This will be the first of several community profiles showcasing different areas in the city of Arcadia. The idea is to provide a general overview of distinct communities so that readers who are not familiar with the area have a better understanding of these places. While this has been on my to-do list for weeks, the credit goes to IrvineRenter over at IHB for coming up with this great idea. Without further adieu, our first community profile will be Peacock Village.
Peacock Village is bounded by Michillinda Avenue to the west, Baldwin Avenue to the east, Huntington Drive to the south and Colorado Street to the north. There’s a small area just west of Baldwin (north of the race track) that I also consider as part of this community.
Peacock Village is one of the older parts of Arcadia. A large piece of the land was bought by Scottish immigrant Hugo Reid in the mid-1800s and Hugo Reid Drive & Hugo Reid Park are named after this early resident. As you can see from the map, Peacock Village backs right up to the Arboretum of Los Angeles county. This is where the many peafowl reside, hence the name Peacock Village.
The peacocks are left to roam free in the surround neighborhoods and they frequently leave the boundaries of the Arboretum and enter the surrounding streets. Even as I drove through the neighborhood this past weekend I was stopped by many who park their pretty selves smack-dab in the middle of the road. These beautiful, yet stubborn creatures are the symbol of Arcadia.
One of the features that speaks to me is the tranquility of the neighborhood. The community is separated from the 210 freeway by Colorado Blvd and two high walls plus ample trees to remove the residential area from the road as much as possible. Although it is next to the racetrack, arboretum, Westfield mall and 210 freeway, it was astoundingly quiet on a Saturday afternoon. I didn’t do a drive-by with a muscle car or a Harley-Davidson, but I felt like the hum of my engine was the loudest thing for miles.
Many of the streets are curved and less grid-like than the rest of Arcadia, yet the structure of the community resembles more of the new OC developments with its carefully planned entrances and exits. There are 4 in/outlets off Colorado between Michillinda & Baldwin and 3 in/outlets off Huntington Drive. There are several more off Michillinda and just one exit to Baldwin. Some of the streets are only outlets that denies entrance to the community through the means of tire spikes. This restricts unnecessary traffic flow into the community that may come from the mall, racetrack or arboretum. It works well too because I frequently found myself accidentally exiting only to circle around to find a way back in.
The roads are often lined with giant, old trees that cast a big canopy over the wide streets. The lots are not the biggest offered in Arcadia, but they are a bit larger than many others in the rest of the city.
On top of that, I often see peacocks in the front lawn of many homes. They bring a wonderful sense of nature into this little suburban neighborhood. Wouldn’t that be a lovely thing to wake up to on a lazy weekend morning?
To its west side there is Hugo Reid Elementary School and Park. A typical Saturday afternoon consists of an all-American little league game complete with hotdogs and cheering family members. The tot-lot next to the field was clean and well maintained. There was also a medium sized open grassy area beyond the outfield, several tennis courts and what looked like a small batting cage. This park speaks well to the family-friendliness of the neighborhood.
During my drive through the area I saw mainly older, but well maintained homes with clean-cut, landscaped yards. The were many traditional ranch homes as well as several contemporary and colonial style homes. Most of the homes were sized to fit the lot and I was happy to see only a handful of newer McMansions.
If I have showcased your house and you would like the picture removed, just leave a comment or send me an email and I will take the picture down. I chose these homes because they represent the neighborhood and are probably homes that stood out to me. Here are some more for your viewing pleasure.
It is neighborhoods like this that draw me to the city of Arcadia. This is a beautiful, clean and serene community that clearly depicts pride of ownership. I find this neighborhood very family friendly and would consider a purchase here myself. If you live in this neighborhood, I congratulate you on your purchase and thank you for doing your part to maintain the beauty of its character.
I often use Hugo Reid as an alternative road to Colorado BLVD when I try to go east on a bad traffic day. I like the area very much.
Great community profile!
