The Brief

About a month after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of houses in Altadena, fleets of smoke remediation vans could be seen parked outside the homes still standing.

Ash from the fire is potentially hazardous to human health, according to the public health officials. Work to safely remove that debris is now in full swing inside many homes.

But there’s no van outside the Pasadena home of a tenant we’re calling Elizabeth. Her single-family rental house is about three blocks south of houses that were incinerated. When she asked about her landlord’s plans to do something about the smoke damage, the landlord ordered her, her husband and her two young children to move out.

“After all the things that we've all been through, to now hear that your landlord is not only not going to clean the house, but wants you out because you’ve asked him to take care of the cleaning of the house ... it's so upsetting,” Elizabeth said.

LAist is not using her full name because of her concerns about further straining her relationship with her landlord and jeopardizing any future housing search. We have reviewed her landlord’s correspondence with her to verify what she’s been told.

Elizabeth is among several tenants near the Eaton Fire burn area who told LAist they’re not getting clear answers from landlords or property managers about who will take responsibility for cleaning homes coated in ash. In some cases, landlords have outright refused to fix smoke damage, telling renters they can either pay for it themselves or move out.

Housing experts say that under state and local laws, landlords are required to address smoke damage. But in practice, some renters are being told by government officials that their only path for getting this work done is to take their landlord to court.

‘No plans to clean this house’

Elizabeth’s family is renting a Craftsman home. The architecture is charming, but like many houses in Pasadena, it shows its age. The old latch windows don’t fully close. Hurricane-force winds were able to spew ash through the cracks, leaving visible residue in many areas.

The worst ash buildup is in her 10-year-old daughter’s bedroom, where the windows blew open, Elizabeth said. A dark layer of soot covered the child’s desk and toys.

Elizabeth said finding another nearby home to rent isn’t a viable option because the market has been flooded with fire victims. There are few available homes, and costs have skyrocketed as landlords increase asking rents — in many cases, higher than what is legally allowed.

“We're still paying rent here, and yet living at a friend's house for free for a couple more weeks,” Elizabeth said. “Then we really don't have anywhere to go because there's been no plans to clean this house.

“Unless we pay out of pocket and clean this place up, it's not going to happen.”

Smoke remediation vans have become a common sight in Pasadena, but some renters say they're struggling to get answers and timelines.

(

David Wagner

/

LAist

)

Who’s responsible for Eaton Fire ash?

Housing rights attorneys and landlord advocates agree that, under state law governing rental housing habitability, removing potentially toxic debris after a fire should be a landlord’s responsibility. They told LAist that renters are on the hook for any damage to their personal belongings, such as couches or mattresses saturated with ash. But it’s the landlord’s job to make the rental housing unit habitable, experts said.

Amy Tannenbaum, an attorney with Public Counsel, said government officials “should be making clear that this is the landlord's responsibility — bottom line.”

Housing experts said many landlords are fulfilling their duty to clean up rental homes. But some may be unsure where to start.

“The first call an owner should be making is to their insurance company,” said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. “They need to get a proper abatement company out to the property to assess it and do whatever cleanup is necessary before the tenants move back in, so that tenants have a safe environment to go back to.”

Renters feel out of the loop 

But some landlords and property managers are declining to tell tenants if, or when, they will arrange for smoke remediation.

Jason, a tenant who also asked LAist not to use his full name because of concerns about retaliation from his landlord, said a representative from his renters insurance company confirmed that his policy would not cover smoke remediation for his two-bedroom apartment in Pasadena.

“They would cover my personal property, but not the premises,” Jason said. “I was like, ‘Well, who would do that?’ And he was like, ‘Well, your landlord should.’”

“Yeah, they should,” Jason continued. “But they are, I think, trying to avoid that.”

Jason said he and his daughters have been bouncing between Airbnb rentals and hotel rooms, waiting for updates from his property manager. He said the apartment building has been inspected by a remediation company, but he hasn’t heard anything about the results.

“I don't want to live in a place that could be dangerous with two young kids,” he said. “It just doesn't feel like a very honest, transparent relationship, which is unfortunate when people's safety is at risk.”

Personal belongings are piled on a sidewalk outside an apartment building near the Eaton Fire burn area.

(

David Wagner

/

LAist

)

Pasadena says ash is toxic, but doesn’t violate code

Pasadena health officials have been telling tenants that ash from the Eaton Fire is potentially toxic. But the city’s housing officials have been telling tenants they cannot force landlords to carry out ash cleanup.

