Desiderio Neighborhood Park
10 N Arroyo Blvd,
Pasadena, CA 91105
Established:
2019
Size:
3.87 acres
Features:
Historic bridge
Bathrooms
Stream bed
Affordable housing
Playground
Best time to visit:
Spring and summer:
The park is in bloom from spring to summer. Poppies, palo verde, and the rare bush anemone are all covered in flowers from spring to summer and they are not to be missed. Evening, when the street lights come on would be a charming time to walk through the park.
Tucked underneath the beautiful (and probably haunted) Colorado Street bridge is the Desiderio Neighborhood Park.Filled with birds, poppies, stunning mature coast live oaks (and many younger ones), a dry steambed, a hedge of toyon bushes and a lovely view of the Arroyo Seco.
A main goal in the creation of the park is to repatriate the land. The dry stream bed, planted with grasses, arroyo willows, oak trees and buckwheat, acts as a channel, connecting the park both visually and physically back to the Arroyo Seco. The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.
The park is separated from the housing community by a wall and a thick planting of toyons and the beginnings of a coast live oak grove. The trees and hedge fills two functions, it provides a buffer space for the housing community, while also providing important habitat space.
Along the dry creek is a rare treat, a bunch of bush anemones. This rare bush from the foothills of the Central Valley, is covered in beautiful white blooms in the spring and early summer.
They are super drought tolerant and are a great pollinator plant. The bush anemone looks similar to so many common non native landscaping plants, they also can do well in containers (according to Calscape anyway).
The edge of the hillside and the space directly under the bridge is spread with wild flowers, specifically California Poppies. This simple act of throwing seeds out in the fall transforms open and possibly under utilized space into a wildflower meadow.
“The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.”
One of the most charming features of the park are the light posts. They are the same (or similar) design as the light posts found on the Colorado Street Bridge. Much like how the stream bed connects the park to the Arroyo Seco, the lights connect back to the bridge. It marks the park as an intersection point in the sharp, and often intense, urban to wild interface.
What was once an Army Reserve Center, became through a long and much debated process, affordable housing and a neighborhood park. The park and previously the army reserve center is named for Soldier Reginald Benjamin Desiderio, who was killed in the Korean War and was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. The reserve center was decommissioned in the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and through a slightly circuitous route the site was transferred to the City of Pasadena and Habitat for Humanity.
The site was divided into two sections, the park and affordable housing. Nine families were chosen for the housing and were involved in the building of their homes. The homes were designed by au workshop, and are craftsman style bungalows.
For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate.
The first point of contention was whether it was practicable to reuse the 1940 era warehouses that were already on the site. While the buildings were beautiful, it was deemed not possible and they were demolished.
“For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate.”
The second worry was the location. The park sits directly under the Colorado Street Bridge. This Bridge is sadly a spot often used for suicide attempts. In 2018 the city installed a 10 foot high fence along the bridge as a deterrent. In 2023 a contract to build a more permanent solution that was in keeping with the historic bridge was awarded to Apexx Architecture for the conceptual design of enhanced vertical barriers.
The third point of contention was whether the park should include bathrooms and where in the small park should they be located. The bathrooms were considered an “attractive nuisance” that would change the role of the park from a “passive park” to a space of active recreation and attract unwanted people.
In an interview with The Pasadena Star Councilman Steve Madison said “What we are doing with the passive recreation area is we are repatriating that to the Arroyo Seco. Before this was federal land it was part of the Arroyo Seco.I’ve always been a proponent of basically repatriating it or returning it to what it was originally, which is part of that Arroyo Seco, which is something for all of us to enjoy but not in the nature of a sort of active destination urban park, which is what a restroom would turn it into.”
Repatriating this small section of land back to the Arroyo Seco is a lovely idea. But if that truly was the goal for Desiderio Neighborhood Park, I would question the final landscaping choices. As beautiful as they are and as pumped as any one would be to see them, Bush Anemone and palo verde are simply not a part of the Arroyo Seco ecosystem.
Bush Anemone is from the eastern side of the Central Valley and Palo Verde is a desert plant (California’s deserts are not a part of the California Floristic Province). Both of these plants are found in profusion in the park.
Does this matter? It’s a good question. I would argue that it is disappointing to utilize non locally native plants (especially when there are so many amazing local plants available, just look at the South Pasadena Nature Park). It is even more disappointing when the narrative built around the park was that of returning it to its original state, and that this narrative was built as a cover to keep “unwanted people” out of the park.
This criticism aside, this is a delightful little park (complete with restrooms). Filled with poppies, affordable housing, possibly ghosts, oak trees, birds and the rare bush anemone.
