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In early 2024, Pasadena selected Perkins Eastman to develop a new master plan to transform the city’s historic downtown. The intent? Decoupling the stub end of the State Route 710 freeway from regional circulation and reconnecting this strip to the local street grid by adding new bikeways, greenways, paseos, and urban gardens to repair the city’s divided urban fabric, and to set the stage for a new era of development. This project represented a rare chance to reflect on the past, heal, and define a balanced path forward.

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Of the plans’ many benefits, the SR 710 Stub presents the opportunity to terminate the freeway and create a more well-behaved pattern and scale of ways to restitch the urban fabric. Prioritizing the pedestrian experience in lieu of the automobile provides one example. By re-establishing a network of greenways, bikeways, paseos, and walkways, as well as repurposing former elevated freeway ramps, the plan fuses together the public realm, reconnects severed neighborhoods, and creates new opportunities for many special places to emerge.

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From the beginning of the Reconnecting Pasadena master plan project, advocacy and understanding of the opportunity were established through seven primary lenses that inform the final work product and outcomes.

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These includes:

• Community engagement strategy
• Restorative justice framework/policy
• Data collection, existing physical conditions, 3-D–modeling survey
• Economic study/market demand analysis/development and income opportunities
• Mobility and circulation analysis
• Land-use options and placemaking
• Climate-resilient infrastructure development and services plan

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Radical change is necessary for Pasadena to boldly chart its path toward physical and social reconnection. With bold thinking, the city is poised to set a precedent for other similarly affected communities and improve the urban fabric of cities throughout the country.