Old Pasadena, often referred to as Old Town Pasadena or just Old Town, is the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California, United States, and had a latter day revitalization after a period of decay. Old Pasadena began as the center of a research hub where science and research institutions such as Caltech and Jet Propulsion Laboratory and companies such as Beckman Instruments, Aerojet were founded. The large concentration of such companies in the area gave it the nickname "Athens of the West".