Pasadena, California

place in southern california where i grew up. due to its varied forms of architecture, it has often been an ideal place for both the motion picture and the television broadcasting industries to shoot "on location" in. while growing up, i remember many times when streets would be closed off for that very reason. watching tv and movies often becomes a strange case of deja vu as certain locales featured have been places i had on occasion frequented.

some examples would include:

• a very brady sequel
  the coffee shop where marsha and greg's double date took place was at the equator cafe in old town pasadena, scarcely a block from the famous colorado boulevard.
• melrose place
  the d&d offices were in downtown pasadena, off of a street called south lake.
• beverly hills 90210
  the house that brenda and brandon walsh lived in is said to be in pasadena, somewhere.
• father of the bride
  the house steve martin's character's family lived in was in the wealthy pasadena / san marino area.
• scream2
  the opening scene in the movie theatre took place at the rialto, in south pasadena on fair oaks avenue. the night chase scene in a residential-construction area was in the streets behind the pasadena convention center, just outside of the city college.
• the emmy award shows is shot at the pasadena civic auditorium.
• many science fiction movies have taken place at the jet propulsion laboratory (jpl) of nasa and on the caltech campus, both situated in pasadena.
• there's lots more, i assure you..

Pasadena (A Chippewa Indian word for "Valley") is one of the major suburbs of Los Angeles. It was incorporated in June of 1886 in an attempt to shut down saloons in the area. In the early part of the 20^th century it became a winter getaway for the rich and famous who built mansions along "Millionare's Row," Orange Grove Avenue. Among the structures built in the area are the famous Gamble House designed by Greene & Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright's La Minatura, his first textile block house and 2^nd structure built in the Los Angeles area.

In 1940 Pasadena had the honor of being connected with Los Angeles via California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway, a symbol of its importance to the area.

Today, Pasadena is a thriving city with its famed Tournament of Roses, CalTech (Originally called Throop Polytechincal Institute in 1925), and the restored 14 block area of Old Pasadena (It's on the Registry of Historic Places), a popular place to visit. It is also the birthplace of baseball legend Jackie Robinson (There's a park named after him). However, the Pasadena Unified School District has left the city with a somewhat stained reputation, they attempted to squeeze the Black community into the northwest corner of the city to avoid school integration years ago, and got in big trouble for it (Ironically, they were sued by a white family who thought this was unfair). Even worse, the attempt to isolate Black community has also left that particular area somewhat run-down.

By the way, Pasadena, Texas is named after this one, the result of claims that they look similar.