Everybody stop arguing about the dumpling truck for a moment and consider this: For a city of a little over three square miles, South Pasadena is a food lover’s cornucopia.  On any day of the week, our town’s residents are within walking distance of a delicious variety of dining choices. From the old-school, all-American goodies of Shakers to the exotic Japanese flavors of Shiro, South Pasadena mealtime can be anything from a blue plate special to a gourmet feast.  And they say Mayberry is unsophisticated. South Pasadena prided itself on culinary delicacies long before anyone knew the term “…

Last Thursday, South Pas students headed back to the classroom for their first day of school. For some, it was the very first day of school as a cadre of brave 5-year-olds traded the security blankets of early childhood for kindergarten and all of its big kid wonders.  There were other firsts, too. Elementary school graduates maneuvered the new challenges of middle school: locker combinations, multiple classes, and the unsettling feeling of being considered little kids among a bunch of experienced 7th and 8th graders.   And last year’s experienced 8th graders are now high school freshmen with…

I recently took my 6-year-old daughter with me to buy stamps at the South Pasadena Post Office. As we stood beneath the massive, original mural, she giggled. “You know one of the best things about our town?” She said. “There is art everywhere! People even paint on the walls!” She’s right. For a small town, South Pasadena is big on the visual arts. Our business district shares space with numerous galleries and art studios. Each year, the city closes streets to traffic and opens them to several arts and crafts fairs.  This past May, the Eclectic Music Festival and Art Walk encouraged not only …

There’s a lot to love about South Pas: the postcard-worthy views, the early 20th Century homes, the tree-lined streets that seem as if they were lifted from the set of a film about the American Dream. But it’s funny how love works. It wasn’t the big stuff that made me love this place. It wasn’t the grand things worthy of commemorating in history books or highlighting in realtor listings that made me feel giddy about calling this place home. It was a collection of quirky little details.  You know how it is. You might notice someone because he’s handsome, but you fall in love with the little …

If you looked in the skies above South Pasadena in the fall of 1913, you might have seen aerialist Roy Knabenshue’s amazing dirigible.  Sailing over 800 feet in the air, the flying machine thrilled locals. For a whopping cost of $25 a ride, a brave traveller could experience what the press reported as “a daring adventure with spectacular views!” Knabeshue, the first person to fly a dirigible in the United States, certainly knew he had picked a crowd-pleasing location. The majestic San Gabriel Mountains were nestled in a lush green valley. It was an ideal setting to conduct pleasure flights …

We’ve all noticed the accelerated decay of the Rialto since the theater’s doors closed in 2007. Even before the marquee was permanently darkened, the theater was in desperate need of care.  The fixtures were already rusty. The paint had been peeling for years. The once sparkling interior was coated with layers of dust and a faint scent of mildew lingered, even during dry seasons. Heavy winter rains a few years ago caused a large chunk of the theater’s exterior to break off and crash to the sidewalk. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but the building was red-tagged as a public safety precaution. With …

Friday was the last day of school in South Pas. Maybe you noticed it? It was kind of hard to miss it with all the gleeful kids running around town over the weekend.  On Sunday, I asked a few of them at Orange Grove Park about their plans for the summer.  “I’m going to summer school,” one boy said.  “He has to,” his sister said. “But I’m taking art classes at SPACE gallery. I’m also enrolled in the library summer reading program.” The brother rolled his eyes. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Why would you read when you don’t have to?” “So that I never have to go to summer school, like some people I…

The Los Angeles region doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to preserving landmarks. Despite the efforts of dedicated preservationists, many architectural wonders have been lost to the wrecking ball. The Richfield Tower, The Brown Derby, The Garden of Allah and The Ambassador Hotel are just a few of the historic structures that have been demolished in the name of progress. Many wonder if South Pasadena’s legendary Rialto Theater is next in line. You won’t find points of interest once the last art deco tile or Spanish arch has been hauled off to a landfill—a parking lot here, a…

The 1920s marked a sophisticated new time for South Pasadena. Fueled by Jazz Age enthusiasm and served by the best electric rail system in the world, South Pas was poised to make its mark as a thoroughly modern city.  The Cawston Ostrich Farm was already a premiere destination and hailed as the Disneyland of its day. The luxury accommodations at the Raymond Hotel enticed the world’s most powerful movers and shakers to spend long vacations in South Pasadena. Many decided to stay as building boomed and business flourished. In October of 1924, one of the city’s many building permits was issued …

Spend enough time in South Pasadena, and you’ll notice that the old houses and heritage trees aren’t the only remaining treasures of our past. This town has more than its fair share of vintage cars. Hang out in front of Buster's Coffee on a weekend afternoon, and you’ll see a promenade of enough old roadsters, coupes and muscle cars to satisfy even the most persnickety car buff. I’m not just talking about your standard issue American Graffiti-worthy hot rods, either. I’ve spotted a late '30s Peugot 402 and a 1949 Hudson Commodore—even a mysterious, black sedan that two confounded, car …

