasadena's popular tennis facility located just to the south of the Rose Bowl football stadium.
The Pasadena Marathon
The City of Pasadena planned to host the inaugural Pasadena Marathon on November 16, 2008. However, the event was canceled because of smoke and ash from the Sayre Fire. As of December 8, 2008, the Pasadena Marathon was rescheduled for March 22, 2009.
Miscellaneous
Tournament of Roses Parade
Pasadena is home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (unless that day is a Sunday, in which case the event is held on January 2). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the Valley Hunt Club, a Pasadena social club. The impetus for holding the parade was, as stated by one of the members, Professor Charles F. Holder, "In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."
By 1895, the festivities had become larger than the Valley Hunt Club could manage, and the Tournament of Roses Association was then formed to take charge of the festival. In 1902, it was decided that a football game would be added to the day's events. The game, now known as the Rose Bowl, would become the first post-season college football game ever. The first game was between Stanford University and the University of Michigan. After suffering a tremendous financial loss, the Tournament of Roses Association decided to hold Roman chariot races in lieu of football games. However, in 1916, football returned. When it became clear that the stands in Tournament Park were too small to facilitate the crowd, the Tournament's President, William Leishman, proposed that a stadium be built to house the game. The Rose Bowl, designed by noted southern California architect Myron Hunt, was completed in 1923. The Rose Bowl has since been selling out to crowds since 1947. In 1998, the Rose Bowl celebrated its 52nd anniversary and became the longest running tradition of its kind.
The Rose Parade, as it is familiarly known, still features elaborate floats. According to the organizers, "Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one." Over the two plus hours that the parade occurs, floats and participants travel over five miles (8 km) of terrain and pass by over one million viewers who generally camp out over New Year's Eve to have prime viewing spots along the parade route.
The Rose Parade is satirized by the popular Doo Dah Parade, an annual January event in Pasadena.
South Orange Grove Boulevard
One of several exclusive residential districts in Pasadena, South Orange Grove Boulevard has been a home for the rich and famous since the early 20th century. Because of the number of landmark mansions, the street earned the name "Millionaire's Row," an appropriate sobriquet considering that the estates that once lined this spacious boulevard and the surrounding neighborhood read like a Who’s Who of American consumer products. Some of the more notable families include:
- Anna Bissell McCay, daughter of carpet sweeper magnate Melville Bissell. This elegant four story Victorian anchors the south end of “Millionaires Row” just on the border of South Pasadena. Today the Bissell House lives on as a cozy Bed and Breakfast.
- Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. His home originally sat on South Orange Grove. The mammoth main house rose to a sixth story solarium which became an observatory. This was more than a visible display of wealth as Lowe was generous patron of the astronomical sciences. He went on to establish the Mount Lowe Railway in the mountains above Pasadena into which he sank all his fortunes.
- Henry Markham who lived adjacent to Busch and became the 18th Governor of the state of California (1891-1895).
Not all of the vast homes along Orange Grove belonged to the eastern titans of industry. As was typical of the early 20th century, many of the wealthy were doctors, politicians and retired military officers, with the odd Right Reverend sprinkled in. Some of the other notable personalities who lived in this area include notorious occultist Aleister Crowley and brilliant, but troubled, rocket scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Parson shared his residence with, among other notbables, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. In fact Parsons died in an explosion while testing a new rocket fuel in his home laboratory just off of Orange Grove Boulevard in 1952.
Just behind Orange Grove Blvd., lies Grand Avenue, another historic estate lined street. At various times in the past, Grand Avenue was home to Jared Torrace, the founder of the City of Torrance; J.B. Van Nuys, the founder of the City of Van Nuys; the Maxwell family, coffee manufacturers; Cox family, communications, news papers; Spalding family, sporting goods; Howard Huntigton, heir to Henry Huntington and many others. Many of these homes presently remain in beautiful condition. The Federal Court of Appeals, for the Ninth District, is also located in the now fully restored former Vista Del Arroyo hotel, the then winter vacation destination of such notables such as Howard Hughe's family. At that time, the hotel was owned by the Royce Family who also owened the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and the Huntingon Hotel in Pasadena.
Today most of the old Orange Grove estates are gone, replaced by 1960’s era apartments and condominiums. Though far less regal than the vast homes they replaced, these apartment units maintain verdant and meticulously trimmed grounds that still exude a sense of wealth and command high property values.
