About 10 years ago, I did a photo thread on these forums of the town I live in, South Pasadena, California. The thread has since disappeared of course, and the photo links have undoubtedly been broken anyway. I realize that now, I've been living in South Pasadena for 21 years. Time flies. I feel like South Pasadena hasn't changed much, though in the 10 years since I last posted a South Pasadena photo thread, some long time businesses have closed (and replaced by others), some of the very old huge trees around town have fallen from windstorms and whatnot (and replaced by saplings), and a lot of homeowners have replaced their lawns with very nice native plants/Xeriscaping, which I think is very great for the native ecosystem, and saves water.
This week in my town, the jacaranda trees have been in full bloom, which really dazzled me as I was driving home from work. I decided to take pictures of the jacaranda trees in my immediate neighborhood, and then as I started walking on my block a bit, I decided that over the course of the week, I would start taking pictures of the town... so re-hash, South Pasadena!
South Pasadena is a separate city from Pasadena, which is much bigger; even many southern Californians think South Pasadena is just the southern part of Pasadena, but it isn't. South Pasadena was incorporated on March 2, 1888, and pretty much has the same boundaries today as it did when it first incorporated. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 25,619. It is 3.44 square miles in area. It's now a suburb of Los Angeles, in fact it borders the City of LA on its western side. Downtown Los Angeles is about 7 miles southwest.
I took these photos between June 18 to June 22, 2019.
These are the jacaranda trees in my immediate neighborhood. My block is on the right, but the street that my actual apartment building is on doesn't have jacaranda trees, it has sycamores. As you can see, I live in a postwar-era apartment area, many of them built in the 1940s and 1950s.
I live by Garfield Park.
Garfield Park gets plenty of use.; though on this day, it looked like not too many people were using it.
Typical Craftsman house in South Pasadena. This is by Garfield Park.
Notice the citrus tree in the front yard. I've noticed many older homes from the early 20th century in SoCal have citrus trees in the front yard.
This building was built in 1904 and was originally a bank. It now contains a coffeehouse called Kaldi and a hair salon. It's also been used in many commercials and films, most recently in the movie "Ladybird."
The east side of the same building.
A nice shady street. Those are native California oaks. So yes, we do have shade trees native to southern California.
This house might seem familiar to people who've watched the original "Halloween" horror movie with Jamie Lee Curtis. This is the Michael Myers murder house used in the film. Since being used in the 1978 film, it's been moved across the street and now houses offices. "Halloween" was filmed extensively in South Pasadena.
Here's the public library. It stands on a block that was originally a park that contained an older Carnegie Library. This part of the building dates from the late 1920s or early 1930s.
The house Jamie Lee Curtis' character lived in in the original "Halloween" film.
An old huge Moreton Bay fig tree next to the library. Kids seem to like to play on and around its roots.
They're filming in town again. All those Star Waggons in the parking lot of the school district headquarters. Did you know that actor Lyle Waggoner created the company Star Waggons? Before I found that out, I always wondered why "Waggons" was spelled with a double "g".
The historic Mission West business district, South Pasadena's original commercial center.
Locals refer to this sculpture as the "Walking Man" statue, but it's an artwork called "Astride-Aside," created by artist Michael Stutz, who created similar scupltures in San Francisco and Berlin.
It's in a plaza adjacent to the South Pasadena Metro Gold Line station.
This simple redwood structure is the oldest commercial building in South Pasadena. It opened in 1887 as a grocery store. It also served as a ticket office, telegraph station, bicycle shop, chapel and foundry. The City now owns the building and is used as its historical museum.
This watering trough for horses dates from 1906.
This commercial building was built in 1906.
It's actually adjacent to 2 other old commercial structures and they all collectively now house a Mexican bakery, a boba shop, an antique store, a gym, a yoga studio, an Irish pub, a hair salon, and a pan-Latin restaurant and bar. Upstairs are apartments.
I wonder how much this little number is going for.
Solar panels have ruined the look of this Craftsman, I think.
I *STILL* wonder who lives in this big old mansion.
This coffeehouse used to be Buster's, when I first moved to South Pasadena 21 years ago. After decades in business, the owners decided to retire. Then it became Moo on Mission like 2 years ago or something; it didn't seem like a lot of people went here when it was known as Moo on Mission; plus, the owners of Moo have an original shop in Sierra Madre. Then they decided to close the South Pas location. It was closed for several months, and then a few months ago, it became a Jones Coffee Roasters. The owner of Jones lives in South Pasadena and grew up in the area, and has a few other Jones Coffee shops in the city of Pasadena.
Nicole's Gourmet Market & Cafe. A popular place to get French products and food. It's adjacent to...
... Bistro de la Gare, a very good French restaurant. Aptly named restaurant---it's adjacent to the South Pasadena Metro Rail Station.
The popular South Pasadena Farmers Market, held on Thursdays. In addition to all the usual stuff they sell at farmers markets like produce, baked goods and honey, they also sell pupusas, musubi, Peruvian food, Mexican food, ice cream...
Carmela Ice Cream Co. is pretty good. They also have a brick-and-mortar shop.
Plenty of people like to picnic at the farmers market.
Some political tabling at the farmers market. I would love to do a table for the Green Party some time.
This is the Lucretia Garfield house, as in First Lady Lucretia Garfield. After her husband, US President James A. Garfield was assassinated in 1881, she lived the rest of her life in this house in South Pasadena, designed by the renowned Greene & Greene architects, and built in 1904. It's still a private residence. According to zillow.com, it's currently worth 3.8 million dollars. A bargain for a house lived in by a former First Lady, I think.
This is the Torrance house (actually more like a mansion), as in Jared Sidney Torrance, the man who founded the City of Torrance in Los Angeles County. Ironically, but not surprisingly, he never lived in Torrance (Torrance was originally envisioned as an industrial city).
A house on the same block.
A huge mansion across the street from the Lucretia Garfield house.
A more modest Craftsman bungalow, in another part of town. I love the landscaping.
Kinda Plain Janes, huh? I'd still live in them, though. I'd redo the landscaping, though...
A view looking southwest from Raymond Hill.
On this block a few doors down from what is now a Comerica Bank is Gus's BBQ, a pretty good restaurant.
This has been a pharmacy and soda fountain since 1915. Let's go inside for a malt.
Some movies and TV shows have been filmed here.
I had already started working on my strawberry malt before I decided to take a picture of it.
Calvary Presbyterian Church, built in 1925. Gothic-style architecture is rare in southern California.
Holy Family Catholic Church, in a more typical, Spanish Baroque style you see in southern California. The parish was established in 1910, with the current church building being completed in 1928.
Some independent shops along Mission Street near Fair Oaks Avenue. This area has been used (and continues to be used) in many commercials. I saw one recently for America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses. I'm like 'Why does that streetscape look familiar? Oh, that's in South Pas.'