Pasadena housing officials have told tenants to consider hiring an attorney and that local regulations don’t specifically address toxic ash in rental housing. The city’s code compliance employees have emailed tenants, saying, “there are no codes in regards to ash so this would be considered a civil matter.”

Pasadena’s building code says housing units are not considered habitable if they contain “debris, garbage, offal, rat harborages, stagnant water, combustible materials” or other materials that could “constitute fire, health or safety hazards.”

The word “ash” is not explicitly mentioned in Pasadena’s code. By contrast, the city of L.A.’s building code specifically lists “ash” and “partially burned building materials” as hazardous.

Tannenbaum, the Public Counsel attorney, said that discrepancy doesn’t mean ash is beyond the scope of Pasadena’s code. She said local laws include broad language about health and safety that clearly cover ash containing chemicals from thousands of destroyed homes.

“If you're saying that this ash probably contains toxic substances — including asbestos, including lead — this is injurious to human health, but it's OK for a tenant to move back in there. That's a pretty callous disregard for a tenant's health and safety,” Tannenbaum said.

LAist emailed Pasadena code compliance officials to ask how they interpret laws governing habitability of rental housing with smoke damage. We asked if they would give a home coated in Eaton Fire ash a passing grade upon inspection. They have not responded to those questions.

The city’s spokesperson, Lisa Derderian, emailed a statement saying issues that affect a renter’s well-being “may give rise to a civil action between landlord and tenant.”

The statement goes on to say, “The [Rent Stabilization] Department is also in the process of offering mediation services to facilitate resolution of complex landlord-tenants concerns, which will be available to fire victims.”

Ash from the Eaton Fire is visible on a windowsill that held potted plants. Health officials have said ash from the recent wildfires is toxic.

(

David Wagner

/

LAist

)

Renters unsure when they can return

Ryan Bell, the chair of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board, said he has heard from dozens of tenants who feel they've been left to fend for themselves.

“I think tenants are rightfully concerned,” Bell said. “Most tenants that I've talked to are simply saying to the landlord, ‘Can you please just give us a timeline? We just need to know: Do we need to stay with our folks for a month? Is it two weeks? Is it three months?’”

Renters insurance plans typically cover temporary relocation costs. But different policies have different coverage limits. And some tenants worry they’ll have to pay out of pocket if remediation work isn’t scheduled soon.

Marah Eakin and Andrew Morgan rent a home in Northwest Pasadena about one block from homes that burned down in Altadena. Since Jan. 7, they’ve been living in hotels and short-term rentals with their 6-year-old twins.

Morgan said their current Airbnb rental in South Pasadena costs about $2,000 per week.

“It costs more than our rent,” he said. “It's much smaller than our house. We don't have most of our stuff. We're just thrown way off balance. ... Like most families, we really thrive on a routine and a schedule. And it's just kind of out the window.”

The struggle to get clear answers 

Eakin and Morgan said their property management company — Cornerstone R/E Management, Inc. — went weeks without confirming whether their landlord would cover smoke remediation or when that work would happen.

Last month, a Cornerstone representative told the couple, “We are working on the basis that until told otherwise, properties are assumed livable,” according to emails sent to the tenants and reviewed by LAist. The representative said, unless anything changed, February rent would still be due.

“It feels like there's no good answer,” Eakin said. “Do we get a rental for a month? Do we get a rental for three months? Should we just cut bait and move out? There's nowhere to move, really, within driving distance of school. So I don't really know what to do.”

About an hour and a half after LAist emailed Cornerstone seeking comment about Eakin and Morgan’s situation, an employee contacted the couple to say a smoke and ash adjuster had been assigned to their case and they could soon receive a refund on their rent since the fire.

Trevor Barrocas, Cornerstone’s operating officer, emailed LAist with a statement: “We are working together with our clients and their insurance companies with the clear objective of: professionally assessing all damage, completing all necessary repairs and remediation; and, subsequently, returning displaced tenants to their homes as soon as possible.”

Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, according to a new report — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities.

The report, by the think tank Next10 and researchers at Santa Clara University, finds that planned data centers — the ganglia of artificial intelligence — are spreading to regions reliant on overtapped groundwater and strained surface water, with potentially major effects in the Central and Imperial Valleys.

But, reinforcing previous studies, the researchers found that a patchwork of state, federal and local policies allows data center operators to avoid publicly disclosing their actual water use.

California lawmakers tried to address this last year, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure. Now, the legislature is trying again, with bills mandating disclosures about water use and planning.

“We have this huge build out, and we have very little data,” said Irina Raicu, who directs the Internet Ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Paired with California’s precarious water supplies, Raicu said, “It’s just not a good combination.”

