Pasadena, CA
 

Earlier this week I had a dental appointment, so I used that as an excuse to take a half day off from work. I used that half day off to bum and walk around Pasadena, and take random pictures, and then meet my partner for dinner when he got off from work.

Welcome to Pasadena.
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The Wrigley Mansion. Yes, the Wrigley of Wrigley's chewing gum. Built in 1906. It's now the headquarters for the Tournament of Roses, and called Tournament House.
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The Gamble House. Yes, of Procter & Gamble. Constructed in 1908-09. It was used as Doc's house in "Back to the Future."
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Suicide bridge. Well, officially the Colorado Street Bridge. Opened in 1913. Since it opened, there have been over 100 people who committed suicide by leaping from the bridge to their deaths. The first suicide took place on November 16, 1919. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, there were many suicides. There's one story I read where back in the 1930s or 1940s, a woman committed suicide, leaping from the bridge while carrying her very young daughter---the daughter survived.
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Old Pasadena. But everyone calls it Old Town Pasadena, or just "Old Town," as in, "I'm going into Old Town." Though there are other old towns in the San Gabriel Valley, Old Town Pasadena, I guess, is *THE* Old Town.
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Castle Green.
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I've never watched the show.
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One of our favorite pubs.
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This is actually a pretty good vegan restaurant. In fact, we had dinner there two nights ago.
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This is a Filipino-owned business. I love their ube milkshakes, and ube cupcakes topped with leche flan. Mmmm, mmm!
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Years ago, I worked for a company that was located above the Il Fornaio. The business is no longer there. When I worked there, I would occasionally eat lunch at Il Fornaio.
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Two pretty good restaurants next door to each other right here.
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Pasadena City Hall.
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Pasadena Central Library.
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Pasadena Post Office, built in 1913. It predated the Pasadena City Beautiful Movement plan of its Civic Center, and contributed to its look, being that the Central Library and City Hall were built in the 1920s, and the Civic Auditorium was built in the early 1930s.
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The Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
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The Pacific Asia Museum.
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Detail on the Linden Optometry building. I've gotten eyeglasses here before, but now I go to another optometrist.
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The Playhouse District.
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Our go-to cinema for arthouse/indie/foreign/documentary films. We also go to the Arclight in Pasadena too.
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One of my favorite independent bookstores. They've been in business since 1894. They have many book-signings, an author speakers/readers series, and poetry readings. We hang out here often.
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Zona Rosa has good coffee and Mexican hot chocolate.
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The Pasadena Playhouse.
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The campus of California Institute of Technology, or as everyone else calls it, Caltech. When I saw the news van, I wondered why they were there. I thought maybe there was an earthquake or something.
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College students look younger and younger to me as the years go by.
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Metro bus to JPL.
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Sun is setting...
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From my house in no traffic it's exactly 1 hour to the Lake Street exit on the 210. Given how lousy the traffic always is on the other side of the hill, Pasadena is a common excursion for us when we head down to LA. Great walking city, great collection of architecture and restaurants.

If you've never been, figure out how to get a tour of JPL. What an amazing place.

Super nice pics, Pasadena is lovely. Always pleasant to see the Gamble House, a favorite.

I go through Pasadena every Sunday and Monday, its a favorite stop. A great town in a corner of LA...

Some neat architecture and sadly I never toured when I was out there, will make up for that when I am back. Thanks for sharing!

In my opinion, the best city under 500k pop anywhere. I love Pasadena, it has everything and is beautiful

Beautiful Pictures! Very nice pedestrian city linked to Downtown, Santa Monica, Hollywood Long Beach and many points in between thru Metro.

Nice, I love Pasadena, if only it was closer to my job I would live there.

Nice pictures! Great building stock!

Nice tour. Some really lovely architecture. Thanks for sharing.

Pasadena is underrated...wild how it is right there close to highland park but is another world.

Very nice tour. Pasadena is a gem.

I really love Pasadena. When I didn't have a car in college, I'd take the Gold Line out to Pasadena and just walk around for a few hours for a change of scenery. Felt like a totally different world than the the USC area. Thanks for sharing these pics!

Due to this thread, some further research lead me to Google Maps and I found out there’s a neighborhood called Bungalow Heaven. Yes, please.

Awesome area.. Used to be rundown and losing all the bungalows about 30 years ago.. Now it's a historic neighborhood with protection and its basically impossible to buy a house for less than 900k

Thanks for all the comments!


JPL is amazing, but I've only been there once, back in high school. During my senior year, for extra credit in our physics class, a few friends and I went there and took a tour. That was over 30 years ago, I'm sure JPL is much more amazing now.


I almost went to Bungalow Heaven and took pictures, but I was pressed for time that day. Maybe another time, if I'm not feeling lazy. :P

Such a great urban fabric in Old Town Pasadena. I think Glendale may be stealing some of it's cache, but Pasadena is fighting back. The Pasadena (Pawnee) City Hall is an amazing building, especially when you see it in person. It's really impressive!

Great tour! I'm very impressed by a lot of those old buildings, especially the art deco ones.