Downtown Pasadena, California

Downtown Pasadena in 1945.

Pasadena City Hall

Downtown Pasadena California is the central business district of Pasadena, California. It is centered around Fair Oaks Avenue and Colorado Boulevard and is divided into three distinct neighborhoods: Old Pasadena, the Civic Center, and Monk Hill.

Landmarks

Old Pasadena

Old Pasadena is the historic core of Downtown, and has a multitude of fine shops and restaurants (Italian and Japanese restaurants are especially numerous here), two parks, the historic Del Mar Station and Castle Green, and the headquarters of Parsons.

Civic Center

The Civic Center lies to the east of Old Pasadena and was built in the 1920s. It is home to Pasadena's City Hall, Paseo Colorado, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. It also houses several municipal government offices, though notably not the Department of Public Works, which is in Banbury Oaks.

Monk Hill

Monk Hill is the westernmost part of Downtown and is home to the Norton Simon Museum and Ambassador Auditorium.

Education

Downtown Pasadena is served by Roosevelt, San Rafael, and McKinley Elementary Schools; Blair, McKinley, and Washington Middle Schools; and Blair and Muir High Schools. Maranatha High School is a Christian school in the area.

Transportation

Mass Transit

The Metro Gold Line has two stations Downtown, at Memorial Park and Del Mar Station. Downtown is also served by Metro Rapid lines 762 and 780; and Metro Local lines 177, 180, 181, 256, 260, 267, 686, and 687; as well as Pasadena ARTS routes 10, 20, 31, 32, 40, 51, 52, and 70; and Foothill Transit line 187.

Major streets

• Arroyo Parkway
• Colorado Boulevard
• Fair Oaks Avenue
• Holly Street
• Orange Grove Boulevard
• Pasadena Avenue

Highways

• U.S. Highway 66
• Interstate 210
• California State Route 110
• California State Route 134
• California State Route 710