Shaolei Ren, an expert on the environmental impacts of AI at UC Riverside who was not involved in the study, said the findings point to a much broader problem.

“Limited publicly available information about data center water use makes it difficult for communities, water providers and researchers to have meaningful public discussions and responsibly assess power-water trade-offs,” Ren said in an email.

Murky water use 

Few environmental impact reports for California’s data centers were publicly available online, the researchers found.

Raicu and co-author Iris Stewart-Frey, a professor of environmental science, went looking for the reports, meant to assess and disclose a project’s impacts for both nature and people under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.

They found almost none. The ones they did find were largely for facilities in the city of Santa Clara.

Through interviews with planning officials, they discovered that projects can slip through with little environmental review if they fall under certain size or water use thresholds, or if they meet a city or county’s criteria for other approval pathways. These include something called ministerial approval, which requires planning agencies to approve a project that meets local zoning and other standards.

Even for data centers that undergo more stringent environmental scrutiny, the researchers found that documentation is rarely available to the public.

In the few cases the planning documents were posted publicly, the information — on the data center’s owner or operator, size, type of cooling system, the amount of water used, whether it’s recycled or potable — was often “missing, contradictory, or vague,” the report said.

The researchers said they contacted water providers in areas where data centers cluster, seeking usage data. None responded.

A shift to vulnerable regions

California’s data centers mostly cluster in the south San Francisco Bay Area and the city of Los Angeles, with smaller concentrations in Sacramento and San Diego.

But the report noted large, planned projects in rural and less affluent regions — like in Santa Clara County’s Gilroy, as well as in the heavily agricultural Imperial Valley.

“They need a bunch of cheap land,” Raicu. “If we’re not careful, they will end up being pitched, very convincingly, to communities that have real needs — without enough attention being paid to the water part.”

Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, which has opposed bills mandating more granular water-use reporting, said in an email the industry is “committed to being a good neighbor.”

Boender argues that data centers collectively “used significantly less water than other essential industries in 2025, including the agriculture, power, food and beverage, and semiconductor sectors,” but the coalition offers no data to back that up.

Collective use matters less than local impacts in a state where each community has its own mix of water supplies and strains, according to a previous study published by a team at UC Berkeley.

Whether data centers use a lot or a little water relative to agriculture or other industries, “what matters most is the scale of new local use compared to available local supply,” the Berkeley team concluded earlier this year. “Unfortunately, this picture is clouded by data deficiencies.”

In this week’s report, the Santa Clara University team drilled into those local supplies and community vulnerabilities to anticipated expansion.

“We’re at the brink of this happening in California,” Stewart-Frey, the environmental scientist, said. Her report, she added, isn’t advocating against data centers. But “communities should know what they’re getting themselves into.”

Debates over proposed data centers are erupting in a Kern County desert community with dwindling groundwater and in the hot Imperial Valley, which draws from the strained Colorado River. 

Monterey Park residents in the San Gabriel Valley successfully opposed one data center project over environmental concerns and inadequate information and secured an upcoming vote on a citywide ban.

In a letter to city officials, a representative for the developer dismissed opponents as “rage-baiting an uninformed mob to pressure your decisionmaking.”

Raicu pushed back. “If those communities are uninformed about the issue — whose fault is that? Who should be informing the people so that you don’t have this kind of pushback, if there is no need for it?”

New laws v. Big Tech

Last year, Assemblymember Diane Papan, a Democrat from San Mateo, authored a bill requiring data center operators to report estimated or actual water use to their water supplier when seeking or renewing a business license or permit.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure amid industry pressure, saying he was “reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.”

Now, Papan is trying again with two bills. One largely reprises last year’s measure, with additional reporting required to the city and county. The other would bar local governments from approving new or expanded data centers unless the developer discloses information about their water use and plans.

It would also set other requirements — like prohibiting development in overdrafted groundwater basins in places like the San Joaquin Valley, unless state water managers OK it.

“You cannot manage what you have not and cannot measure,” Papan said. “The public likes transparency, and they should.”

Both bills cleared a key legislative chokepoint this week but face staunch opposition from the tech industry and business groups.

“If they run out of water, guess what happens? And they can’t cool their systems — are they going to succeed?” Papan said. “To which I say, help us help you.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

Founders Jenny Yang and Chris Capizzi spent seven years operating as a pop-up without a brick-and-mortar location. Opening their doors to local vendors pays homage to their own roots selling at Los Angeles markets, from the Melrose Trading Post to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market.

