Alright, let's keep things short and sweet! Growing up in the area known as Linda Vista, Pasadena, California gave me a tad bit of an idyllic childhood. Tree lined streets with sidewalks and beautiful streetlights accentuate the incredible diverse architecture of the well kept homes the area is known for. I remember being able to safely and confidently walk to friends' houses and home, pretty much at any hour. There was a library, a fire station, an elementary school and Jurgensens, the neighborhood grocery store with the best turkey sandwiches and meringues! My school where I attended from Kindergarten to 5th grade was just 2 blocks from my home and filled with incredible teachers. I still remember the smell of the Auditorium and watching The Red Balloon on rainy days. A bit of my identity was shaped by this and my thinking that someday I'd live in my childhood home as an adult and teach at that school just like Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie! I knew it was special. That's when I began to love houses. Many things have changed since then.
Jurgensens is long gone and has been replaced with 3 large homes which spurred quite the uprising in the community when they were being built! Because of the community opinions and an act of brave, hilarious vandalism a few architectural details were removed. The Elementary School now houses a charter nursery school/daycare and 'The Bowl' that I used to play in is a public park! 'The Bowl' was at it's prime when lawsuits weren't as prevalent, kids would get splinters on the 12 foot high platform with fire poles at either end and rope burn on the net used to climb to the top. No round edges, no plastic, no padding on the ground... just the natural basics that combined the tasty elements of danger and fun! It was something that could have easily been in Neverland or Waterworld. Just raw and dangerous! The highlight was the 'Tires'. 2 levels of giant tractor tires arranged like a stack of doughnuts 2 layers high! I believe there were 3 at the top level with poles in the center. Their spacing created such excitement and adrenaline when anticipating whether you would survive the jump from one to the other! It's so incredibly surreal to have spent my happy youth there and to now take my children there. The danger is gone, now just a simple swing set and a see saw are in the same large sand ring. It looks so bare.
I get easily sidetracked when I reminisce. The point being that having spent a lifetime in this area of notable architects, influential minds, well kept homes, diverse architeture and our beloved Rose Bowl, it is clear as to how I came to love and appreciate Real Estate and make it my chosen profession!
Thanks for reading! I bet you are fun!
