South Pasadena is a city in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 26,943, up from 25,619 at the 2010 census.

History

The original inhabitants of the area were members of the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation (part of the Shoshone language group) that occupied the Los Angeles Basin.

In February 1888, members of the southern portion of Pasadena attempted to gain more control over their own property and a vote for incorporation was made. South Pasadena's first mayor was Donald McIntyre Graham.Apostol, Jane South Pasadena A Centennial History p.21 On March 2, 1888, the city of South Pasadena was incorporated with a population slightly over 500 residents, becoming the sixth municipality in Los Angeles County. It was chartered with roughly the same area as the current South Pasadena, about . With the completion of the Pacific Electric Short Line, putting the entire city within easy walking distance of the red car stations, South Pasadena also became one of the first suburbs of Los Angeles. Before the 1950s, South Pasadena was one of the sundown towns in United States that excluded non-White residents and workers in some form or another. The South Pasadena Americanism Center was founded in 1961 by housewives for politically conservative Republicans to find mutual support. It provided reading materials such as anti-communist books. The center was shut down in the 1970s. In the mid-1970s, the city closed several streets connecting to Los Angeles and built a 2-foot-high wall to block off the road Via del Rey. The measure was intended to control traffic and noise but was perceived by some neighbors as an attempt to exclude working class Latinos from the wealthier, more white suburb.

Interstate 710 extension

South Pasadena and other groups opposed the 710 Freeway Long Beach Freeway (I-710) extension from Alhambra's Valley Blvd. to the Foothill Freeway (I-210) in Pasadena at California Blvd. The proposed route would have run through the center of the city, as well as through neighborhoods in El Sereno and Pasadena. However, this incompletion cuts off a north–south route from the San Gabriel Mountains in the north to Long Beach in the south, as well as connecting the 710 to the 110, 134, and 210 freeways.

On July 19, 1999, United States District Court Judge Dean Pregerson issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Caltrans from proceeding with the 710 Freeway Project. The financial support for the fight against a major highway project through the city has come mostly from the residents themselves, who pay legal bills incurred by the city in the freeway fight from their general fund (no special taxes are used), making the fight an ongoing local election issue. South Pasadena has been cited five times on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of "Most Endangered Places".

Litigation over the 710 extension has run for over 50 years. The City of South Pasadena has filed a federal lawsuit citing failure to protect clean air, the environment and historic properties, and until the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) completes a comprehensive new environmental study, this will bring additional delays to the 40-year-old project. Caltrans (the California Department of Transportation) proposed a compromise route of boring a tunnel beneath the city. Having purchased hundreds of properties along the proposed right-of-way in the 1960s, Caltrans proposed selling these in order to partially finance the tunnel. The Southern California real estate boom of the early 2000s caused those properties in South Pasadena alone to appreciate to a combined value of over $300 million. State Senator Carol Liu sponsored a bill to compel Caltrans to sell the properties no longer needed for the project. SB-416 also prohibits funds from the sale of surplus properties in the SR 10 corridor from being used to advance or construct any proposed North State Route 710 tunnel. State Assemblyman Chris Holden co-sponsored the bill and remarked after it was signed into law, "…the surface route of the 710 Freeway is not going to happen and everyone knows that and so these properties should then be put back into the community".Lauren Gold. "Gov. Brown signs Sen. Carol Liu's bill to sell Caltrans' 710 freeway properties". Pasadena Star-News. October 2, 2013. Caltrans, however, maintains that the freeway extension/connections are needed for the overall benefit of the Southern California public and continues to fight for its completion.

In May 2017, the MTA board voted unanimously to withdraw its support for the 710 tunnel proposal, and to reallocate all funding previously earmarked for it to surface street and other improvements, effectively killing the project for the foreseeable future. Subsequently, Assemblyman Chris Holden, along with State Senator Anthony Portantino, proposed similar bills effectively deleting the uncompleted portion from the Highway grid. Both bills were passed and signed by governor Gavin Newsom and the deletion took effect on January 1, 2024.

