Ken Lee
Community Development Director/Redevelopment Consultant

phone:  626-430-2213
fax:  626-962-2018

It is an exciting time to be a part of the City of Irwindale!!

Economic Development activities in Irwindale are evident throughout the City. From the City Council to the Staff, there is a new vision as the City begins the early stages of transitioning from a mining town to a more suburban, metropolitan community

Irwindale is the ideal location for business! Situated in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley, we have four major freeways at our borders offering convenient access to all markets in Southern California!

The Foothill Freeway (210) at our northern city boundary extends west to Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley. The Freeway extension to the east was recently opened, providing quick and easy access to the Inland Empire and beyond. The San Gabriel Freeway (605) provides easy access to all points south, and the San Bernardino Freeway (10) offers a direct route into downtown Los Angeles and San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

A skilled and well educated workforce is critical to business success. Irwindale's central location affords the business community access to a large labor pool -- not only from the surrounding San Gabriel Valley cities, but also from western San Bernardino County and north Orange County.

The San Gabriel Valley has the distinction of being known as the Intellectual Capital of California! The Valley boasts a number of research institutions and a variety of for-profit biotech and technical cutting-edge companies.

As the Intellectual Capital of California, the Valley is home to over 30 colleges, universities and graduate schools, many of which are ranked above those of other intellectual capitals, such as Boston/Cambridge, Manhattan and Chicago.

The San Gabriel Valley, with its population of 1.8 million, contains more institutions of higher education than the City of San Diego (population: 1.2 million), South Orange County (1.4 million), North Orange County (1.4 million), the San Fernando Valley (2 million), Santa Clara County/San Jose (1.7 million), Greater San Francisco/Stanford (1.8 million) or the East Bay/Alameda County/ Berkeley (1.4 million) as well as Boston/Cambridge, Manhattan or Chicago.

The bookends of the Intellectual Capital of California are the Claremont Colleges to the east and Caltech at the west. The City of Irwindale is centrally located between these "bookends", offering convenient access to these great research institutions, and the City of Hope is right next door in the City of Duarte.

There are also three superb community colleges within a 12 mile radius, including Mt. San Antonio College, Pasadena City College and Rio Hondo Community College, which offer specialized training and other customized services to address specific needs of any business enterprise.

As mentioned above, the City has reached a turning point in its history, beginning the transformation from a mining town to a suburban, metropolitan community. In order to preserve and protect the City's Spanish heritage, while promoting and enriching the community's quality of life, the City adopted New Commercial and Industrial Design Guidelines in 2001. These Guidelines have been established to ensure the successful integration of newly developed commercial and industrial projects into their surroundings which will form a more aesthetically and functionally cohesive community. These Guidelines will insure that the built environment is responsive to the community's cultural values and historical identity. The effects of these guidelines are evident in recently completed developments such as the Irwindale Business Center, the Bateman Avenue project and the Tifal Street development.