 Previously a residential street bounded by houses, the street was soon dotted with upscale shops, boutiques, national retailers and restaurants and became known as one of the premiere shopping destinations in the San Gabriel Valley.The South Lake Avenue shopping district, in which Bullock's Pasadena was a major player, started to lose its luster in the late 1980s.While Pasadena's once-seedy Old Town district was reborn as a trendy shopping and entertainment district, once-proud South Lake Avenue lost much of its distinction.