Old Town Pasadena is a successful American story of a small town able to turn around after 50 years of weak downtown innovation. It was not until the 90's that a major revival began. Before that, there were mostly warehouses and local shops that did not attract out of town visitors. The city's desire is time to improve the old town, by attracting many outside businesses, except fast food franchises, to open up in Old Town, It was a home run, that's for sure. But what do locals get out of this? The same failed school system, a high crime rate and high housing costs.

Parking problems are no doubt the #1 issue here. Any street costs money to park in Old Town, the only way to avoid it is to go to the 3 public structures which validate for up to 90 minutes free parking. There is almost no underground parking structure despite the need for one.

This town has got more gastropubs than a typical family restaurant. No doubt it's a great place for young and middle age couples to hang out in. Alhambra's recently improved Main Street is their direct competition as is Glendale and Montrose, which offers many similar restaurants, though less selection, but it is less crowded and most importantly, much easier to find parking in. Many of its buildings are historic and in surprisingly good shape. There's also a good number of semi high end restaurants and shops here.

If you want a good old family restaurant or to grab a quick lunch break, you need to head north of the 134 freeway or on to Lake Avenue.