A Pasadena house at Valentine’s (Photo – Emmanuel Krauletz, staff).
In 1914, readers of the Pasadena Daily News were asked to share their views about their forty year old* city.
By Wafic Khalil
One reader offered the following sentiment:
Pasadena is the best place to live because it is ideally situated at the base of the beautiful Sierra Madre Mountains,… a few minutes’ ride over excellent boulevards to a dozen ocean resorts,… and the prettiest homes and the healthiest people on earth without a saloon to mar the harmony of life in this land of sunshine, fruit and flowers.
One hundred and four years later, it’s February 14, 2018. John Grula, a Pasadena resident, and a member of Pasadena Tenants Union, sent his love letter to the city:
Ah Pasadena, why do I love thee so? Let me count the ways. Could it be because of your beautiful palm trees and urban forest? Your lovely mountain vistas, canyons, chaparral, and hiking trails? Could it be because you are home to so many fabulous institutions, such as the Tournament of Roses and Rose Parade, the Rose Bowl, the Pasadena Playhouse, California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, many museums, art, and historical centers, Pasadena City College, Pasadena City Hall and Civic Auditorium, and the Pasadena Public Libraries? And that’s not all. Did I mention your great watering holes and eating establishments? It is a city where art, science, education, entertainment, sports, and other forms of human enrichment mix and combine to make for a great place to live.
Happy Valentine’s Day Pasadena!
Love, John Grula
PTU member
*Pasadena was founded in 1874 and incorporated in 1886.
I love Pasadena because it is full of culture – arts, music, museums, diverse people, great restaurants, clean, big city but not crazy big, still free parking in places, and I can take a night walk and feel safe. Everything you need is here.