Once a vibrant and thriving community, years of segregation and divestment dramatically changed the N. Fair Oaks area corner due to historically harmful Federal policies adopted locally: racially restrictive covenants, the 1949 Federal Housing Act (under the urban renewal policy aka “Negro Removal"),  predatory banking, eminent domain, and more. The 1956 Highway Act, which released federal funding for highways across the US, has sliced through African American neighborhoods and thriving Black business districts across the US, and that was also true of NW Pasadena with the 210 freeway.

 

Due to “red-lining” by banks, Blacks were prevented from obtaining home loans, so they opened their own bank to obtain mortgages, called Family Thrift, today called One United which was on N. Lake and Washington. Once the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968, allowing Blacks to live outside of North West Pasadena, those with means moved to other parts of the city. This vacuum of displacement by the Freeways that cut off NW Pasadena from the rest of the city the opened way for drugs and divestment. Later, depressed home values led to gentrification in the NW, where homes were still affordable.

 

At one point, nearly 25% of Pasadena was Black. Today, only 8% remained. (However, 30% are Black and most are long-time residents.)  Blacks have either been priced out or have cashed out due to increased property values. Black churches have become commuter churches. One African American church has 8 members left.

 

This community has been deeply wounded by unjust policies. To help prevent further displacement and reweave a once thriving community, Jill Shook began a listening campaign in 2015, resulting in 150 surveys within a five-block area on N. Fair Oaks. Questions were asked like, how long have you been in the area? What do you like about your community? What would you like to see changed? Would you like to be part of that change? Most of the 10 churches, 18 businesses in this five block stretch participated, as did a number of the residents. The results were telling.

 

Some felt it was a waste of time to imagine an improved community because they felt the city would never agree to make any changes. We needed to resurrect hope.

 

In 2015, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) voted to allow Jill Shook, who was a long-time member of the IMA, to plan the resource and employment fair that year, with and by the community. So she chose the area that was being surveyed to host the fair. The emerging planning team decided to close down Tremont Street with booths representing all the local businesses, and churches, local resources, employment opportunities, and featured the skills within the community with local barbers providing free haircuts once people applied for a job, then free dress shirts and ties. Even Judy Chu, our local congressional representative, and Mayor Terry Tornek showed up.

 

Over 500 members from this N Fair Oaks corridor from Washington Blvd to Woodbury attended this NW Jobfest. Hope for change began to emerge. The community later met to unveil the results of the survey. The biggest concern was the street, not feeling safe due to the traffic, cars speeding by, the lack of lighting and good sidewalks. (In 2023, 65 accidents took place in a six-month period.) Others were concerned with economic development, wanting coffee and ice cream shops and thriving businesses. 

 

Members of the community partnered with the Complete Streets coalition to create focus groups that visually imagined what the community wanted, and they identified 15 specific items they hoped the city could address. Today, seven of these requests have been placed in the city’s budget to be completed, including signage, more trees, sidewalk repairs and a Complete Streets redesign.  In 2017, the Pasadena City Council unanimously voted to put a $268,000 traffic signal to help slow traffic and bring safety. Seeing this signal in place has resurrected more hope.  

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In 2022, Phil Burns, principal of The Arroyo Group and a resident of this area, joined our team and asked us to consider creating a professional Vision Plan that would include all our research to date plus four additional listening sessions. In 2023 we conducted those four listening sessions at New Life Holiness Church's community center, the Boys & Girls Club, La Pintoresca Park, and culminating in our MHCH annual event at New Life Holiness Church. In December, the Vision Plan was completed thanks to The Arroyo Group under Phil Burns' leadership. In 2024 this team has presented the Plan multiple times to most of the churches, the IMA, the Boys & Girls Club, the City Planning Department, and the Northwest Commission, which sent a letter to the City Council giving its full support. The goal for 2024 is to gather additional letters of support from organization and other partners to address this area as a "heat island" and to stop "pretextual stops." We hope to have 500 signatures by the time we meet with the Planning Commission sometime this fall.  To see the Vision Plan, click here. 

 

There is still much more work to be done. We would value your partnership.  Contact us today to find out how you can participate in our efforts to revitalize North Fair Oaks!

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