Thanks! 🙂
We enjoyed the profile and was quite informative. The pics are awesome.
I’m glad you found it useful. Looks like I’ll be doing more of these in the future.
Do you know what trees are removable in the Peacock Village?
Where did you come up with the name “Peacock Village”? While it is a cute name based upon your impression that the entire area is home to peacocks, there is no historical accuracy to it at all. West of Baldwin Avenue you have included two distinctly different areas: Santa Anita Village is the area south of Hugo Reid. The Rancho is the area north of Hugo Reid. The area you included east of Baldwin Avenue, where the streets are named after universities, is officially called Colorado Oaks.
I read your profile of Santa Anita Oaks and noticed some historical inaccuracies there too. The area west of Baldwin Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard, is the Upper Rancho. East of Baldwin Avenue is what is called Santa Anita Oaks, and it does NOT include any part of Arcadia north of Orange Grove.
Though you have mistakes all over the place like these, I still thank you for a very intriguing website/blog. I found it by accident and have been enjoying it ever since. But I am a an “old timer” from Arcadia and I would like to keep anyone from attempting to change history. I live in Newport Beach now but I still have connections to the area and love it very much.
I’m glad to see this community being a home to the Arboretum of Los Angeles County. I’m pretty sure the homeowners here are also glad it’s there because in such dense urban environment any piece of green does wonders to the home prices 🙂
Oh, and regarding the remark by GiveMeABreak about inventing the name “Peacock Village” – you never know how it will play out. If the name is catchy and reflects at least something that’s true about the community (and the peacocks are definitely here), it does not take long to catch on. Just as long as realtors know there is a nice new name to call a community, they’ll use it. Next thing you know, you ARE living in Peacock Village.
Thank you for writting this great dipiction of our neighborhood.I have moved to Arcadia 9 years ago but in many different parts. 3 years ago, I moved to the Rancho area on Hugo Reid 1 block west of the Elementry School Hugo Reid. This is by far the best place to live in Arcadia is you have young children which I do. Many families walk or ride there bikes to school and also friends pick up other friends in the mornings to walk to school together. These are the same children who play All American Baseball and AGSA Girls Softball league at Windsor Park. All the families know eachother and support eachother weather it be going to all the games to cheer or attending assemblys at the school to even bringing the entire community together to remember a mother who was so active in the community and the school had past away of natrual causes way before her time. We raise money for people in need and families in need and even donate lots of money and TIME to the sports programs, schools and boys/girls scouts. Many of the older families still support the schools and children attending the in and out truck for the bookfaire ordering fundraiser candy carmel apples and attend almost all resturants night out that benefits the school just because they care about their community. Though we don’t talk all the time, everyone says Hello, have a great day,welcome home when you see eachother. On Halloween besides the fact having around 300ish trick or treaters, many neighbors introduce themselves if they do not know you and let you know where they live and usually make nice comments on decoration etc. All of the children do know eachother and say “Hey, I know you! I didn’t know you lived right here!”
You can see children playing and hear laughter in the morning, after school and in the evenings but especially on the weekends. We enjoy the peacocks most of the time, they are so beautiful. When we first moved there it was a nucence as I would garden and plant many flowers just to find that I was planting Peacock snacks just to replant more flowers. I have finally figured out what not to plant and which Flowers peacocks are not fond of. My children and I love to watch the all the baby peacocks following their mother after they hatch, So cute. This year we had a mother peacock make a nest in our garden with 5 eggs. The kids would watch her and the eggs for motnhs. they would even bring her food so she would not have to leave for long to find food. The day they hatched, the kids were so excited, each of my kids named one and funny enough they still recognize the family around the neighborhood. This is truly the best place to live, and was also named “the best community to raise a family for the 2nd year in a row!” I appreciate you taking the time to write such a nice piece and hope that someday you too can find a home to live in this neighborhood.
where what is the address that i can put in my gps to see the peacocks roaming around