City of Pasadena, California
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Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 133,936. The California Finance Department estimates the Pasadena population to be 146,166 in 2005. Pasadena is the main population and cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. It is the 6th largest city in Los Angeles County and famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade.
Pasadena is located 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is bordered by ten communities—Glendale, South Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, La Cañada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Garvanza and Altadena. The communities of Eagle Rock and Garvanza are incorporated within the city of Los Angeles and Altadena is an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. Despite its location well within the Greater Los Angeles metropolis, Pasadena is a largely self-contained city with its own suburbs (Altadena, Arcadia, La Cañada Flintridge, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena) and a broad economic base, noted cultural, scientific, and educational institutions, and shopping and dining establishments that attract customers from the regional area.
Pasadena's role as a regional hub was cemented by other events, among them the Tournament of Roses Parade, which began in 1889, the opening of the Colorado Street Bridge (also known as "Suicide Bridge" from the Great Depression), the Arroyo Parkway, now Pasadena Freeway, opened as the first freeway in the country in 1940, and completion of the Los Angeles Metro Gold Line in 2003.
The world-famous California Institute of Technology is located in the southern-central area of Pasadena, with Pasadena City College located just to the northeast. Fuller Theological Seminary, one of the largest multidenominational seminaries in the world, is located just east of downtown Pasadena. Pacific Oaks College is located right next to Pasadena's National Historic Landmark - The Gamble House. The famous Art Center College of Design is in the San Rafael Hills overlooking the Rose Bowl, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (managed for NASA by Caltech) is located primarily in nearby La Canada Flintridge, though its main gate and many of its buildings are located in Pasadena.
Old Town Pasadena is a popular shopping and dining area for locals and tourists. Paseo Colorado is a more upscale mall designed to be a modern urban village, with apartments above the mall. An exclusive shopping district is located in the South Lake Avenue neighborhood.
The Rose Bowl, a National Historic Landmark, is host of the oldest and most famous college football postseason bowl game every New Year's Day. It is the home field for the University of California, Los Angeles football team and has hosted five Super Bowls. Important soccer matches include the 1984 Summer Olympics, the men's final in the FIFA World Cup 1994, and the final in FIFA Women's World Cup 1999.
Pasadena is also home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (unless that day is a Sunday, in which case the event is held on January 2). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the Valley Hunt Club, a Pasadena social club. The impetus for holding the parade was, as stated by one of the members, Professor Charles F. Holder, "In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise."
By 1895, the festivities had become larger than the Valley Hunt Club could manage, and the Tournament of Roses Association was then formed to take charge of the festival. In 1902, it was decided that a football game would be added to the day's events. The game, now known as the Rose Bowl, would become the first post-season college football game ever. The first game was between Stanford University and the University of Michigan. After suffering a tremendous financial loss, the Tournament of Roses Association decided to hold Roman chariot races in lieu of football games. However, in 1916, football returned. When it became clear that the stands in Tournament Park were too small to facilitate the crowd, the Tournament's President, William Leishman, proposed that a stadium be built to house the game. The Rose Bowl was completed in 1923. The Rose Bowl has since been selling out to crowds since 1947. In 1998, the Rose Bowl celebrated its 52nd anniversary and became the longest running tradition of its kind.
The Rose Parade, as it is familiarly known, still features elaborate floats. According to the organizers, "Every inch of every float must be covered with flowers or other natural materials, such as leaves, seeds or bark. Volunteer workers swarm over the floats in the days after Christmas, their hands and clothes covered with glue and petals. The most delicate flowers are placed in individual vials of water, which are set into the float one by one."
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