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The Future of Neighborhood Markets

The recent news about the Fresh and Easy market chain's withdrawal from the U.S. came as hardly a surprise.  Since the British supermarket giant, Tesco, established a presence here five years ago, their Fresh and Easy concept has struggled with attracting and maintaining shoppers and turning a profit.

I've shopped at the Fresh and Easy located at the corner of South Lake and California a couple of times and have found it to be both convenient and a decent alternative to Trader Joe's (still my favorite) and Whole Foods.  Concentrating on this store alone, I feel it would be a loss to both the South Lake neighborhood and Pasadena in general if it was to close (if you remember, this location used to be a Wild Oats store, which itself struggled because of competition to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market).  The future of this location will eventually be determined from the sale of the company and new owner.  Yes, there's a Pavilions across the street, but comparing Fresh & Easy to them is not really fair.  If I wanted to need to fill an empty kitchen, yes, I would go to the larger format grocery store.  But if I need to buy just a few things or make a quick trip to fill a missing ingredient then Fresh & Easy did the trick.  And judging from some some of my trips here there are many others who do the same thing.  Also, the fact that Peet's is right next door also helps me knock two birds with one stone. 

Whether this particular location is profitable or not, I don't know.  But I think it fills a niche here in Pasadena and hope it will survive.

Holly Street Christmas Lights Proposal

4th Street, downtown LA

For the last couple of years these amazing lights have been installed above 4th Street between Spring and Main in the Old Bank District in downtown during the Christmas season.  This area of downtown just gets prettier every year during the holidays as it becomes more gentrified.  The pictures do no justice--you really have to take a stroll (maybe during the next art walk) to really appreciate how beautiful these lights are.  Imagine if this was set up along Holly Street from Fair Oaks towards City Hall here in Pasadena!  Pasadena Public Works and Street Maintenance should really look into this.  What do you think?

The Only Thing Missing Right Now is the Beach

photo: Partners Trust

If (or 'when') the "Big One" strikes California and Pasadena becomes an seaside city then I hope this is what my future home will look like.  In the meantime, this particular home is for sale over at El Pescador Beach in Malibu...for $17,500,000!  It sure is a beaut!

• El Pescador Beach, Malibu [Partners Trust]

Pasadena Home Prices Up, Inventory Low

According to figures compiled by realtor Phylis Harb, the average selling price for a Pasadena home was $730,100 in October 2012 compared to $643,823 same time last year.  For the last several months Pasadena has seen a gradual rise in prices.  But buyers these days are faced with a shortage of inventory.  Keller Williams agent Keith Sorem pointed out that there were only 156 homes on the market in October vs. 296 in October of 2011.

Along with many homeowners here in Pasadena I've been receiving a lot of mailers lately from agents inquiring about listing my place.  And as a homeowner (or, in my case, condo-owner) I should feel fortunate that the tide is finally turning.  Sure, there are still some caveats, notably the still-high unemployment, the fragile state of the economy (domestic and world) and the fiscal cliff problem.  But taking a peek at both Realtytrac and Foreclosure Radar I'm amazed at the huge reduction in foreclosure activity in and around the Pasadena area.  There are still many homes mired in the foreclosure mess, but also looking at areas surrounding Pasadena, like Highland Park and Eagle Rock, our region is on the road to recovery.  Home ownership this time around is more organic as opposed to the rampant speculation and easy money of years earlier.  But one can only keep his/her fingers crossed that this trend can continue.