Saturday, August 15, 2026

Altadena’s Walk Club Returns Sunday for Its Monthly Neighborhood Stroll

A free, unhurried walk born after the Eaton Fire gathers again at a Lincoln Avenue café

On the third Sunday of each month, a crowd forms outside a coffee roaster on Lincoln Avenue, laces up, and sets off at an easy pace through the neighborhood. No entry fee, no sign-up, no one keeping time.

That gathering is the Altadena Walk Club, and its organizers say the next walk is set for Sunday, Aug. 16, at 9:30 a.m., meeting at Unincorporated Coffee, 3045 Lincoln Avenue. The club was founded earlier this year by Mathew Rahban, a former crisis counselor who worked with Los Angeles fire survivors, and it grew directly out of the recovery that followed the Eaton Fire. It leans more toward conversation than exercise.

The fire began Jan. 7, 2025, destroying more than 9,000 structures and killing 19 people, according to Pasadena Weekly. Altadena — an unincorporated community just north of Pasadena — has spent the months since rebuilding under financial and emotional strain. Rahban has said he wanted something that wasn’t built around pace or fitness.

“There are a lot of run clubs in Pasadena, and those are tailored to people in their 20s and 30s and very fitness-oriented,” he told Pasadena Weekly.

The format is deliberately light. “It’s not supposed to be intensive,” he said. Rahban leads each walk, often bringing a friend or family member, and the walk lasts about 30 to 40 minutes before neighbors can return to the café for optional coffee. All ages and fitness levels are welcome. The first walk, on Feb. 15, drew more than 50 residents, according to Pasadena Weekly, and later walks have mixed familiar faces with new ones; Altadena Town Councilmember Anton Anderson attended the first two.

What Rahban says he noticed most was the talk itself. “The most important thing I saw … was a lot of people talking about rebuilding among themselves,” he told Pasadena Weekly. He has said he hopes to expand the club and partner with fire-recovery or other walking and running groups.

Here is what to know before heading out. The Altadena Walk Club’s next monthly walk takes place Sunday, Aug. 16, gathering at 9:30 a.m. The walk is free and requires no reservation. Participants meet at Unincorporated Coffee, 3045 Lincoln Avenue and may stay afterward to buy coffee if they wish. For more information, visit altadenawalkclub.com.

“I hope people can make some friends,” Rahban told Pasadena Weekly. “To be honest, that would be the biggest return on everyone’s time investment, if they can walk out of there with new friends.”