More Information
Opening Hours:
Dawn to Dusk
Desiderio Neighborhood Park
10 N Arroyo Blvd,
Pasadena, CA 91105
Established:
2019
Size:
3.87 acres
Features:
Historic bridge
Bathrooms
Stream bed
Affordable housing
Playground
Best time to visit:
Spring and summer:
The park is in bloom from spring to summer. Poppies, palo verde, and the rare bush anemone are all covered in flowers from spring to summer and they are not to be missed. Evening, when the street lights come on would be a charming time to walk through the park.
Tucked underneath the beautiful (and probably haunted) Colorado Street bridge is the Desiderio Neighborhood Park. Filled with birds, poppies, stunning mature coast live oaks (and many younger ones), a dry steambed, a hedge of toyon bushes and a lovely view of the Arroyo Seco.
A main goal in the creation of the park is to repatriate the land. The dry streambed, planted with grasses, arroyo willows, oak trees and buckwheat, acts as a channel, connecting the park both visually and physically back to the Arroyo Seco. The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.
The park is separated from the housing community by a wall and a thick planting of toyons and the beginnings of a coast live oak grove. The trees and hedge fills two functions, it provides a buffer space for the housing community, while also providing important habitat space.
Along the dry creek is a rare treat, a bunch of bush anemones. This rare bush from the foothills of the Central Valley, is covered in beautiful white blooms in the spring and early summer.
They are super drought tolerant and are a great pollinator plant. The bush anemone looks similar to so many common non native landscaping plants, they also can do well in containers (according to Calscape anyway).
The edge of the hillside and the space directly under the bridge is spread with wild flowers, specifically California Poppies. This simple act of throwing seeds out in the fall transforms open and possibly under utilized space into a wildflower meadow.
“The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.”
One of the most charming features of the park are the light posts. They are the same (or similar) design as the light posts found on the Colorado Street Bridge. Much like how the stream bed connects the park to the Arroyo Seco, the lights connect back to the bridge. It marks the park as an intersection point in the sharp, and often intense, urban to wild interface.
What was once an Army Reserve Center, became through a long and much debated process, affordable housing and a neighborhood park. The park and previously the army reserve center is named for Soldier Reginald Benjamin Desiderio, who was killed in the Korean War and was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. The reserve center was decommissioned in the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and through a slightly circuitous route the site was transferred to the City of Pasadena and Habitat for Humanity.
The site was divided into two sections, the park and affordable housing. Nine families were chosen for the housing and were involved in the building of their homes. The homes were designed by au workshop, and are craftsman style bungalows.
For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate.
The first point of contention was whether it was practicable to reuse the 1940 era warehouses that were already on the site. While the buildings were beautiful, it was deemed not possible and they were demolished.
“For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate.”
The second worry was the location. The park sits directly under the Colorado Street Bridge. This Bridge is sadly a spot often used for suicide attempts. In 2018 the city installed a 10 foot high fence along the bridge as a deterrent. In 2023 a contract to build a more permanent solution that was in keeping with the historic bridge was awarded to Apexx Architecture for the conceptual design of enhanced vertical barriers.
The third point of contention was whether the park should include bathrooms and where in the small park should they be located. The bathrooms were considered an “attractive nuisance” that would change the role of the park from a “passive park” to a space of active recreation and attract unwanted people.
In an interview with The Pasadena Star Councilman Steve Madison said “What we are doing with the passive recreation area is we are repatriating that to the Arroyo Seco. Before this was federal land it was part of the Arroyo Seco.I’ve always been a proponent of basically repatriating it or returning it to what it was originally, which is part of that Arroyo Seco, which is something for all of us to enjoy but not in the nature of a sort of active destination urban park, which is what a restroom would turn it into.”
Repatriating this small section of land back to the Arroyo Seco is a lovely idea. But if that truly was the goal for Desiderio Neighborhood Park, I would question the final landscaping choices. As beautiful as they are and as pumped as any one would be to see them, Bush Anemone and palo verde are simply not a part of the Arroyo Seco ecosystem.
Bush Anemone is from the eastern side of the Central Valley and Palo Verde is a desert plant (California’s deserts are not a part of the California Floristic Province). Both of these plants are found in profusion in the park.
Does this matter? It’s a good question. I would argue that it is disappointing to utilize non locally native plants (especially when there are so many amazing local plants available, just look at the South Pasadena Nature Park). It is even more disappointing when the narrative built around the park was that of returning it to its original state, and that this narrative was built as a cover to keep “unwanted people” out of the park.
This criticism aside, this is a delightful little park (complete with restrooms). Filled with poppies, affordable housing, possibly ghosts, oak trees, birds and the rare bush anemone.
