Guest Opinion | Erika Foy: Growth Must Fit the Neighborhood

I oppose the proposed development at 1364 East Green Street — not because I oppose growth, but because growth must be compatible with the neighborhoods it enters.

I have been a parishioner at St. Philip the Apostle for 27 years and serve on the St. Philip’s School Board. For nearly three decades, my life has been rooted in this community. I attend either the morning Mass or the lunchtime Mass regularly; those quiet moments of prayer are part of the rhythm of my week. For many of us, St. Philip the Apostle Church is not simply a structure — it is where we gather, worship, and steady ourselves before returning to busy lives.

St. Philip the Apostle Church, designed by architect Roland Coate, is part of Pasadena’s architectural story. It reflects the intentionality and human scale that have long defined this city.

The proposed 93,000-square-foot development would sit directly beside homes, a church, and a school. Its scale and intensity are incompatible with this block. Years of construction would bring sustained noise, vibration, heavy equipment, and disruption affecting worship, classrooms, and daily family life.

Holliston Avenue is not a commercial corridor. It is a neighborhood street where children walk, parents queue for drop-off and pick-up, and families move through their routines. Adding significant density and research activity at this location will increase congestion and strain infrastructure never designed for it.

Beyond traffic, there is the lived reality. Children would be trying to learn while a 93,000-square-foot building rises just steps away — trucks arriving early, drilling, concrete pours, dust, and constant construction noise. This would not be a temporary inconvenience. It would be years of disruption during formative school years.

For me personally, the church is where I begin or pause my day — at morning or lunchtime Mass. It is quiet. It is reverent. It is steady. Our students gather there for school Mass, and those liturgies anchor their week in the same way. It is difficult to imagine that continuing uninterrupted with major construction immediately next door. Would school Mass need to be canceled at times? Relocated because worship cannot compete with construction noise? That would not simply be a scheduling adjustment. It would alter the spiritual rhythm of the parish and school in ways that cannot be measured in an environmental study.

I never imagined I would have to fight for something that has always felt so sacred.

There are also unanswered questions about the proposed research and development space. The community has not been given clear information about what type of research will occur or how it will operate. When a project sits beside an elementary school, uncertainty is not acceptable. Families deserve transparency about what is being built so close to their children.

I have been a neighborhood advocate in Pasadena for years. I believe in thoughtful growth. I believe in housing. I believe in progress. But I also believe compatibility matters.

Compliance on paper is not the same as compatibility in real life. The City Council’s responsibility is not simply to approve what meets minimum technical standards, but to protect neighborhoods when those standards fall short of common sense. On this block, this project does not belong.

Once neighborhood character is compromised, it is rarely restored.

And if we accept incompatibility here, we should not be surprised when it appears in other neighborhoods across the city. The standards we apply today shape the Pasadena we live in tomorrow.

Pasadena is more than zoning allowances and square footage. It is neighborhoods. It is children. It is churches and tree-lined streets.

Those things deserve careful protection.

Erika Foy is a long-time Pasadena resident and community advocate deeply invested in preserving the character and quality of life in our city. She has served as Vice President of the Madison Heights Neighborhood Association and is an active member of her parish community, including years of service on the St. Philip the Apostle School Board. Her engagement in neighborhood issues reflects a commitment to thoughtful, responsible growth that respects Pasadena’s unique neighborhoods and history.

Erika’s advocacy work aligns with the mission of Building A Better Pasadena, a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting responsible development, historic preservation, and meaningful community engagement in local planning decisions. To learn more about their work and how neighbors are shaping the future of Pasadena, visit www.abetterpasadena.org.