Other noteworthy sites along the boulevard include:
- The Norton Simon Museum, at the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevards. This corner marks the official start of the Rose Parade route and so the museum can be seen, quite clearly, every year during the parade broadcast.
is at center.]]
- The Pasadena Museum of History, just north of the Norton Simon Museum with a parking entrance at 470 West Walnut Street, operates the only Museum and Research Library devoted solely to preserving and educating the public about the history of Pasadena and the west San Gabriel Valley.
- Ambassador College campus and Ambassador Auditorium, located between Green Street and Del Mar Boulevard. The grounds of this former Worldwide Church of God liberal arts college are distinctive for their lush gardens, fountains and spacious lawns. The oldest buildings are listed as historical landmarks and display the wide variety of mansions once common in the area. They are the perfect backdrop to highlight the starkly bright, honeycomb facades of the “sixties modern” buildings that make up the campus. The Ambassador College campus is now home to Maranatha High School.
- The staging area for the Tournament of Roses Parade. In the wee hours before dawn, floats of every size and shape can be seen stretching the length of the boulevard as their volunteer crews rush to put the finishing touches on them.
Parrots
Pasadena has a population of naturalized parrots. The city's website identifies one, a Red-crowned amazon parrot, but according to the Parrot Project of Los Angeles , the parrots fall into as many as five different groups. There is a cycle of regular public outcry about the noise and the sheer oddity of the birds' presence, but most Pasadenans seem to have come to accept the birds as part of the city's life. They can be seen year-round, but are especially noticeable in the winter. The birds are definitely gregarious, and the amount of disturbance their chatter creates is related to the time of day they may choose to chatter.
Theories and myths abound on how these parrots came to claim Pasadena and surrounding towns as their home. A widely accepted story by longtime residents of the area is that they were part of the stock from the large pet emporium at Simpson's Garden Town on East Colorado Blvd. (now the location of OSH Hardware) in the Lamanda Park area. The nursery was burned down in 1959, and the parrots were thereby released to forage in the lush Pasadena area. It is also possible that some parrots moved northward from their normal range in central and northern Mexico as human habitation in the Pasadena area created artificial habitat in which the parrots could survive. Among their favorite foods are the berry kernels of the cedar trees that grow in great abundance around Pasadena.
Parking
Pasadena does not allow overnight parking, through the expedient of banning parking on city streets between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., although overnight permits are available. The city also restricts parking in designated Transit Oriented Districts (TODs), such as the Pasadena Playhouse district. Residents living in TODs who have only one parking space (as mandated by Pasadena's Zoning Code 17.50.340) may not park a second car on the street. Permits for a city lot are available for $60 a month.
City Hall construction
The City Hall building recently underwent renovation seismically retrofitted. It was closed in July 2004 due to safety concerns and construction began in March 2005. The retrofit was completed in Summer 2007.
Pasadena Civic Auditorium
Located on spacious tree-lined Green Street, this building was designed to be the southern anchor of Pasadena’s grand civic plaza. The elegant Central Library lies three blocks due north with City Hall tower in between. The intended visual effect is somewhat lost today as the open air mall Paseo Colorado was built along the north side of Green St. obscuring one’s view of the auditorium’s sister buildings.
This building is where the TV show "American Idol" shoots their "Hollywood Week" performances.
The main auditorium is large and plush. In fact it was home to the Annual Emmy Awards ceremony for nearly 25 years, from 1977 to 2001.
Jessye Norman Day
After a performance at Blair High School, the Mayor officially declared September 22 Jessye Norman Day.
Sister Cities
Pasadena has six sister cities, as designated by :
Friendship City
Pasadena has a friendship agreement with Kasukabe, Japan. Pasadena's Junior Chamber of Commerce does an exchange each summer alternating every year with Kasukabe citizens coming to Pasadena one summer and Pasadena residents going to Kasukabe the next summer.
Busch Gardens
The first Busch Gardens was in Pasadena. It opened in 1905 and closed to the public in 1937. During its time, it was one of the major tourist attractions in the Los Angeles area and offered many unique gardens and fairyland landscapes and structures. It was used as a location for several Hollywood motion pictures. After 1937 and the Second World War, much of the land was developed for homes. Close inspection of the area can still reveal many of the original river rock walls and structures.