Geography South Pasadena is located at the western end of the San Gabriel Valley, north of El Sereno, east of the Arroyo Seco, a tributary of the Los Angeles River, and south of the separate city of Pasadena, California. Adjacent cities are Los Angeles to the west and south, Pasadena to the north, San Marino to the east, and Alhambra to the southeast. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city's total area of , is virtually all land. South Pasadena is home to a small natural spring, known as Garfias spring, which has been channelized into the Arroyo Seco.

Demographics

South Pasadena first appeared as a city in the 1890 U.S. Census which was coextensive South Pasadena Township.

Racial and ethnic composition

+South Pasadena city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)17,27414,90912,34411,1799,69276.16%62.29%50.82%43.64%35.97%Black or African American alone (NH)4647057087366382.05%2.95%2.91%2.87%2.37%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)37733126280.16%0.30%0.13%0.10%0.10%Asian alone (NH)2,5605,0026,4247,9049,13511.29%20.90%26.44%30.85%33.90%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)17690.07%0.02%0.03%Other race alone (NH)133486811720.08%0.14%0.35%0.32%0.64%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx7799201,685xx3.21%3.59%6.25%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,3333,2133,9034,7675,58410.29%13.42%16.07%18.61%20.73%Total22,68123,93624,29225,61926,943100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, South Pasadena had a population of 26,943 and a population density of . 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

The age distribution was 23.1% under the age of 18, 6.5% aged 18 to 24, 26.7% aged 25 to 44, 28.1% aged 45 to 64, and 15.6% aged 65 or older. The median age was 41.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.

The census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.5% were institutionalized.

There were 10,613 households, of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.7% were married-couple households, 6.3% were cohabiting couple households, 28.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 15.2% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52, and there were 7,079 families (66.7% of all households).

There were 11,146 housing units at an average density of , of which 10,613 (95.2%) were occupied. Of occupied units, 44.3% were owner-occupied and 55.7% were renter-occupied. Of all housing units, 4.8% were vacant; the homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%.

2023 estimate In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $128,105, and the per capita income was $76,583. About 4.1% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that South Pasadena had a population of 25,619. The population density was . The racial makeup of South Pasadena was 13,922 (54.3%) White (43.6% Non-Hispanic White), 771 (3.0%) African American, 107 (0.4%) Native American, 7,973 (31.1%) Asian, 9 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 1,422 (5.6%) from other races, and 1,415 (5.5%) from two or more races. There were 4,767 residents of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race (18.6%).

The Census reported that 25,456 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 8 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 155 (0.6%) were institutionalized.

There were 10,467 households, out of which 3,621 (34.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,904 (46.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,264 (12.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 451 (4.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 501 (4.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 107 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,073 households (29.4%) were made up of individuals, and 802 (7.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43. There were 6,619 families (63.2% of all households); the average family size was 3.06.

There were 5,998 residents (23.4%) under the age of 18, 1,576 (6.2%) aged 18 to 24, 7,431 (29.0%) aged 25 to 44, 7,510 (29.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,104 (12.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males.

There were 11,118 housing units at an average density of , of which 4,787 (45.7%) were owner-occupied, and 5,680 (54.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.1%. 13,185 people (51.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 12,271 people (47.9%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States census, South Pasadena had a median household income of $85,058, with 6.7% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

History of racial discrimination Before Shelley v. Kraemer was settled in 1948, real estate deeds in South Pasadena forbade selling to Black, Asian, and Mexican buyers in order to preserve the racial character of the population and community values. Non-White individuals must leave the city before dusk unless working as servants or caretakers. The diversity of the city's residents increased in the 1960s after the construction of federally subsidized housing developments. In 2022 the city passed a resolution condemning its history as a sundown town. Racism has become a shadow of its former self, reduced to the occasional stickers, leaflets, and nails placed on driveways. Economy

Top employers According to the city's 2021–2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

# Employer # of employees 1South Pasadena Care Center151 2Trader Joe's No. 1893 3Ralphs Grocery Co. #2192 4The Vons Companies Inc. Pavilions #222892 5Bristol Farms88 6VCA TLC Pasadena Veterinary Specialty and Emergency73 7City of Hope South Pasadena62 8The Vons Companies Inc. #3075 61 9Whittier Trust Company54 10McDonald's South Pasadena49

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