We continue our tour through the San Gabriel Valley with an episode focused on the City of Glendora, known as the Heart of the Foothills.

It might surprise you if you're not familiar with what's going on at this small suburban community, but Glendora is working hard to build out a bike network, calm traffic on its streets, build up a downtown in its 'village' area and continue to plan for the coming A Line (Gold Line) Station. Our first interview is with Steve Mateer, who is responsible for executing the vision for a new and green Glendora. We talk about how the City Council is pushing a smart growth vision for the city and how their community outreach strategy has helped reach consensus instead of conflict on new projects such as bike lanes or parklets.

Second, Chris interviews Adam Cousins, the satirist behind the Memes of Glendora Instagram page. The social media site provides a tongue-in-cheek view of suburban life in the San Gabriel Valley.

The audio of our podcast can be found below. If you prefer the written word, you can find a transcript of our interview with Steve here and with Adam here.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”

Welcome to the first SGV Connect podcast of 2024! We start our new year with the first in a new series that focuses on different regions and communities in the San Gabriel Valley and examines both the state of their mobility projects and cultural and community projects.

This week, both interviews were completed by Chris Greenspon. The first is with David Diaz, the executive director of Active SGV, where they discuss several projects going on in the area: a multimodal projects coming soon to the area, a linear park and greenway on Merced Avenue, the Rosemead Boulevard Complete Streets, and projects on Rush Street, Santa Anita, and Parkway Drive.

The second interview is with Pedro Gonzales, the librarian at Libros Monte, a lending library run by the South El Monte Arts Posse and staff member with Mt San Antonio College’s El Centro: Latinx Student Program. The conversation bounces back and forth between Libros Monte and El Centro at Mt SAC (and some soccer).

If you prefer reading rather than listening, you can read transcripts of the interview with David Diaz here or Pedro Gonzalez here.

SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. “Foothill Transit. Going Good Places.”