One of the things I love the most about my 111-year-old house is the large beveled mirror above the mahogany built-in.  There are a few dings in the frame, but the mirror is crystal clear, and the bank of nearby windows offers the kind of soft-glow lighting that makes every day a good hair day.  In the century since my home was built, a lot of people have looked at themselves in that mirror.  So how, exactly, has South Pasadena's reflection changed? The earliest inhabitants of our region were known as the Gabrielinos – a wealthy, powerful, peaceful group of tribes displaced by the Spanish and…

Recently, a woman struck up a conversation with me at the Farmers Market. She had come by train from San Diego and was exploring the Mission District. We were both perusing a particularly lush crop of strawberries. “You know,” she said, “I always heard South Pasadena was like something out of an old sepia photograph but that’s not true at all. It’s much more colorful than that! It reminds me of a Cinemascope movie!” To be fair, those were some pretty intense, day-glo strawberries. But the woman got me thinking about what it’s like to live here. She’s right, South Pas is often described with …

Fair Oaks Avenue has been an integral part of our region’s history since members of the Indiana Colony first decided to leave the frigid Northern winters and put down roots in the San Gabriel Valley. The mild climate and lush landscape of this area charmed the new settlers and prompted Dr. Thomas Elliott to write that it was “the spot uniting the blessings of the tropics without their heat, malaria or enervating influences.“ When Dr. Elliott’s brother in law Daniel Berry scouted the area for appropriate property he found the ideal spot in Fair Oaks Ranch, a portion of the larger Rancho San …

It doesn’t take long to figure out that the South Pasadena Public Library is not just a place to research a report or check out an out-of-print book. While it beautifully performs both of those standard-issue library duties, it offers much more. When you think of libraries, it‘s the left side of your brain that fires up. All those books and reference materials are perfect stepping stones for the linear mind. But South Pasadena’s library reaches out to the creative, right side of the brain, too. The library’s architectural history, art collection, cultural events, film programs and concerts …

When I first moved to South Pasadena, I thought the city’s southernmost border was Huntington Drive. It’s a logical assumption: Huntington is a major thoroughfare. It seems like some kind of line of demarcation. As it turns out, the corner of Huntington and Fair Oaks was once the junction of the Pasadena Short Line and the Monrovia Line -- two important Big Red Car trolley routes. After Henry E. Huntington incorporated the Pacific Electric Railway Company in 1901, he began work on what would eventually develop into the largest interurban electric rail system in the world. The mission-style …

Before the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad opened in 1885, there were only two ways to get from South Pasadena to Los Angeles. You could take the Adobe Road (now known as Huntington Drive) if you didn't mind navigating around mud holes and wheel ruts. The only other route was through the Arroyo which was perilously rocky in dry weather and underwater during the rainy season. Needless to say, South Pasadena residents didn't get around much. When the railroad connected South Pas to Los Angeles and Pasadena, locals had reason to celebrate. Businesses sprouted around the depot and …

A friend of mine visited South Pas for the first time a few months ago. We had barely walked to Kaldi for coffee when she stopped and looked around. A couple of teenagers in tie-dyed shirts were playing backgammon at an outside table. A dad walked by pulling young twins behind him in an old Radio Flyer. A restored Model T was parked at the curb. “This place is a collection of all the childhood memories I wish I had,” she said. It’s true, South Pasadena is a scrapbook of vintage wonder. In fact, South Pasadena was retro before retro was cool. It’s more than the surroundings -- although the …

In 1904, a brand new residential development was taking shape in a peaceful orange grove at the northern end of South Pas. Although it contained only one large oak tree, it was called Oaklawn. “The good life,“ South Pasadena Realty and Investment Company promised, “is in South Pasadena.“ Billed as a “Suburb de Luxe,” the posh setting boasted a 75-foot wide tree-lined street, Oaklawn Avenue, with views of nearby oak groves, foothills and sweeping hillside vegetation. It was within walking distance to South Pasadena’s world famous Raymond Hotel -- a playground for the early twentieth century’s …

You’ll immediately notice a difference if you drive up Fremont Avenue from Alhambra. The Craftsman houses were built at the same time as ours. The street signs are a similar shade of green. What’s the glaring, impossible-to-miss variation? The trees. Cross over the border into South Pas and you no longer feel like you are in a concrete city. Instead, you have entered into an urban thicket. If you pay attention, you might see a sign that names South Pasadena as an official Tree City -- a city dedicated to celebrating and fostering community forestry programs -- but you don’t need the Arbor Day…

If you live in South Pasadena, chances are you have a passion for Craftsman architecture. Within our 3.44 square miles are hundreds of beautiful examples of the period – from classic California bungalows to elaborate Arts and Crafts mansions, all tucked under generations-old trees in a natural palette of greens, dark reds and browns.  While most home styles remind us of the eras in which they were built, Craftsman homes seem somehow timeless. With all those clean lines, natural materials and indoor-outdoor living spaces, Craftsman homes seem both modern and classic. From the double-hung wood…