“Mega giant online sellers have the scale and the resources and the patience and the reach to capture most people,” Capizzi said. “Whereas for us, I think we have to be really creative — we have to band together.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

/

The LA Local

)

Yang and Capizzi’s long history of vending at markets taught them how isolating running a small business can be. At their market, they aim to build connections with each vendor and strategize the best timing and layout so everyone can succeed.

“[Amazon and Barnes & Noble] are Goliath, and we’re not even David — we’re just the ant underneath David’s foot,” Capizzi said. “I think we can do what we do and try to get as many people, at our level or even smaller, to get together.”

Weekly markets at A Good Used Book have captivated the neighborhood since its opening in October 2023, with charming names like “Sunday Funday,” “Saturday School” and “Hi-Fi Friday Night,” plus hand-drawn flyers by well-known artist Noah Harmon. Now, it’s become a weekly occurrence where LA pop-ups can display their own crafts, allowing local readers to indulge in a little more than a pocket paperback.

Each week holds a Pandora’s box of niche snacks, crafts or trinkets you didn’t know you needed, ranging from Southeast Asian-inspired trail mix to natural incense sticks to vintage Japanese audio equipment. One week you might be enticed to adopt a kitten from a rescue booth outside, another week you might impulsively get a stick-and-poke tattoo in the back of the store.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

/

The LA Local

)

On one sunny Sunday afternoon, Brandon Stanciell hand-tossed fresh pizza dough on the sidewalk outside the bookstore. His 2-year-old pop-up, Pizza Ananda, which he named after his daughter, is an homage to her and to Italian cooking, a hobby he started during paternity leave. An hour before the market closed, Stanciell had already sold out and garnished his last pepperoni-and-hot-honey pie for one lucky customer.

“I love that places like this allow us all to meet at once to share what we have and give it to the community around us,” Stanciell said.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

/

The LA Local

)

For the owners, building a community market is about deepening relationships with the people who walk through their doors. In an increasingly digital landscape, it is also a reciprocal partnership among local businesses.

“A lot of people talk about community building nowadays as a marketing strategy,” Capizzi said. “But I think the actual community building comes from talking to each vendor and each customer and being a consistent presence in the neighborhood.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

(

Nick Ducassi

/

The LA Local

)

While customers browsed for unique titles, Gerin del Carmen worked her booth of ceramic dishware, oyster-shaped trinket holders and vases resembling miniature boxes. As a ceramicist, del Carmen draws from her Filipino heritage, including the Balikbayan boxes that represent immigrants sending gifts to family in the Philippines.

“Sharing the community and your space is such a big deal. This is not a huge, gigantic Barnes & Noble store,” del Carmen said. “It has so much foot traffic, and the fact that [the owners] are setting up and sharing the space once or twice a week with other vendors and other artists is huge.”

Yang and Capizzi may think of themselves as an “ant underneath David’s foot,” but A Good Used Book is building a colony of vendors, rooted in community.

Whether you and your friends are looking for a brunch spot to cater to everyone's palates, or taking a trip to the historic Grand Central Market, food halls make for an easy, affordable place to satisfy cravings — especially in SoCal, where diverse selections of dishes reign supreme.

But these spaces fill a void much deeper than our appetites. They bring new life to old storefronts, factories or even airfields (see list below), and can offer a way to keep dollars within the community by becoming a hub for local businesses.

With that said, here's a short list of food halls where you'll get more than just a killer meal.

For good vibes

BLVD MRKT food hall on the corner of 6th Street and Whittier Boulevard in downtown Montebello.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

BLVD MRKT is an open-air food hall in downtown Montebello that feels like a party. The 8,500-square-foot space currently has five eateries, or "concepts" as they're known in the restaurant industry, and hosts live DJs every Friday night and Sunday during brunch. They also host Open Vinyl Night on the second and forth Tuesday of every month, where patrons get $2 off beers and margaritas from Alchemy Craft if they bring a vinyl record to be played in the BLVD courtyard.

The space is pet-friendly and has growing concepts like Los Taquero Mucho, which offers classic al pastor, grilled chicken and slow-cooked carnitas tacos, as well as specialty flavors like vegan tacos with whiskil sautéed in coconut milk, and Pork Belly Cochinita Pibil Tacos, perfect for those who crave crispy, slow-roasted pork with a hint of sweetness.

Los Taquero Mucho participates in BLVD's incubator program, run by co-founders Barney and Evelyn Santos. The program offers mentorship to local entrepreneurs until they can set up shop permanently.

Pork Belly Cochinita Pibil Tacos with salsa from Los Taquero Mucho at BLVD MRKT in Montebello.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

BLVD MRKT is part of the couple's commercial real estate development firm, Gentefy. Its mission is to invest in retail and hospitality projects that ignite economic development and revitalization in Black and brown neighborhoods.

