A double killing early Friday in Pasadena is the latest in a string of gang-related shootings over the last year that has officials and residents in the city's northwestern district on edge.
The shootings have occurred in a relatively small section of Pasadena and involve what officials believe is a gang clash.
Pasadena won much praise for reducing gang violence over the last 14 years, a concerted effort that started after the high-profile killing of three teenage boys leaving a Halloween night party in 1993.
The crackdown resulted in a major drop in crime -- particularly among young people and gangs. The city, which in the 1980s recorded more than 30 homicides a year, by 2002 recorded just three, according to FBI records. But then, homicides started rising.
Over the past 18 months, there were 18 homicides in Pasadena.
The violence has sparked a series of community forums, a new crackdown by Pasadena police and some political soul-searching.
Pasadena has been in the midst of a building boom, adding pricey condos and apartments to its thriving downtown retail district along Colorado Boulevard. But some community activists believe the city needs to focus more attention on its poorer areas to the north, which have large black and Latino populations.
"What we need now as a community, just like any other community, is political will," said Dianne Segura, executive director of the local YWCA, which launched an initiative in late May called Mothers on the Move to fight the rising violence. "We are only 23 [square] miles. If we can't solve what's happening in our neighborhoods, then shame on us."
The city's image has long been burnished by the annual Rose Parade, which paints the town as awash in princesses and flowers. In the regal neighborhoods near the Rose Parade headquarters and Rose Bowl, it's difficult to find a house for less than $1 million, with mansions going for $3 million or more. A gentrification boom has sent housing in other neighborhoods -- notably those with restored California bungalows -- to similar levels.
But the image of prosperity belies the struggles of neighborhoods just north of downtown Pasadena. That area has for generations been an enclave for African Americans and more recently has become an entry point for immigrants from Latin America. (Latinos now make up about 33% of the population, a growth that has generated some tensions with African Americans, who make up about 15% of the city.)
