Sierra Madre: a small town and proud of it

Picturesque Sierra Madre, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains between Pasadena and Arcadia, was founded as a ranching community in 1881. It soon became a vacation destination as well, with hotels, sanitariums and resorts dotted among the citrus groves and vineyards. Today, historic homes and a village atmosphere give Sierra Madre a flavor of the past.

Drawing card

Residents prize the strong sense of community nurtured by many civic events. There are outdoor concerts and movies in Memorial Park in the summer and much of the town turns out for the annual Fourth of July parade.

Volunteers construct the city’s Rose Parade float in Sierra Vista Park, which also houses a pool, recreation center and well-used dog park. The March wisteria festival and art fair showcases a 1-acre, 108-year-old flowering vine.

Wow factor

Visitors are struck by the quaint downtown’s leafy boulevards, historic storefronts, sidewalk cafes and dramatic mountain backdrop. Shops, galleries, salons and service businesses line the intersection of Baldwin Avenue and Sierra Madre Boulevard. Bean Town coffeehouse (offering live music on weekends), Sierra Madre Playhouse and a variety of eateries keep the streets bustling into the evening. A recent $1-million-plus downtown renovation added new plantings, benches and lighting. Key scenes in the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” were filmed here.

Insider’s view

Sierra Madre’s roots go deep: It’s not unusual to meet second- and third-generation residents among the 10,600 inhabitants. The city’s proximity to the Foothill Freeway, Caltech, Art Center College of Design, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and movie studios has attracted newcomers, and there are some tensions over teardowns and other development issues.

A recent battle over construction of a private high school on a prime canyon estate deeply divided the town. Anti-growth activists won, contending the project would have brought more congestion, noise and possibly the city’s first traffic signal.

Good news, bad news

People buy the town as well as the house when they purchase in Sierra Madre, said Katie Orth of Webb-Martin Realtors. Because of the city’s desirability and its limited housing pool, homes can be expensive, and buyers often have to settle for less square footage.

Sierra Madre protects its trees and historic homes. Permits are required to remove or significantly trim some varieties of oak, walnut and sycamore trees on private property during construction.

Forty-four homes are classified as historic and need a permit for visible remodeling work.

Hot spots

Three-square-mile Sierra Madre was developed by individual homeowners, so on every block there’s a wide range of housing prices and styles, including Craftsman, Victorian, Spanish Revival, Mission, ranch and traditional.

Condos and townhouses, clustered in the flatlands on and around Sierra Madre Boulevard, are in demand because of their lower prices.

Hillside houses offer far-reaching views and command prices upward of $700,000. The canyons are popular with artists and others who enjoy the woodsy, eclectic ambience.

Stock report

Sierra Madre has 3,392 single-family detached houses and 1,521 multifamily units, according to 2000 city figures.

Report card

Most of Sierra Madre is within the Pasadena Unified School District, whose schools typically ranked average or below average on the 2001 Academic Performance Index. Only one of these schools, Sierra Madre Elementary, is in town, although a middle school is expected to open there in a couple of years. A small northeast portion of the city falls into the Arcadia School District, which has top-ranked schools. Many parents send their children to private schools.

On the market

In mid-December, Sierra Madre had 34 single-family residential listings priced at $271,000 to $1,252,000 and one condominium at $279,000, according to Les Carroll of Dilbeck GMAC Real Estate.

Historical values

Single-family detached home prices:

Year...Median Price

1990...$340,000

1995...$275,000

2000...$370,000

2001...$425,000

2002*...$462,000

*year to date

Sources: Arcadia School District, Century 21 Village Realty, city of Sierra Madre, DataQuick Information Services, Dilbeck GMAC Real Estate, Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Madre Historical Society, Webb- Martin Realtors, www.greatschools.net, www.realtor.com.