South Lake, Pasadena, CA

South Lake is the part of Pasadena where Caltech and a long shopping street share the same few blocks. Lake Avenue south of Colorado Boulevard handles the errands, and the campus a few blocks east sets much of the area's pace and traffic. Houses here date mostly from the early and middle 20th century. East of campus, single-family streets lean toward Tudor and Mediterranean homes, with smaller ranch houses and some Victorian-style places mixed in. West of Caltech the stock shifts to condo buildings, and across the area more people rent than own. Burger Continental on South Lake Avenue pairs Greek plates with its burgers, and Magnolia House is the neighborhood's cocktail bar. For dessert, Afters Ice Cream is on East Green Street. Tournament Park, next to Caltech, hosted the early Rose Bowl games, and it's still a wide open lawn. Grant Park on Michigan Avenue adds another small green space. The Huntington's library and gardens are about a mile south, which is where a lot of longer walks end up. Groceries are unusually close. Trader Joe's and Erewhon are both on South Lake Avenue, Pavilions is a couple of blocks east, and Macy's anchors the retail end of Lake. Chain coffee is easy to find along the avenue. Downtown Los Angeles is roughly a 45 minute drive at rush hour. The tradeoff is traffic. Caltech and the shopping corridor both pull cars onto Lake Avenue and the streets around campus, and the main streets back up at busy times, especially when classes let out. Step off them, though, and the side streets in South Lake are where you'll see a pie box carried home from the diner.