Fullerton vs Pasadena (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim: neighborhoods, public school, college)

[DJX3000]

Regarding: crime/safety, cultural aspect, schools, weather.
Especially around downtowns, since these two cities have almost the same population, nice downtowns and cultural atmosphere.

I know Pasadena is closer to LA and has a bigger downtown, but disregarding the fact that there's a major size difference, which city would be the winner. Please leave your comments, thoughts or any information.

[BRinSM]

fullerton is nice, but has more of a small, college town feel. pasadena feels quite urban and tied into LA. Fullerton also some exceptional public school, which i've heard can't be found in pasadena. i could live in either and enjoy visiting both, but they are far enough apart that i can't imagine a situation where you would want to choose between the two. if you work in LA, pasadena is the obvious option. if you work in OC, fullerton is the way to.

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by DJX3000

Regarding: crime/safety, cultural aspect, schools, weather.
Especially around downtowns, since these two cities have almost the same population, nice downtowns and cultural atmosphere.

I know Pasadena is closer to LA and has a bigger downtown, but disregarding the fact that there's a major size difference, which city would be the winner. Please leave your comments, thoughts or any information.

Crime: Overall they will be somewhat similar, but I think Pasadena has a higher variance of safety between neighborhoods.
Cultural: Pasadena by far
Schools: Fullerton by far
Weather: Equal

[SUPbud]

Pasadena all the way. But I'm biased.

Aint no Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, or King Taco in Fullerton.

Fullerton beats homeless people to death, then dismisses the charges against the officers:
Death of Kelly Thomas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[theraven24]

Pasadena for me.

[ccm123]

Pasadena has much more amenities and nightlife.

[infinitekid]

I'd much rather be in Pasadena. It's a very interesting city because it has a good downtown shopping district and then has a lot of rolling green hills actually. Pretty close to downtown considering.

[genjy]

Pasadena for sure.

Like said in the above posts, Pasadena in itself has a lot to offer. It's next to Los Angeles and is surrounded by other small cities with a lot to offer as well (Arcadia, Glendale, Burbank, Alhambra, San Gabriel, etc).

Not to mention Pasadena has a fantastic public transit system (Metro Rail, ARTS buses, Metro buses, Foothill buses). Ride the Metro Rail to Downtown LA, Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Staples Center, USC, Culver City, Long Beach, etc. Nothing can beat that. It's awesome to know you don't HAVE to drive every time you want to go out for an adventure.

Fullerton is probably one of the more interesting cities in OC, but it's still very sleepy... and there's really nowhere else to go nearby other than to drive to Anaheim to watch sports. Meh.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by genjy

Pasadena for sure.

Like said in the above posts, Pasadena in itself has a lot to offer. It's next to Los Angeles and is surrounded by other small cities with a lot to offer as well (Arcadia, Glendale, Burbank, Alhambra, San Gabriel, etc).

Not to mention Pasadena has a fantastic public transit system (Metro Rail, ARTS buses, Metro buses, Foothill buses). Ride the Metro Rail to Downtown LA, Little Tokyo, Koreatown, Staples Center, USC, Culver City, Long Beach, etc. Nothing can beat that. It's awesome to know you don't HAVE to drive every time you want to go out for an adventure.

Fullerton is probably the more interesting city in OC, but it's still very suburban and sleepy... and there's really nowhere else to go nearby other than to drive to Anaheim to watch sports. Meh.

Yep, we pretty much never drive around town in Pasadena unless we are going to the east (Lamanda Park, Washington Blvd / North Lake District). Never drive into DTLA, a trip I usually make once a week on the Gold Line to see my wife who works downtown.

My in-laws were really impressed with the number of people waiting for buses all over the city. Like you said having regional (Metro), sub-regional (Foothill) and municipal (ARTS) transit gives Pasadena a great saturation of transit.

Pasadena is a sort of first-ring suburb of Los Angeles (though like most first-ring suburbs in LA, is much more urban than what is typical in the rest of the country) and part of the "solar system" of Los Angeles, while Fullerton is outside or at the very edge. In some ways Pasadena and environs do feel like an extension of the city, similar to Glendale and Burbank.

As most said, if you work in OC live in Fullerton, if you work in LA live in Pasadena.

[True Freedom]

Originally Posted by Harrier2

natural beauty within spitting distance - Fullerton.

Pasadena has the San Gabriel mountains... there's a ton of hiking, biking, camping in there. You can hike 15 minutes and feel like you're a universe away from millions of people.