Miss Teen USA 2007
The Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant was held in Pasadena, California on August 24, 2007. It was the first time the city hosted the pageant. The preliminaries and final competition were held in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Notable Pasadenans
- See also: :Category:People from Pasadena, California.
- Albert Einstein, physicist and Nobel Prize Winner
- George Hearst, Newspaper publisher, son of William Randolph Hearst
- James Roosevelt, Jr., United States Senator, son of Franlin Delano Roosevelt, United States President
- Herbert Hoover, Jr., philanthropist, son of Herbert Hoover, United States President
- Richard Feynman, Nobel prize physicist, Cal Tech professor, raconteur
- George Olah, Nobel prize chemist, professor University of Southern California
- Joan Irvine, heiress, land grant family, Orange County, CA., philathropist
- B.J. Ridder, publisher, Knight Ridder Publications, philathropist
- L.Ron Hubbard, founder Scientologist, science fiction writer
- Bob McNight, founder Quicksilver, surfware clothing manufacturer
- Brian Teacher, Australian Open Tennis Champion
- Charles McDaniel, 3-on-3 basketball extroadinare
- Octavia Butler, Award Winning Science Fiction Writer
- Vanessa Schulz,Philosophy 25 Teacher
- Kim Carnes, singer
- Julia Child, television chef and personality
- Kevin Costner, actor
- Amelia Earhart, pilot
- Paul Fussell, critic and historian
- Mary Gibbs, actress
- Lance Ito, Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court
- Robert A. Millikan, physicist
- Jack Parsons, rocket scientist and occultist
- Drew Pinsky, medical doctor and radio talk show host
- George S. Patton, WWII General (lived in neighboring San Marino)
- Robert Reed, actor who played Mike Brady, father, in The Brady Bunch
- George Reeves, actor (original TV Superman)
- John C. Reilly, actor
- Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico
- Jackie Robinson, baseball player
- Ruwanga Samath, record producer, attended John Muir High School.
- David Lee Roth, singer for Van Halen
- Alex Van Halen, drummer for Van Halen
- Eddie Van Halen, guitarist for Van Halen
- Stan Sakai, cartoonist. Best known as the creator of the Usagi Yojimbo series.
- Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian, lived in Pasadena when he assassinated Robert F. Kennedy.
- Peter Vagenas, soccer player
- Jaleel White, actor, producer, and writer
- Sophia Bush, actress, 82nd Rose Queen for the 111th Tournament of Roses Parade in 2000
- Kelley Driscoll, Philanthropist, President of Jaleel White Fan Club
- Terry Crews, actor
- Carl Jah, guitarist for Dread Zeppelin
- John Singleton, director
- Christian Serratos, actress
- Bobby Fischer, chess Grandmaster
- Stacey Augmon, basketball player
- Jacque Vaughn, basketball player
- Duong Van Minh, exiled president of South Vietnam
- Chris McAlister, pro football player
- Wil Wheaton, actor, writer
- Howard W. Hunter, 14th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Dean A. Scarborough CEO/President of Avery Dennison
- Jerry Kohl CEO/President of Brighton Collectibles
- J. P. Blecksmith, United States Marine officer, killed in Iraq
- David Ebershoff, writer
- Phil Spector, music producer
- Vincent Bugliosi, manson family prosecutor, author
- Stephen Cannell, author, television and motion picture producer
- Chase Utley, professional baseball player, Philadelphia Phillies
- Stan Freberg, comedian, satirist, recording artist
- Jimmy Dore, comedian
- Craig Bullock, musician, Sugar Ray.
- Inger Miller, track and field sprint athlete.
- Damon 'Coke' Daniels, musician, screenwriter.
- James Broadway, record producer.
- Zo Williams, author, radio personality.
- Matthew "Mack" Robinson, olympic athlete.
- Pete Jolly, jazz pianist
- John Severson, founder, Surfer Magazine
- Ron Stoner, surfing photographer
- Don Drysdale, Dodger pitcher, later baseball executive
- Stan Smith, tennis great, namesake of famous tennis shoe
- Sir Paul McCartney, famous singer, former member of The Beatles
See also
External links
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