Pasadena explores ways to ‘reconnect’ 710 Freeway stub that displaced thousands of residents

Construction of the 710 Freeway in Pasadena in the early 1970s divided a thriving community and displaced thousands of people, particularly several Black, Latino and Asian-owned institutions, according to the city.

The freeway never reached El Sereno and South Pasadena as intended, and the project was eventually canceled after it faced legal challenges and widespread opposition from people in those communities.

Now, officials are exploring ways to reconnect the roughly 50-acre space with the rest of Pasadena.

The state transferred control of the land back to the city in August 2022. Since then, Pasadena officials have been working on a master plan to develop the site and make up for some of what was lost. They’re seeking input from people who were affected in the past, as well as those who will be here in the future.

Brenda Harvey-Williams, assistant city manager, told LAist the project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to shape the future of Pasadena.

“We may never have this opportunity again,” she said. “And it's an opportunity for the whole community to come together and decide what we want to be there.”

The project is likely to take years, and it’s not yet clear what the finished product would look like.

What is the master plan process?

The space, which the city refers to as the “ditch” or the “stub,” spans from Union Street to the north, Columbia Street to the South, St. John Avenue to the west and Pasadena Avenue to the east.

The master plan is expected to give city officials options for future development, but it’s not a final policy.

Instead, it's a “vision plan” of what the community wants the site to become, Harvey-Williams said, whether that’s housing, parks, open space or commercial businesses.

“Pasadena is special,” she said. “And we want this to be forward-thinking, futuristic, sustainable, special and very Pasadena.”

The Pasadena City Council created the Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group to help shape the master plan. The group has held regular meetings since April 2023, which included hearing from historical consultants, experts and communities directly harmed by the freeway construction.

For example, a historic report on the 710 Displacement presented to the advisory group last month found that 209 buildings were lost along the site, including 168 residential units, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church and Vroman’s California School Book Depository. It also found that “freeway construction had innumerable and far-reaching consequences for the city’s communities of color.”

The then-newly constructed freeway system of the 1970's. The Rose Bowl stadium is near the upper left corner.

(

Courtesy of the Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena, California.

)

Rémy De La Peza, a land-use attorney and vice chair of the advisory group, told LAist the master plan is designed to bring together lessons learned from the past — what the city’s needs are now while balancing what people want Pasadena to look like for next generations.

“Really trying to reconcile, you know, the past, the present and the future with this exercise,” De La Peza said, describing the master plan process as a way to explore various scenarios.

The planning process, which is broken up into three phases across two years, is currently in the final document-and-refine stage, focusing on technical questions about traffic, funding for future public amenities and density, according to the city.

Restorative justice

Another part of the process focuses on what’s known as restorative justice, which aims to repair some of the harm done to individuals or communities.

It’s one of the foundational responsibilities of the advisory group, according to chair Danny Parker, a lifelong Pasadena resident whose family worked and learned where the stub now sits. He told LAist restorative justice is a way of doing right by the people affected by freeway construction “who at that time did not have much of a voice in the process.”

The advisory group has developed a draft definition of restorative justice that city officials say is unique to Pasadena. It states, in part, that the process will “identify, publicly inform, officially acknowledge, respond to and remedy these injustices through open and responsive engagement with the disproportionately impacted communities.”

The draft definition hasn’t yet been approved by the City Council.

The advisory group is responsible for making sure there’s community input throughout the process, Parker said, and they want to hear from as many people as possible.

“Both substantively and symbolically, it really matters,” he said. “The more voices, I think, the better result we’ll have.”

For example, the master plan process included an oral history report and documentary called Amplify that features stories from those who lost their homes, businesses and cultural landmarks.

“We are … listening and bringing back what we're hearing in the produce aisle of the grocery store, what we're hearing at barber shops and beauty shops,” Parker said.

What's next?

The three-phase master plan process is expected to be completed next spring, and the advisory group will present its recommendations to the City Council.

The council members can choose to adopt the groups’ ideas or suggest their own. The project will then be handed off to the city’s Planning Department and Planning Commission to create next steps, including zoning the land for residential or commercial use.

But there are still many more questions the city needs to answer as the process moves forward, Harvey-Williams said, including figuring out how to pay for infrastructure before anything is built. The stub doesn’t have any curbs, pipes, power or gutters.

And there’s another big question — about traffic.

“Because there still is a freeway that's ending and the cars have to go somewhere,” Harvey-Williams said. “So we want to make sure that the transportation system that we developed through this area does not become another de facto freeway.”

Pasadena officials have said they want the space to become more walkable and connected, according to Harvey-Williams.

Parker, who described the project as a rare opportunity for a “do-over,” said he hopes the final product feels accessible to everyone in the city.

“I hope that what we do enhances the quality of life of everyone who lives, works and plays in Pasadena,” he said. “That it's a place that becomes a meeting grounds, a crossroads where people will go on a lazy quiet Sunday afternoon.”

How to get involved

You can learn more about the reconnecting Pasadena process in English here and in Spanish here.

You can sign up to get updates here.

You can also share questions, ideas and feedback with the city by sending an email to: 710reconnecting@cityofpasadena.net.

Also watch and participate in upcoming public meetings, including:

• Pasadena City Council at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 20.
  
  • A majority of the meeting will be focused on the 710 project, according to Harvey-Williams.
  • You can watch live in-person, via Zoom or on the Pasadena Media station.

• Reconnecting Communities 710 Advisory Group 
  
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 19
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 17
  • You can watch previous meetings here.
  • Please note the schedule is subject to change and more meetings may be added to make up for those that were missed after the fires in January.