"Blvd Mrkt is our first project," Barney Santos wrote in a text message. "It was our social proof to prove to banks, investors and cities that a socially conscious business model could exist in a traditionally overlooked area."

VCHOS Pupuseria Moderna also has a spot in the BLVD courtyard, offering handmade pupusas with filling choices such as shrimp with spinach and cheese, and tender beef birria with a side of consommé, onions and cilantro. Coffee lovers can get an Oaxacan Mocha at Cafe Santo, or stop by Cold Pizza for a wood-fired slice.

For eclectic tastes

Rodeo 39 Public Market in Stanton.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

An O.C. favorite, Rodeo 39 Public Market lives on Highway 39, also known as Beach Boulevard, in Stanton. This 40,000-square-foot space is an eclectic mix of more than 20 food and drink concepts and retailers. There are three outdoor patios and five murals, plus an arcade, tattoo shop and photo booth. Food options cover everything from Lil' Breezy's adobo breakfast burritos to Cajun crab fries at The Crawfish Hut.

Mural by artist David Flores outside of Joystix arcade at Rodeo 39 Public Market.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

Rodeo's menu choices make it well-suited for a casual weekend brunch. At its entrance sits Here & There, where you can grab a coffee or matcha latte, or try one of their signature drinks like the Iced Vienna, a combination of milk with caramelly demerara sugar and your choice of matcha or espresso, topped with sweet cream and garnished with sea salt. The result is a drink that's smooth and not too sweet.

Eggyo bulgogi egg sandwich with spicy mayo at Rodeo 39 Public Market.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

Eggyo, a recent addition to Rodeo, offers Korean corn dogs and fluffy egg sandwiches on crispy, house-baked milk bread. Try the bulgogi option with spicy mayo for a savory kick. If you crave a cocktail, venture over to CAPO, which also serves craft beer. Or just sit on one of their sun-filled patios while you decide what to try.

For a page from history

The Hangar in Long Beach.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

The Hangar is a 17,000-square-foot food hall that pays homage to Long Beach's aviation history. It sits on former Boeing Co. land where military and commercial aircraft were built. Today, it serves as a dining destination at the Long Beach Exchange Shopping Center, or LBX, neighboring the city's international airport.

This space currently has a mix of 14 food concepts and two retail shops. Patrons can enjoy local favorites outside their flagship locations, like the Joe's Special bagel sandwich from Cassidy's Corner Cafe, with bacon, egg and the star of the show — tangy jalapeño cream cheese. Fans of spice can try Jay Bird's Nashville Hot Chicken, which offers chicken sandwiches and tenders, and Blazin' Fries, all with six levels of heat.

Historic aviation photos are displayed above food concepts at The Hangar food hall at LBX in Long Beach

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

Inside, there are vintage pictures of aircraft that were built at the site, and a wall of clocks showing the time in cities named Long Beach across the country.

A Pan Am Hawaii travel poster (left) and a TWA Spain travel poster (right) at the patio of The Hangar food hall.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

Outside, you'll find patio seating with umbrellas where you can sit and watch the occasional plane fly overhead. Or sit and enjoy the adjacent display of towering Pan Am and TWA posters promoting travel to Hawaii, Spain and Paris.

For fun and work

Mercado La Paloma on Grand Avenue in South L.A.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

Open since 2001, the approximately 34,000-square-foot Mercado La Paloma sits in the Figueroa corridor of South L.A., and is known for its focus on community, art and culture. From rotating art exhibits to colorful tiled tabletops, this space feels like it was made to nurture creativity.

Interior of Mercado La Paloma.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

There are meeting rooms to rent starting at $25 an hour. It's a space where locals can bring their laptop to work or study, or have a long conversation with a friend, with bites from six acclaimed restaurants.

Holbox's Erizo dish at Mercado La Paloma.

(

Audrey Ngo

/

LAist

)

At the Mercado, visit Holbox for Michelin-starred seafood dishes like Erizo — velvety sea urchin laid atop a bed of tender scallop ceviche. The combination is fresh, flavorful and oceanic. Tip: If you can swing it, come on a weekday to avoid a long line, or order ahead.

For something sweet, walk over to Oaxacacalifornia Cafe & Juice Bar for a Spicy Pineapple Juice with a gingery kick, or go for the classic pairing of Hot Oaxacan Chocolate, made with your choice of water or milk, and light-as-air conchas crowned with a solid layer of vanilla or chocolate streusel.