East Central, Pasadena

East Central is home to one of the most historic neighborhoods in the area. Locals call it “Bungalow Heaven” because of the large number of California Bungalow style homes. Many of these homes date to before the Great Depression and, in fact, more than half of the homes in the neighborhood were built before 1945. The streets in this section are filled with modestly sized classic homes, with small yards often featuring big bushy hedges. Unlike some of the newer neighborhoods in So-Cal, East Central still has its shady sidewalks, making it an especially walkable neighborhood.

There is quite of bit of variation from street to street and block to block in East Central. Some streets are quite well-kept and leafy, while others have a more of a run down look to them. On some streets, the narrow Bungalow Heaven streets give way to wider lanes with palm trees and older style cement street lamps. The buildings are still old here but the look is fairly pleasing and gives you a sense of mid-century Southern California. The diversity of architectural styles as one moves farther east in the neighborhood is one of its draws—you can find everything from California Bungalows, to Mission Style homes, to large Edwardian style manors. This is definitely not one of those Ranch Style homes as far as the eye can see neighborhoods.

There are a number of schools (and parks) throughout and at the edges of the neighborhood as well, so that residents have choices between several kinds of public and private schools. Marshall Fundamental is the local high school and although its students only get average scores on statewide tests the school is well-regarded for its music program and largely avoids many of the city wide problems with crime and gangs. It also has a wide assortment of AP Classes and extra-curricular programs including sports and clubs.

There are not a lot of choices when it comes to restaurants—mostly just Mexican food and some Italian—but you can find a Lebanese restaurants and couple of Thai places. Overall, this is a solid neighborhood with nice older homes.