u/AHPasadena

Want to replace this

this no longer sparks joy

with this?

people biking on Colorado not included

Then either send a letter or join us in person or virtually at the Design Commission hearing tonight at 6:30 at City Hall. 2155 E Colorado would build 212 units of affordable housing, including 59 family-sized 3 bedrooms, at the site of a vacant lot and empty auto repair complex. More information and ways to lend your voice here.

Then tomorrow, May 13th, also at 6:30, also at City Hall. The Planning Commission is trying out a sneak attack on transit-oriented development law SB 79, exempting single family and low density neighborhood from the law and blocking the possibility of midrise housing just like 2155 E Colorado next to the A line. Follow these instructions to stop this.

Tonight, May 7th, at 5pm, the Housing Homelessness and Planning Committee will explore a plan to make big parts of the city ineligible for SB 79, a law passed last year to legalize more height and density around major transit stops. The city plans to defer all historic resources, including entire landmark districts, as well as single family zones around three A line stops so that they wouldn’t be eligible until 2031.

We support protecting historic properties, but this exemption goes too far, and there’s no reason single family neighborhoods steps from the A line shouldn’t have apartments that working families could live in and reach jobs and services without a car.

It seems the city is going to try to push this through at the City Council meeting on May 18th, under the cover of an already packed agenda.

If you want to build a single affordable apartment building, you need at least six months of community engagement, open houses, hearings, and appeals. But if you want to block housing all across the city, all you need is a week and a half of debate tucked away in meeting agendas.

Rent is up. Gas is up. We need housing near transit. Can you send a letter or give comment to fight this?

Instructions, discussion points, and a letter template here.

Today, Pasadena's first design standards for residential buildings kick in on multifamily projects over 48 homes per acre (anything around four stories or taller).

Now anyone who wants to build something will just be able to go down a checklist of forms, materials, and design features the city has agreed on. There are two broad styles to choose from: an ornamented box design (similar to the 1920s multistory commercial buildings in Old Pasadena) and Mediterranean style.

Hopefully, this will improve the design of new buildings and lead to less arguing when Design Review comes around. But it does feel like a lot of great buildings could fall through the cracks.

I wish there had been a Art Deco option inspired by the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Madison. What older buildings do you think new buildings should take inspiration from?

https://preview.redd.it/r9kq81obu5zg1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fed2d557485406fe3ee07a1c7e6e8aa21ea016e4