Living In Pasadena

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by timelesschild

If you are used to living in the suburbs, then look at Arcadia. It is way newer and more suburban than Pasadena. Pasadena is gorgeous but not suburban. Arcadia has a suburban feel, beautiful mountain views, good shopping and dining, great safety, very clean.

The houses are not "new". More like 1960's and 1970's for the most part. You have to go soooooooooo far to get to the brand-spanking-new suburbs, that maybe that won't be part of your overall plan.

ETA: Wait, your job is in Beverly Hills, right? I definitely wouldn't go ANY further east than Arcadia - and that is going to be a long commute.

Other ideas that might work:
Altadena (there are some gorgeous NEW homes up in the canyons - and stay north of Altadena Drive)
Glendale
Burbank

I hadn't connected the dots that this poster had a job in Beverly Hills; in that case I agree with timelesschild - consider looking somewhere closer. Pasadena and the surrounding cities are wonderful, and Arcadia would give you a more suburban feel, but that's a really long commute. I had neighbors in South Pasadena who did the BH commute, and they had to leave very early in the morning. Pasadena does have great private schools, but if you commute to BH how is you son going to get to school? My neighbors had to leave before seven (I think they said around 6:30 or so - if they waited any longer than the commute time expanded dramatically due to increased traffic) You might not be able to drop him off in the morning, at least not conveniently. I know there are ways around that, but do be aware that miles does not translate easily into commute time. It's probably going to be worse of a commute than you expect.

[dwp2010]

thanks for all the great info. I look forward to seeing South Pasadena in person.

[uptown_urbanist]

South Pasadena is great - check out the farmer's market on Thursday evening, if you can. It's a lot of fun. There are tons of families in South Pasadena. It's a wonderful place to live, and if my husband hadn't had a job transfer we'd be living there still. There's a big range of homes, too; I know you said you wanted newer, and while most of South Pasadena's homes are older (but you can easily find a very well-maintained historic home) but there are some more modern places mixed in. It's very safe, has a nice library, friendly neighbors, etc. It's also more green than many parts of LA. (if you've seen the Back to the Future movies, along with countless other movies, commericals, and TV shows, you've seen South Pasadena; the local newspaper even has a regular column noting recent filming in the area)

Check out Garfield Park, too, while you're there; it's a great neighborhood park that seems to always be filled with people of all ages. Better yet, get a sandwich from the Munch Company on Mission and eat it at one of the park's picnic tables.

[JohnG72]

Just FYI on driving to Beverly Hills from South Pasadena.....

You will be taking that 110s to the 101 to I think Santa Monica Bl. This in and of itself is not a problem, but traffic makes it rough. 110 s will be sluggish. It will take about 5-10 minutes to go the 2 miles from the 5 to the 101. Then 101 north will be traffic free. Then Santa Monica Bl will be slow into Beverly Hills.

Figure a 45 minute drive at 8am from South Pasadena into Beverly Hills. Longer if where you are working is actually Century City.

If somehow you can adjust your hours so that you arrive at work at 7, your drove should only be 30 minutes.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Just FYI on driving to Beverly Hills from South Pasadena.....

You will be taking that 110s to the 101 to I think Santa Monica Bl. This in and of itself is not a problem, but traffic makes it rough. 110 s will be sluggish. It will take about 5-10 minutes to go the 2 miles from the 5 to the 101. Then 101 north will be traffic free. Then Santa Monica Bl will be slow into Beverly Hills.

Figure a 45 minute drive at 8am from South Pasadena into Beverly Hills. Longer if where you are working is actually Century City.

If somehow you can adjust your hours so that you arrive at work at 7, your drove should only be 30 minutes.

I am not sure you can do it in 45 minutes, more like an hour I would say.

To the OP, yes, my first choice would be So Pasadena, as mentioned none of these areas are new or even newer. They are well established, great family cities, but the homes are much older...So Pasadena and San Marino are great. San Marino may be a little pricey...

Nita

[ToadB]

This crime map should give you a good idea what are the good areas: Crime Statistics for Pasadena, Los Angeles, CA - REALTOR.com

[Radical Raul]

As a computer consultant I've worked closely with the Pasadena Unified School District, and they do a excellent job in striving to provide ALL their students the best education and resources possible, and work closely with JPL and Caltech.