Pasadena

Los Angeles County

Altitude: 866ft/264m

Population: 132,000

Location and origin

Founded in 1875, the town can be reached from Downtown Los Angeles in less than 20 minutes, along the Pasadena Freeway (exit Orange Grove/Arroyo), or by bus no. 434; the town's melodic name is not in fact of Spanish origin, but comes from a Chippewa Indian word meaning roughly "crown of the valley".

In its early days Pasadena was a kind of winter spa resort, mainly for visitors from the Middle West of the United States; the first hotels appeared in the 1880s, but only the Huntington Sheraton, originally named the Wentworth, still remains. It opened its doors again in 1989 following a complete refit.

Increasing numbers of well-to-do Americans from other parts of the country settled in Pasadena in order to spend their retirement years in the agreeable climate. Particular mention should be made of the houses built by the brothers Charles and Henry Greene in an interesting mixture of Oriental and Art Deco styles, which dominate whole streets in Pasadena to this day.