East Orange Grove, Pasadena, CA

East Orange Grove runs along its namesake boulevard in northeast Pasadena, with houses from the city's early 20th century boom on the side streets and the Pasadena City College stretch of Colorado Boulevard at its southern end. Housing leans on the styles of Pasadena's Golden Age. Spanish Colonial Revival houses with smooth white walls, clay tile roofs and arched openings sit near Tudor Revival homes with steep shingled roofs, and duplexes and small multi-unit buildings mix in. A fair number of lots have room for a backyard unit. Allen Avenue holds the local favorites. Jameson Brown Coffee Roasters sells beans from around the world by the pound and doubles as a work spot for PCC students. Chaaste Family Market, a Filipino counter a few doors up, is known for lumpia and homemade turon, and Howlin' Ray's hot chicken shares the building. Green space is the weak spot. There's no real park inside East Orange Grove, so people walk the residential blocks or drive to Jefferson Park on Villa Street, and Victory Park with its Saturday farmers market is a few minutes east. Daily errands cluster on Colorado Boulevard near the college, where Starbucks, Chipotle and a string of quick spots handle weekday lunches, and Fika Fika Coffee shares a building with Dot & Dough doughnuts. The 210 Freeway is close for commuting, which makes the drive toward Glendale or downtown easy to start. The tradeoff is that parks take a drive and the Colorado corridor is busy. In return, a morning on Allen can mean fresh coffee, a turon and a walk home past old tile roofs.