Garfield Heights is a historic district in Northwest Pasadena. Northwest Pasadena is a big area with a bad reputation.
And boy, is that reputation well deserved. Drugs, gangs, crime... I mean, look at these statistics! Geez.
Gilmore House, 1891
Could you live in this dump? I couldn't.
Gerlach House, 1913
"Adena House," 1887
The median income in Northwest Pasadena is a mere $104,000-ish per year, barely $10,000 more than the rest of Pasadena. It's shameful. We need to fund some programs or something.
To be fair, there are serious trouble spots in NW Pasadena. It sort of depends on what you're used to. If you've ever lived in Chicago, or Houston, or New York, or Los Angeles—or Paris or London, for that matter—these spots are itches, as opposed to burns.
So don't write off the whole area, unless you don't like living in a mansion and paying less for it than you would anywhere else in town.
I do like the area!
ReplyDeleteYou could be their crime reporter, Petrea ... perhaps someone can let you rent their backyard cabana for your daytime operations base ~ for a modest fee that's appropriately less than anywhere else in town.
ReplyDeleteOne day I'll show you the mean streets, William. Not as fancy, but some wonderful old homes and people doing fine. There are a couple of places I don't go after dark but only a couple, and it's all fine during the day.
ReplyDeleteOkay, the block of Marengo just north of the freeway is not good.
Shell, I might like to have my own backyard cabana. I thought I would make one with a tent thing I had, but our rainstorm this past weekend destroyed that idea.
I have many walking-districts from the Altas to the South - Denas. This is one of my favorites. Beautiful houses, and so much history.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent choice, Hiker.
ReplyDeleteHa! just did a google map search on the Adena home. I'm always up for new walking locations in places I've never been. And discovered that the ugly apartment building on Adena is where Vic purchased his latest car. A hook up made through Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI had a good friend who lived there. They moved to Germany and I'll meet up with her when I get there. I'm so happy my friend has her car. But how did that apartment building get permission? It's out of synch with the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Durham, northeast England, there was quite a bit of crime, but the police told me it was all because of a handful of bad families (criminality is inheritable, it seems), and they knew the 5 houses in which they lived. It's likely the same in the Denas. Just a few bad eggs give the area a bad name, but so long as you keep away from their houses, everyone else is decent and honest. Gang members tend to attack one another, not strangers, it's just unfortunate that their bullets can go astray and hit passers-by. (That was not a problem in Durham).
PA, Adena is interesting. Such a short street, anchored with the Gerlach house on one corner and the "Adena House" (don't know if it has a name) on the other. It makes one think that the turn of the 20th century was the heyday, and except for the nice trees the rest has been downhill.
ReplyDeleteBellis, I don't know about the apartment building. Maybe it had to do with regulations not being in place at the time. I know one reason Bungalow Heaven was founded, for example, is because apartments were being built on its borders and those living there banded together to form a historic district to protect their property and the character of the neighborhood. Perhaps Garfield Heights didn't do that in time to prevent the building. I want that protection for my neighborhood, too, and I hope we manage it.
The homes that you share here are really wonderful to look at. I like them.
ReplyDeleteNo thatched roofs here, Lauren, but as you know we have some nice old houses.
ReplyDeleteThere are great things happening in Garfield Heights in terms of rehabbing historic homes. Such a big difference in the last four or five years. Still much to do, and gentrification is a whole separate issue, but it's nice to see some of these treasures come back to life.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor, a seller of real estate, told me some of the prices that homes are going for in Garfield Heights. Closing in on a million dollars. As for gentrification, you are correct. A separate issue, a conversation that must and will continue.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely old homes! So, this area must contain contrasting neighborhoods?
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a gentrifying area, Ms M. It's a controversial subject, of course. In Pasadena's early days, some of these homes were set off by themselves, with acreage around them. Many changes over the years.
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