The Alhambra

This complex houses many different entities, of which I came to visit USC’s PA school. My friend is classed up here, so I came to pick her up before dinner. I came here a bit early, so I waited in the office.
The staff here is awesome, very friendly and professional. Much like the public health/​preventive medicine side of the house (in which I’m classed up currently), the physician assistant program is ran efficiently. Their director is a fellow Navy veteran, and one of the friendliest guys you can meet.
The students here are pretty cool, too. I’ve hung out with my friend’s classmates, and they have a camaraderie I haven’t seen since the service. Great group of people!
The building itself is located in Alhambra, and it’s $ 1 every 20 minutes for a max daily rate of $ 3. The building is well maintained, and the facilities very modern. A pretty safe area, some students chose to park in the street immediately outside the gates. As I do not come here often, I opt to park within the campus grounds.

I worked on its campus back in late 1998 to early 2001. It was decent. My dotcom employer used various places there.

So the following review only pertains to the Shops at the Alhambra, not the Alhambra itself.
Here’s a write-​up taken directly from the City of Alhambra website:
«This 17,755 square foot retail center features a large open-​air plaza with seating for 165, Moroccan tiled fountain and five towering Canary Island palm trees. An elevated pedestrian bridge allows for convenient access between The Shops at the Alhambra and the Alhambra Campus. The Shops tenants include Starbuck’s Coffee, Subway, Pick Up Stix, Just Grillin’, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Nextel and Jamba Juice.»
Qdoba doesn’t exist anymore, though… RIP. I liked that place and they gave teacher discounts. Oh well. Lunchtime rush isn’t too bad here, so I usually hit up Jamba Juice or Pick Up Stix. I’ll have to try Just Grillin’ at some point.

The Alhambra is kind of a blocked off community. In this nice looking community is a lot of businesses including connections to Keck’s hospital, East Los Angeles Regional Center, and plenty more. From the outside, you won’t expect much of this place, but inside here is actually really big! To me, it was like a nice looking college. It would be hard to get lost as each building has a sign of what business is inside. If worse comes to worst, ask the security guard under the green canopy of the walking entrance or look for the many directories situated around the community.
Note: Whichever business you may go to, see if you can get validation for your parking ticket. The parking lot is quite small for visitors so be patient. Lastly, this place is right across from the Starbucks entrance at the light on Fremont, so don’t get lost!

Whoever came up with the lay out of this little shopping center should never work again.
I think the worse aspect of all this is that it’s near the Valley/​Fremont interchange and so traffic ALWAYS SUCKS because of the 710 ending here. Which is a bit ironic since it’s the PASADENA Freeway and not the «Let’s dump you off in Alhambra where traffic sucks ass» freeway.
In any event, I’ve seen shops come and go here. Mainly go and mostly because the lay out isn’t very useful for businesses. You have store fronts that you see as you try to plow either into the bad traffic or you zoom by from the bad traffic. No efficient way to actually get into the parking lot that wont have someone plow into your car.
Once in the parking lot you’re facing the backs of the shops. So you really don’t know what to do to get around other than go through some businesses very awkwardly.
The whole area is a nightmare and whoever thought putting businesses here would be good was smoking something. At any given time there’s at least two spaces that are trying to be rented out.
Too much hassle and not worth the stop since you can’t really get more than one thing around here making your trip a little frustrating for just one meal/​item.

My school is located in one of the buildings, so I feel obligated to review the Alhambra. So let’s get started.
Things I like:
–close proximity to where I live
–close to the 10 freeway
–relatively cheap vistor parking (20 min free, $ 1 for every hour, max is $ 3)
–the decorate it really nice around Christmas
–there are several colleges located here: Alliant International University (holla!), a branch of USC Keck School of Medicine, Platt College, and a few others.
–the grounds and landscaping are all very nice and well maintained
–one of the parking attendants is really very nice.
–East Los Angeles Regional Center is here, which was very convenient for me because all my work meetings were held here.
–there is a HUGE new LA fitness facility on the premises
That being said, let’s begin reviewing the things I do not like:
–the name. «The Alhambra.» It’s like saying, «The Bakersfield.» Just because you add a ‘The’ doesn’t make it fancy.
–the furniture in the common rooms of the buildings, (i.e. auditoriums, bathrooms/​lounges) could SERIOUSLY use some updating. They’re frayed, hideous colors and upholsteries that are in dire need of a make over.
–the parking sucks if you have to come here often and pay $ 50 each semester for a permit. They use automated passes, so you just hold your card up to the sensor and you should be able to drive right in… in theory. Apparently, all of the gates are not synched, and you have to swipe your card in and out, otherwise you won’t be able to get in again. But that still doesn’t guarantee that you pass will work. *sigh* Parking can be hard to come by on certain days, so much so, that people have to park lining the brick wall surrounding the premises. Tacky.
–I’ve seen food carts come and go in my three years of frequenting this location, and they even introduced a café last year, only to cruelly take it away. Currently, there is no where on the grounds that serves actual food. Now, there is a snack shop and some vending machines, but if you want real food, you’ll have to go across the street to Subway, Qdoba, Jamba, Starbucks, and Pick up Stix. Sounds like decent variety, but I assure you, after three years, that stuff gets old. Luckily, there are some other places not too far, but if you’re in a rush, you have to make do with those choices or bring your won.
–i feel like security is seriously lacking. I’ve been on here as late as 9pm, and they keep the lights on in most of the buildings (not environmently friendly!), and the doors are open for the most part.
The Alhambra could use some improvement in the aforementioned areas, however, it’s still my graduate school home and will be for one more year.