It was predated in California only by the Broadway & 87th Street shopping center in South Los Angeles, which opened seven years earlier in 1936.
It is located in the neighborhood of Linda Vista, an area that saw population soar in 1941, when 3000 homes were constructed in less than a year to house aircraft workers and their families.
Linda Vista was the largest U.S. defense housing project during World War II, and the world's largest low-cost modern housing development, according to the San Diego Historical Society.
[2] The design was innovative for the time and place, with Pasadena architect Whitney Smith following garden city principles, with parking around the edges and a landscaped "main street" or "town green" interior with a lawn, trees, and an arc-shaped, bench-lined covered promenade.
[3][4] The center won a Creditable Mention Award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in January 1947.