Any decent NW Pasadena area northwest of 210? (Orange, Vista: apartments, condos)

[SoCalGuyHere]

I am contemplating moving to Pasadena but I am completely unfamiliar with the Pasadena area, i always thought it was a very wealthy area but I guess it depends on what part of town. From most internet research I see that almost everyone said to stay away from anything north of the 210 and try to stay tough of the 210 as a general rule with south pasadena being the nicest area. I also heard NorthEast Pasadena above the 210 is a nice area, while NW Pasadena is the area to stay away from.

So is all of NW Pasadena bad? Can anyone be specific as to which streets, corners would be ok, good or bad? I know the main streets such as Fair Oaks, Orange Grove, Washington, Lake, Los Robles, Colorado, Arroyo, etc. I hear anything S Fair Oaks, S Lake, S Los Robles and along Colorado is really good. What about N Fair Oaks? N Lake? Does it get bad as soon as you cross the 210? How's the area in N Fair Oaks and Orange Grove? Is the area around N Fair Oaks renaissance plaza ok or is it ghetto? What about the area along Orange Grove in between N Fair Oaks and Lake? If anyone can be specific as to which area to stay away from that would be great. Thanks!

[True Freedom]

Here's a post I wrote a while back on my views of "NW Pas" boundaries:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...l#post32312585

There are nice blocks within NW Pas, so it's not universally bad. For example, Mentone Ave near the Pasadena Buddhist Temple (Mentone south of Montana) is a neat and well kept set of blocks.. so there are hidden gems in there if you're willing to be surrounded. I have little kids, and personally I wouldn't live anywhere in there. Just stay far away from Summit Ave.

[HyperionGap]

Here is another thread where I included a map of pretty much where most people would want to stay away from if possible.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...ca-cost-5.html

[True Freedom]

Cool map! I'd probably extend it a bit east.. esp as you get closer to the 210. There were recently (within the last year) several shootings down near Mar Vista (east of Lake) close to the 210. One was a gang member recently released from jail got whacked. Another was a drug deal/ robbery gone bad. Also, just last weekend, a house at Lake and Villa got shotup. Villa St is claimed by the Villa Boys (VBP tags). Not sure how far east they're active, but certainly east of Lake.

[HyperionGap]

Yeah you're right, the "red zone" should probably go further east once you get south of Orange Grove.

If you look at the crime map I posted on the next page of that thread, you can see several homicides east of Lake around Villa.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

Yeah you're right, the "red zone" should probably go further east once you get south of Orange Grove.

If you look at the crime map I posted on the next page of that thread, you can see several homicides east of Lake around Villa.

I looked at an apartment right around there but it was too small for me and my wife. Kinda glad we passed on it since we ended up in a better part of Central Pasadena (though did pay about 450 more a month for this place).

[SoCalGuyHere]

Thanks for the reply guys! So def stay away from all the red dots, but i see some towards old town southwest of the 210? I thought those were really nice neighborhoods?

Looks like South Pasadena or the area west of the 210 where it curves (west of the rose bowl) are the nicer area?

How is North Fair Oaks going up from the 210 on? That street is west of Lake but east of Lincoln.

[HyperionGap]

I'm going to respond to your PM here since other people may find this useful.

"so only the red section is the real sketchy part? I thought some areas north east of Lake gets bad too?"
I would not say that the red section is the ONLY real sketchy part (it gets shady down around Rosemead too), but as True Freedom and I were saying, a good rule of thumb if you want to be really safe would be that anything east of Lake and north of Orange Grove should be fine.

"The North Fair oaks is really bad? What about North Fair oaks and Orange Grove area? that is obviously in red but i driven by and it seem ok?"
Yes, it's bad. If you've driven by it and it seemed fine to you, don't let me stop you from living there. However, as far as neighborhoods in Pasadena go, that's in the hood. This happened on the northwest corner of the intersection you're talking about. Man stabbed to death outside restaurant | abc7.com

"How are the housing near that Fair Oaks Renaissance plaza? where the starbucks and Vons are? I see some really new nice looking condos right there, or is that blended in with all the bad looking homes?"

Honestly, I have no idea how the condos and apartments are maintained in that area. Never lived there, nor looked at living there. I'm assuming you're talking about the ones on the east side of Fair Oaks just south of Peoria. They're fairly new and certainly still look nice so I would assume they're well maintained and aren't roach infested hellholes. Do I think someone will come in and blow your head off to steal your shoes if you were to live there? No. But I certainly wouldn't make it a regular thing to go walking around that area after dark, either. Another thing to keep in mind is that the areas in the "hood" of Pasadena do not look like the ones in Baltimore or Milwaukee. There aren't abandoned burned out buildings and vacant lots every other block.


Bottom line, it depends on how comfortable you are living in a seedy area.

[True Freedom]

I'll definitely echo Hyperion Gap's sentiment about your own comfort level. I grew up in a town in the south where the really bad part of town, literally, was on the other side of the train tracks. We never, ever went there and were not subjected to shady areas/ people. That was one of the most difficult things about moving to LA county.. it's very patchy and neighborhoods can change quickly and it's quite difficult to escape the sketch..because you'll have to drive thru it at some point.

My tolerance for sketchy areas/people is very low, so factor that into my opinions about areas. I paid a crap-load of dough to buy a house in an area of Pasadena most removed from sketchy areas for these reasons.. just as a point of calibration.

RE: Rosemead... I'll narrow it down a little further, as I used to live right there in a great neighborhood called Chapman Woods. So here goes:
West of Rosemead, South of Del Mar to Huntington is nice. That is the Chapman Woods neighborhood. Neat well kept homes ranging from $600k near Del Mar down to $3-5M down near Huntington.
East of Rosemead is a little sketchy, until you get down to California south to Huntington. That area back there is Michillinda Park, which is nice.
Rosemead north of Del Mar is sketchy. Especially behind the DMV, where you have Backus St. There's a few punks in there that claim "Backus St" and you'll see the "BST" tags here and there. I've seen their tags along the 210/134 interchange.
Rosemead south of Pasadena (Huntington and south) is sketchy.

Ok, that's my 2 cents

[HyperionGap]

Chapman Woods is really nice area. I have a friend who grew up on the corner of San Pasqual & Madre and I know the area quite well. Is that unincorporated (East Pasadena) or part of City of Pasadena? I've never been sure