Monthly Archives: January 2011

Popular “Fork in the Road” Art Piece Gets Permanent Status in Pasadena

Posted on January 28, 2011 by | 5 Comments

Ken Marshall's now-famous "Fork in the Road" art piece (seen here more than a year ago) was given a permit by the city to be reinstated as a permanent art piece in southwest Pasadena

A little over a year ago, a guerrilla art piece in the form of a giant fork was erected overnight in southwest Pasadena (a stone’s throw from Huntington Hospital). The “Fork in the Road” was an ingenious art piece placed on an island median in the middle of the road where Pasadena Ave splits into St John to the left and the continuation of Pasadena Ave to the right.

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Posted in art and culture, public spaces

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Melting Pot Food Tours in Pasadena

Posted on January 25, 2011 by | 5 Comments

Melting Pot Food Tours takes us to many different restaurants in Old Pasadena to sample the best dishes like this pork soup from Choza Mama

This past weekend I had the pleasure of partaking in a Melting Pot Food Tour of Old Pasadena. I was lucky enough to get the owner of the tour company, Lisa Scalia, to give the tour. I was very impressed by both the educational aspect of the tour–as Lisa pointed out the rich history and architecture surrounding Old Pasadena–and the culinary samples of numerous restaurants that introduced our group to the various tastes Old Pasadena offers.

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Posted in architecture, art and culture, education, entertainment, food, pedestrian oriented, restaurants

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New Testimonial from Stephanie & Peter

Posted on January 25, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Stephanie & Peter, Pasadena

When looking for a real estate agent, we wanted to find a professional who was not only in tune with the market, but also with the diverse cities in the San Gabriel Valley. Brigham met and exceeded this expectation. He knew a great deal about the neighborhoods where we were looking and could even go in to detail about future projects in the area. After our offer was accepted, Brigham joined us at the final inspection, carefully checking features we would have overlooked. When we were eager to move in after all was said and done, he met us after work with a big smile and keys in hand. We look forward to keeping in touch and will continue to enjoy updates about the lovely city of Pasadena thanks to Brigham’s real estate blog. —Stephanie & Peter, Pasadena

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Posted in real estate

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Authentic Italian Settebello Pizza Coming to Pasadena

Posted on January 21, 2011 by | 2 Comments

Settebello coming soon to the Playhouse District in Pasadena

Food lovers rejoice! Pasadena’s Playhouse District is getting a new restaurant called Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana. This is really exciting news because not only will the Playhouse District add another great restaurant option to its burgeoning culinary scene (Elements Kitchen around the corner and Urth Caffe coming in the near future), but Settebello has leased out a ~3,500 SF space (next to Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion) that has actually never been leased out before since the Trio mixed-use project was completed back in 2005.

A high-quality restaurant + one less vacant space = great news!

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Posted in food, restaurants

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Peter Tolkin “Living Vines” Medical Office Building Proposed for South Pasadena

Posted on January 20, 2011 by | 4 Comments

A Peter Tolkin-designed "living vine" clad medical office building is planned for a site close to Downtown South Pasadena

South Pasadena is just popping up with good development news lately. In addition to the roadway improvements beginning construction this week on Fair Oaks Ave, this rendering–showing an interesting looking medical office building designed by Pasadena-based Peter Tolkin Architecture–has popped up along Fair Oaks Ave, not far from the downtown district of South Pasadena to the south and the border of Pasadena to the north a stone’s throw away. What struck me immediately about the design was how similar the concept is to Jean Nouvel’s proposed (now canceled) luxury condo tower in Century City.

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Posted in architecture, environmentally green

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South Pasadena Fair Oaks Corridor Improvement Project Begins

Posted on January 19, 2011 by | 7 Comments

Fair Oaks Ave in Downtown South Pasadena will be getting a much needed make-over as construction begins on the Fair Oaks Corridor Improvement Project

I have been saying for years that Pasadena needs to give Fair Oaks Ave an extreme pedestrian-cyclist make-over along the street from at least the South Pasadena border (by the Raymond Restaurant) to Old Pasadena. The need for this make-over seems obvious when you consider: 1) Fair Oaks Ave looks like a mini-highway as you drive or, god forbid, walk down it, and 2) that the Huntington Hospital (a huge employer) adds a substantial presence to the built environment in Downtown Pasadena, but is tenuously connected at best to the area for pedestrians and cyclists, diluting if not completely negating its potential positive effects on the urban environment. In other words, the synergy is lost.

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Posted in pedestrian oriented, public spaces, smart growth

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Ideas for Pasadena: Redesign Lake Ave Ralphs to be More Pedestrian Friendly (Part 2)

Posted on January 13, 2011 by | 14 Comments

The Ralphs at Lake and Walnut in Pasadena was built as a suburban store, but a new metro rail Gold Line station catering to pedestrians is only two blocks north now

Back in Jan 2010, I wrote about my disdain for the current suburban-styled Ralphs supermarket that sits in the middle of Pasadena’s urban downtown financial district along Lake Ave. This particular Ralphs that many of us Pasadenans shop at is surrounded by anti-pedestrian characteristics that actually harm the built environment as it pertains to pedestrian activity. The potential for creating a better community in this section of Pasadena sits tragically unfulfilled. That’s why I’m still not happy with it.

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Posted in architecture, environmentally green, mass transportation, mixed-use development, pedestrian oriented, public spaces, real estate, smart growth

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[Video] The Brigham Yen Show – Dog Haus Comes to Pasadena

Posted on January 11, 2011 by | 8 Comments

Co-owner of Dog Haus, Hagop Giragossian, talks to me about his new restaurant, the food, the cool space, and why he and his partners went from owning and operating Neomeze in Old Pasadena to being hot dog restaurateurs.

For more information about Dog Haus, please visit www.doghausdogs.com

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Posted in food, restaurants

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Save the Arcadia Woodlands Petition

Posted on January 7, 2011 by | 8 Comments
Arcadia Woodlands Threatened

The Arcadia woodlands, a neighbor of adjacent Pasadena, is scheduled to be ripped apart next week and paved over as a dumping ground by the LA Dept of Public Works (Photo: ecotonestudios)

From the Save the Arcadia Woodlands Petition:

The destruction by clear cutting of 11.3 acres of native oak woodland habitat along the east side of Santa Anita Wash in the City of Arcadia, is planned by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (DPW), in order to create a disposal site for sediment to be removed behind Santa Anita Dam and to permit improvements to the dam’s operating structure.

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Posted in environmentally green

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Build Your Own Salad at Saladish Coming Soon to Old Pasadena

Posted on January 4, 2011 by | 1 Comment
Saladish in Pasadena

Saladish, from Rancho Palos Verdes, is opening their second location in Pasadena

I wasn’t too shocked when I saw that the once very popular fro-yo shop, Squeeze & Scoop in Old Pasadena, closed a few weeks ago since many other frozen yogurt varieties like Pinkberry had expanded way too quickly and subsequently folded in many locations, including the original store in West Hollywood, as a result of all that speculation.

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