Arcadia

Arcadia is a small, affluent city in the San Gabriel Valley that sits just 12 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Hugging the foothills of the rugged and beautiful San Gabriel Mountains, the city is a friendly and peaceful place known for its picturesque greenspaces, tight-knit residential neighborhoods, and diverse population. With a beautiful year-round climate, plenty of cultural attractions, and a wide range of shopping and dining options, it's little wonder that Arcadia has emerged as one of the region's most desirable places to call home.

Named after Arcadia, Greece, this charming city occupies what was once a thriving agricultural area. After World War II, residential development exploded, with many of the original bungalows now replaced by larger, more impressive modern homes. Arcadia's many residential neighborhoods are notable for peaceful, tree-lined streets, large lots, and a welcoming atmosphere.

Arcadia residents are spoiled for choice when it comes to shopping and dining. The city's lovely historic district, centered around East Huntington Drive, is a lively and eclectic neighborhood packed with independent boutiques, galleries, live music venues, and breweries. There's a great vibe here, and the community really comes to life on warm summer evenings, when locals enjoy dinner and cocktails under the stars.

Westfield Santa Anita Mall is another popular local destination, offering hundreds of shops and restaurants. Big-name retailers share the space with a fascinating collection of stores catering to Arcadia's sizeable Asian population. Cuisine from all over the world is on offer here, including Chinese, Japanese, and American.

Arcadia locals love to spend time outside, enjoying the California sunshine in one of many small neighborhood parks. The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is a standout attraction, a 127-acre wonderland of interesting plants and trees. Programs and events are on offer throughout the year, including the Arcadia Moon Festival - a traditional Chinese celebration including dance, martial arts displays, and music.

Santa Anita Park draws visitors from all over the region. This fantastic facility opened in 1934 and is known as one of the country's most prestigious horse racing tracks. Aside from horse racing, the park hosts events throughout the year, including the impressive 626 Night Market - a three-day extravaganza that brings the entire community together.

Santa Anita Canyon offers an ideal escape for those who prefer to get out into nature. This gorgeous area features hiking trails, camping, and an impressive 50-foot-high waterfall.

Arcadia has a thriving arts and culture scene and finding live music or theatrical performances is never difficult. The city's cultural crown jewel is the Arcadia Performing Arts Center, a sleek, modern venue. It hosts world-class performances year-round.

History buffs take great delight in the Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage. Located on Huntington Drive, this excellent museum is a great place to delve into the city's past. It features a collection of artifacts and pictures that document the area's rich history.

 

The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is located in Arcadia across from the Santa Anita mall and racetrack. The peafowl that roam free on the grounds and in the neighborhoods near the arboretum are a remainder of the former Baldwin ranch. When the peafowl were brought from India, they helped control snakes and snails on his farm. They are considered an attraction to some residents and a nuisance to others due to their loud cries and the droppings they leave on residents' properties.

 

For primary and secondary education the city is served by the Arcadia Unified School District. Reading scores for the AUSD are 76.6% higher than the state average and math scores are 67.9% higher than the state average.It is estimated that 88% of Arcadia students are at public schools and 12% in private and/or parochial institutions.

Arcadia Unified School District has one highly ranked and prestigious high school, Arcadia High School. It is among the few public high schools in California to receive a distinguished GreatSchools Rating of 10 out of 10.There are three middle schools, and six elementary schools, two which are winners in the United States Department of Education's Blue Ribbon Schools program. Approximately five percent of California schools are awarded this honor each year following a rigorous selection process. Eligibility is based on federal and state criteria including the No Child Left Behind program, Academic Performance Index (API), and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The requirements are many and strict, and are based on such areas as a strong curriculum, solid library media services, professional teachers, and counseling programs at all grade levels.In 2010, BusinessWeek ranked Arcadia as the best place to raise children in the state of California for the second year in a row, citing the city's excellent school system as one of the factors in addition to the low crime rate.

 

Arcadia has several arterial roads that traverse the city. The major east–west streets include Foothill Boulevard, Huntington Drive, Duarte Road, Las Tunas Drive, and Live Oak Avenue. The major north–south streets include Baldwin Avenue and Santa Anita Avenue. It is also served by the Foothill Freeway (I-210).

 

 

The city of Arcadia operates three fixed route services, as well as a Dial-A-Ride that provides curb-to-curb service throughout city limits.

In 2016, Metro opened a new at-grade light rail station in Arcadia. Arcadia Station is located northwest of the intersection of 1st Avenue and Santa Clara Street, and is served by the Metro L Line.

 

U.S. Route 66, immortalized in song and literature, passes through Arcadia, on Huntington Drive in Downtown Arcadia, before turning off onto Colorado Place and then Colorado Street. After intersecting the 210 freeway, Route 66 runs parallel to and south of the freeway, cutting across the middle section of Arcadia.

The city is mentioned by Jack Kerouac in his novel On the Road: Sal, the protagonist, is put off by "preppy" teens when he stops for food at a local drive-in restaurant with a young Mexican woman. The vignette demonstrates the culture clash between the "Beatnik" way of life and that of 1950s conservative America.

In a motel located in Arcadia across the street northeast from Santa Anita Racetrack, author Hunter S. Thompson wrote much of his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in the 1970s. In Michael Cunningham's novel The Hours, Laura Brown mentions that she heard of a man who died in nearby Arcadia.

The McDonald brothers, who later began the McDonald's hamburger restaurant chain, opened their first restaurant, The Airdrome, near Monrovia Airport, on the Arcadia–Monrovia border in 1937. The restaurant was located on historic Route 66, now Huntington Drive, but later moved to San Bernardino, California, in 1940.

The main setting of the DreamWorks' franchise Tales of Arcadia took place in Arcadia Oaks, a fictionalized version of Arcadia, California.

 

Many films on location (including Tarzan and the Bing Crosby On the Road movies), television series, most notably Fantasy Island were filmed in Arcadia. A popular visiting site is the house with the bell tower, where Tattoo rang the bell, is the Queen Anne Cottage, located in the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.The plane, "arriving" with the guests, was filmed in the lagoon behind the Queen Anne Cottage. Occasionally, outdoor scenes and commercials are filmed at the Arboretum have been filmed on the grounds of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

The Santa Anita Park Racetrack is another popular filming locations. The true story film Seabiscuit (2003) was filmed and takes place at the Santa Anita race track. A commercial for Claritin allergy medicine, a Lexus commercial, and three episodes of Grey's Anatomy have used it as a location ("Walk on Water", "Drowning on Dry Land" and "Some Kind of Miracle").

This city was one of the filming locations for Columbia Pictures' comedy film North (1994).

The fantasy-comedy film Matilda was shot here in 1996.

A scene from Step Brothers (2008) was shot at the nearby Derby restaurant.

Scenes from Mission: Impossible III (2006) were shot at Methodist Hospital.

In the movie Cloverfield, the scene in which the survivors walk inside Bloomingdale's was actually filmed inside a Robinsons-May store under reconstruction inside the Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia. The film Eagle Eye (2008) was also filmed in this location.

Scenes from Kicking & Screaming (2005) were shot at Foothill Middle School and in Arcadia homes.

The movie The Lone Ranger (2013) filmed their train scenes here within the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot by building an elevated 'roller coaster' like track.

The comedy film Deal of a Lifetime (1999) was filmed entirely at Arcadia High School.

The movie Moxie (2021) was filmed at Arcadia High School's North Gym and Salter Stadium