Pasadena FAQ

Settlers from the Indiana Colony arrived in 1874 on the west end of Rancho San Pascual, and the name Pasadena was adopted the following year. Pasadena formally incorporated as a city on June 19, 1886, during the Santa Fe railroad land boom.

The name Pasadena comes from an Ojibwe phrase the founders understood to mean "crown of the valley." That nickname stuck, which is why you'll see "Crown City" on everything from beer labels to city banners.

The land between the Arroyo Seco and the San Gabriel foothills was home to the Hahamog'na, a band of the Tongva (Gabrielino) people, who lived along the arroyo's year-round water. After Mission San Gabriel was founded in 1771 the area became mission grazing land, then the private Rancho San Pascual.

The first Tournament of Roses was a flower-covered carriage parade staged by the Valley Hunt Club on January 1, 1890, largely to show off Pasadena's winter weather to people back East. It has run every year since, with a handful of wartime and weather exceptions.

The Rose Bowl stadium opened in 1922 in the Arroyo Seco after the game outgrew Tournament Park. It's a National Historic Landmark and still hosts the Rose Bowl Game, UCLA football, major concerts and the monthly flea market.

Caltech grew out of Throop Polytechnic Institute (founded 1891) and was rebuilt into the California Institute of Technology in 1920. Rocket experiments by Caltech students in the arroyo during the 1930s became the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which today runs NASA's robotic missions from the hills above town.

Several of the city's showpieces vanished: the Hotel Raymond, the Hotel Maryland's famous pergola, Busch Gardens, and the Mount Lowe Railway and its mountaintop resort. Fire, storms, the Depression and demolition took them, which is a big part of why the city's preservation movement became so aggressive.

The 1908 Gamble House, Pasadena City Hall and Central Library (both 1927), the 1913 Colorado Street Bridge, the brick blocks of Old Pasadena, the Norton Simon Museum, and the Craftsman streets of Bungalow Heaven are all intact. Our full history page walks through each era in order.

Old Pasadena. You can walk to hundreds of restaurants and shops in the restored brick district, and you're within a mile of the Norton Simon Museum, City Hall and the Playhouse District. Playhouse District is the quieter alternative with the same walkability.

A landmark district of roughly 800 early-1900s Craftsman bungalows in northeast-central Pasadena. It's residential — no shops — so treat it as a walking or slow-driving tour, and it hosts an annual home tour each spring.

The stretch of Orange Grove Boulevard south of Colorado where turn-of-the-century mansions lined the street. Many are gone, but the scale of the lots, the trees and a few surviving estates still read clearly.

No. Altadena is an unincorporated community directly north, and South Pasadena is its own small city to the south. All three came out of the same Rancho San Pascual land and are commonly grouped together in conversation, but they have separate governments and school districts.

The north and east edges. Hahamongna Watershed Park, Eaton Canyon (via Altadena), the Arroyo Seco trails below the Colorado Street Bridge, and the Cobb Estate trailhead at the top of Lake Avenue all put you into the San Gabriels within minutes.

Old Pasadena, the Playhouse District and South Lake are genuinely walkable, and the Metro A Line has four Pasadena stations connecting to downtown LA. For the Rose Bowl, the Huntington, JPL-area hikes or anything in the foothills, a car or rideshare is much easier.

Colorado Boulevard through Old Pasadena is the spine, with the alleys and side streets between Fair Oaks and Arroyo Parkway holding most of the independent restaurants and bars. South Lake Avenue and the Playhouse District carry more sit-down dining and specialty retail.

Both, side by side. The city has one of the deeper independent food scenes in the San Gabriel Valley — long-running delis, taquerias, ramen shops, bakeries and fine dining — while the larger blocks and Paseo carry national brands. Our eat and drink guide leans toward the independents.

Weekend evenings in Old Pasadena and any Rose Bowl event day. Use the public garages rather than circling for street parking; several offer a free first period, and the garages are the reason the district works at all.

Yes — Pasadena runs multiple weekly farmers markets, and the Rose Bowl Flea Market on the second Sunday of most months is one of the largest in the country. Our events page tracks what's coming up.

Yes. We keep a limited number of industry sponsor slots so each category has one featured local business rather than a crowded list. You can apply on our sponsors page and we'll confirm whether your industry slot is open.

Editorial picks are independent — we favor places that are locally owned, long-running or distinctly Pasadena. Sponsored placements are labeled separately from editorial recommendations.