South Pasadena, California

Encyclopedia : S : SO : SOU : South Pasadena, California

South Pasadena City Hall

South Pasadena is a small, quaint, upscale town in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 24,292.

Contents

1 History
2 Interstate 710 controversy
3 Schools
4 Geography
5 Demographics
6 External links

History

South Pasadena was established on March 2nd, 1888. The city was originally notable for its ostrich farm, a popular local tourist attraction.

The first Trader Joe's grocery store opened in South Pasadena in 1966 and is still in operation.

South Pasadena's streets are lined with numerous species of native California trees. Because there are very few stucco-clad Spanish Colonial houses and virtually no palm trees in some parts of the city, South Pasadena is a popular stand-in for Midwestern and Northeastern towns in motion picture and television productions. Few cities in the nation are better recognized for their determination to preserve their neighborhoods and small-town atmosphere. (South Pasadena residents' frequent use of the term "Mayberry" to describe their city has drawn scorn from opinion/editorial staff at most of Los Angeles' newspapers, both old-line and "alternative." Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez has noted that South Pasadena sits less than 10 miles from Downtown Los Angeles and that substantial numbers of residents work either in Bunker Hill or as professors and staff at the University of Southern California.) Moral and financial support for a fight against a major highway project through the city has come from all across the country; however, the bulk of it comes from the residents themselves, who pay a special tax dedicated to paying legal bills incurred by the city in the freeway fight. South Pasadena has been cited five times on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of "Most Endangered Places."

On the first Saturday of December every year, South Pasadena hosts an annual 5K/10K run around South Pasadena known as Tiger Run. 5K has no elevation changes and 10K has elevation changes on the last 5K of the 10K race.

South Pasadena can often be seen in motion picture productions with its beautiful tree-lined streets and "anywhere in America" feel. Such movies as Gone with the Wind, Halloween, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, American Pie, Legally Blonde, "13 Going on 30", "Back to the Future", "Mr. Deeds", Bruce Almighty, License to Wed are just a few of the notable films shot on location in South Pasadena. Notable television series that have been filmed there include Boston Public, Nip/Tuck, and Desperate Housewives.

South Pasadena is also the home of the record $110 million winning lotto ticket for the July 5, 2006 drawing.

Interstate 710 controversy

South Pasadena is well-known throughout the greater Los Angeles area for its opposition to the extension of the Long Beach Freeway (I-710) from Alhambra's Valley Blvd. to the Foothill Freeway (I-210) in Pasadena at California Blvd. If built, the freeway would cleave the small city into quarters, as the Pasadena Freeway (I-110) already bisects the north side of town.

Litigation over the 710 extension has run for at least three decades. After several defeats in court, as well as the stripping of construction funding by both federal and state authorities, Caltrans is now exploring a compromise route of boring a tunnel beneath the city. Having purchased hundreds of properties along the proposed right-of-way in the 1960s, Caltrans has proposed selling these in order to partially finance the tunnel, as the Southern California real estate boom of the early 2000s has caused those in South Pasadena alone to appreciate to a combined value of over $300 million.

Proponents believe that because the extension was never built, and because there are no four-lane arterials that run straight from Pasadena to East Los Angeles and no north-south freeways between the Golden State Freeway (I-5) 10 miles west and the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605) 10 miles east, the entire western end of the San Gabriel Valley suffers from severe traffic congestion. (To this end, every single city government in the San Gabriel Valley except that of South Pasadena has signed a long-standing petition to the United States Department of Transportation begging for the 710 extension's completion.) However opponents say that neglects to consider the fact that the entire region is already well overrun with cars, trucks and buses, and that the addition of the 710 extension will do little, if any, to correct that. Caltrans admits that the extension would be just as congested as, or even more congested than, any other freeway in the region from its opening day forward.

Schools

South Pasadena currently has 5 schools, all with considerably high rankings, placing them in the top percentiles in the state of California, as well as a premier school district in the Greater Los Angeles area. 3 elementary schools including Monterey Hills, Marengo, Arroyo Vista; South Pasadena Middle School, and South Pasadena High School. South Pasadena's ranking is currently in the top 90th percentile nationwide.

South Pasadena and the neighboring city of San Marino have had a rivalry that goes many years back. In the early 1900s, these two prestigious cities shared the same high school currently located behind the South Pasadena Public Library. Every year, the schools meet during football season to represent their cities in battle and to struggle for a victor's plaque that has been passed back and forth for many years. On October 22, 2004, the South Pasadena Tigers turned back the San Marino Titans in the epic "Fight for Fifty" game. It would be the fiftieth game these two schools had played and both schools coincidentely had equal numbers of wins at that time. As of 2006, the scores stands at South Pasadena:25, San Marino:23, Ties:3.

South Pasadena Middle/High school has attracted the attention of TV producers over the years. The Middle School obtaines a historic and "old-school" atmosphere. The high school has an unorthodox setting being one of the few schools with an outdoor setting.

Geography

South Pasadena is located at [34°6′47″N, 118°9′21″W] (34.112958, -118.155778)^{[Geographic references#1GR1]}.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.9 km² (3.4 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} of 2000, there were 24,292 people, 10,477 households, and 6,003 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,726.5/km² (7,064.4/mi²). There were 10,850 housing units at an average density of 1,217.8/km² (3,155.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.32% White, 3.04% African American, 0.34% Native American, 26.58% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.17% from other races, and 4.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.07% of the population.

There were 10,477 households out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 86.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $55,728, and the median income for a family was $72,039. Males had a median income of $55,336 versus $40,304 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,620. About 3.6% of families and 6.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

External links

[The 710 Freeway Fighters]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.