More Information
Opening Hours:
Dawn to Dusk
Desiderio Neighborhood Park
10 N Arroyo Blvd,
Pasadena, CA 91105
Established:
2019
Size:
3.87 acres
Features:
Historic bridge
Bathrooms
Stream bed
Affordable housing
Playground
Best time to visit:
Spring and summer:
The park is in bloom from spring to summer. Poppies, palo verde, and the rare bush anemone are all covered in flowers from spring to summer and they are not to be missed. Evening, when the street lights come on would be a charming time to walk through the park.
Tucked underneath the beautiful (and probably haunted) Colorado Street bridge is the Desiderio Neighborhood Park. Filled with birds, poppies, stunning mature coast live oaks (and many younger ones), a dry steambed, a hedge of toyon bushes and a lovely view of the Arroyo Seco.
A main goal in the creation of the park is to repatriate the land. The dry streambed, planted with grasses, arroyo willows, oak trees and buckwheat, acts as a channel, connecting the park both visually and physically back to the Arroyo Seco. The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.
The park is separated from the housing community by a wall and a thick planting of toyons and the beginnings of a coast live oak grove. The trees and hedge fills two functions, it provides a buffer space for the housing community, while also providing important habitat space.
“The stream bed moves from being thickly planted with willows, more open, with plants and grasses on either side of the banks.”
Along the dry creek is a rare treat, a bunch of bush anemones. This rare bush from the foothills of the Central Valley, is covered in beautiful white blooms in the spring and early summer. They are super drought tolerant and are a great pollinator plant. The bush anemone looks similar to so many common non native landscaping plants, they also can do well in containers (according to Calscape anyway).
The edge of the hillside and the space directly under the bridge is spread with wild flowers, specifically California Poppies. This simple act of throwing seeds out in the fall transforms open and possibly under utilized space into a wildflower meadow.
One of the most charming features of the park are the light posts. They are the same (or similar) design as the light posts found on the Colorado Street Bridge. Much like how the stream bed connects the park to the Arroyo Seco, the lights connect back to the bridge. It marks the park as an intersection point in the sharp, and often intense, urban to wild interface.
What was once an Army Reserve Center, became through a long and much debated process, affordable housing and a neighborhood park.The park and previously the army reserve center is named for Soldier Reginald Benjamin Desiderio, who was killed in the Korean War and was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. The reserve center was decommissioned in the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and through a slightly circuitous route the site was transferred to the City of Pasadena and Habitat for Humanity.
The site was divided into two sections, the park and affordable housing. Nine families were chosen for the housing and were involved in the building of their homes. The homes were designed by au workshop, and are craftsman style bungalows.
For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate. The first point of contention was whether it was practicable to reuse the 1940 era warehouses that were already on the site. While the buildings were beautiful, it was deemed not possible and they were demolished.
The second worry was the location. The park sits directly under the Colorado Street Bridge. This Bridge is sadly a spot often used for suicide attempts. In 2018 the city installed a 10 foot high fence along the bridge as a deterrent. In 2023 a contract to build a more permanent solution that was in keeping with the historic bridge was awarded to Apexx Architecture for the conceptual design of enhanced vertical barriers.
The third point of contention was whether the park should include bathrooms and where in the small park should they be located. The bathrooms were considered an “attractive nuisance” that would change the role of the park from a “passive park” to a space of active recreation and attract unwanted people.
“For such a small park and one that also has affordable housing, its creation sparked a lot of feelings and debate.”
In an interview with The Pasadena Star Councilman Steve Madison said “What we are doing with the passive recreation area is we are repatriating that to the Arroyo Seco. Before this was federal land it was part of the Arroyo Seco.I’ve always been a proponent of basically repatriating it or returning it to what it was originally, which is part of that Arroyo Seco, which is something for all of us to enjoy but not in the nature of a sort of active destination urban park, which is what a restroom would turn it into.”
Repatriating this small section of land back to the Arroyo Seco is a lovely idea. But if that truly was the goal for Desiderio Neighborhood Park, I would question the final landscaping choices. As beautiful as they are and as pumped as any one would be to see them, Bush Anemone and palo verde are simply not a part of the Arroyo Seco ecosystem. Bush Anemone is from the eastern side of the Central Valley and Palo Verde is a desert plant (California’s deserts are not a part of the California Floristic Province). Both of these plants are found in profusion in the park.
Does this matter? It’s a good question. I would argue that it is disappointing to utilize non locally native plants (especially when there are so many amazing local plants available, just look at the South Pasadena Nature Park). It is even more disappointing when the narrative built around the park was that of returning it to its original state, and that this narrative was built as a cover to keep “unwanted people” out of the park.
This criticism aside, this is a delightful little park (complete with restrooms). Filled with poppies, affordable housing, possibly ghosts, oak trees, birds and the rare bush anemone.
More Information
Opening Hours:
Dawn to Dusk