Breaking and Remaking Fair Oaks

Fair Oaks Avenue has been an integral part of our region’s history since members of the Indiana Colony first decided to leave the frigid Northern winters and put down roots in the San Gabriel Valley. The mild climate and lush landscape of this area charmed the new settlers and prompted Dr. Thomas Elliott to write that it was “the spot uniting the blessings of the tropics without their heat, malaria or enervating influences.“ When Dr. Elliott’s brother in law Daniel Berry scouted the area for appropriate property he found the ideal spot in Fair Oaks Ranch, a portion of the larger Rancho San Pasqual. Fair Oaks Avenue was named in honor of the idyllic ranch, and it quickly became a lifeline for the new community.

By 1876, even before Pasadena or South Pasadena officially incorporated, a business district had formed at the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks Avenue in what is now Old Town Pasadena. As the settlement grew, so did the street -- eventually becoming our familiar thoroughfare connecting the towns of Altadena, Pasadena and South Pasadena in a 7.9 mile stretch.

Some of South Pasadena’s most famous addresses have been on Fair Oaks Avenue. At the turn of the last century, wealthy patrons accessed the spectacular from Fair Oaks. In 1921, designed the War Memorial Building, and it was built on Fair Oaks. The master Arts and Crafts architects Charles and Henry Greene placed in South Pasadena. It still spans the railroad tracks from Fair Oaks to Oaklawn. Speaking of tracks, for a large part of the early 20^th century commuters passed through at the corner of Fair Oaks and Huntington. It provided a junction of the Pacific Electric Railroad Short Line and Monrovia Line, making South Pasadena a major hub in Henry Huntington’s expanding electric rail system of early Los Angeles.  The historic -- and deteriorating -- Rialto Theater is on Fair Oaks, not too far from the recently restored . Both structures hearken back to the earliest days of our city when Fair Oaks was as much a part of commerce and community as it is today. 

Up until recently, we’ve pretty much taken Fair Oaks for granted. Even during rush hour, it has been fairly easy to maneuver -- especially in the opinion of this former West Los Angeles resident. Like all great major city streets, Fair Oaks has been our go-to place to shop for groceries, have a dinner date, get our nails done, pick up prescriptions, upgrade our cell phones, grab take-out, drop off dry cleaning, fill our gas tanks and satisfy the occasional Big Mac attack. But recent construction along Fair Oaks has changed all that, and the sheer scope of the project has prompted many residents of South Pasadena to ask questions.

Why weren’t we warned about the serious impact to the community? Who approved a plan that has created such major gridlock as well as dangerous pedestrian access? Why are both sides of the street being torn up at the same time? How are handicapped citizens supposed to traverse sidewalks that have been turned into open trenches and dirt piles? And who, please tell me, WHO is in charge of placing the confusing traffic signs? The resulting landscape of orange signs is like a dada-ist art exhibit poking fun at the ineffable pointlessness of modern life.

about the economic impact of this project. Since construction began, shops and restaurants have seen a dramatic drop in business. The last few years have already been devastating for our local economy. We’ve seen many familiar marquees taken down, replaced with For Sale or Lease signs. We’ve watched as storefronts go vacant, and new businesses fail. In this great recession, the last thing our business community needed was another disaster -- this one created by the very city our business tax dollars support.

We all understand there are funds that must be spent. We have heard there is a master plan. The project received $761,000 in federal money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, 1.9 million in Rogan Bill funds and the remaining money from Metro and local funds for a total of $4 million. The project is designed to upgrade streetscapes and sidewalks on a section of Fair Oaks as well as the entire length of State Street.

What many of us are asking is: Why this particular project? And why now?

As I walked along Fair Oaks this past Sunday, I spoke with a resident who identified herself simply as Beverly. She was carefully stepping over a large pile of broken concrete, dirt and overturned detour signs that obstructed part of the east side of the sidewalk.

“I’m mad as hell,” she said. “Why would the city do something so unnecessary and with virtually no warning to the community? With so many things broken here, why break something else? If this goes on for months, there will be nothing left of our businesses. South Pasadena deserves better than this.”

Officials have told us that the project is expected to reach completion by the end of August. Anyone who has ever worked with a contractor on their own home knows how much faith we can place in estimates of completion. But let’s take the city at its word and assume that by September, Fair Oaks Avenue will be a lovelier, more easily traversed street and no longer a maze of open trenches and piles of rubble. That still means our local business owners have to figure out how to make payroll, leases and insurance payments for another five-and-a-half months. I’ve heard a lot of people say that they are just not going to bother trying to deal with Fair Oaks unless absolutely necessary.

“I won’t shop there again,“ one of my blog readers wrote to me. “It’s easier to just go to Pasadena.“

I say, let’s remember who will bear the brunt of our frustration: our friends and neighbors who have made South Pasadena a thriving, vital city in its own right -- not just a bedroom community of Los Angeles.

I urge everyone to make a point of shopping the Fair Oaks corridor, despite jackhammer-induced headaches and layers of cement dust on your car. Make a point to frequent the spots you have loved for years, even though it may take extra time and a few back streets to get there. I am not suggesting we don’t demand answers about the whys and wherefores of this project. I urge everyone to make their opinions known during the public comment section of I’ve aired a grievance there myself, and it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds. Plus, you can always stop by for a cocktail afterwards. They’re on Fair Oaks after all, and they -- like all of the businesses there -- need our help.

For more information on South Pasadena businesses, contact the

 For Laurie Allee’s photo montage of Fair Oaks Avenue -- the good, the bad and the recent ugly -- click on the video in the photo box above.

Download the movie