Posted on 12/26/2011 6:19:09 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
Just got back from our latest cruise, LA to Hawaii and back. But before we boarded the ship we spent a few days in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We get back there every couple of years still having family and friends there. Seeing Santa Barbara again makes me throw out this bit of hyperbole/speculation.
Of all the places/cities/towns where people live Santa Barbara and the surrounding area might be the most beautiful on earth. Of course I (nor anyone else) have seen the entire world and never will but IMHO it must be. Said with prejudice. Check the URL
I love it here, too... Moved here a few years ago, live down at East Beach by the zoo. Fabulous little town!
been there. used to drive a truck up and down 101, the Cuesta Grade; burned out a set of brakes on what I recall is known as Gaviota Grade (or Pass) — the back road from SB to Santa Maria. I remember watching bulldozer plow firebreaks on nearly vertical mountainsides; Montecito...actually lived in Carpinteria. It used to be a nice little town in the ‘80’s. Gawd only knows what it’s like now.
Isn’t Santa Barbara the place where the city painted contour lines on roads and sidewalks to show people where the ocean level is going to be when Al Gore’s predictions come true?
Visited there once, not long ago, and was enchanted by the place. Until I checked out the real estate listings; egad! Definitely for the beautiful people.
Thankfully prices tumbled 3 years ago... I picked up a place for 40% of what it sold for in 2006.
I find that the people there are very friendly, mostly Conservative Christians (unlike the hippies, liberals and atheists who seem gravitate to the coastal regions) and have cultural values closer to mine. There's some good country music in Bakersfield that the snooty elites in places like Santa Barbara, La Jolla and Marin Country shun.
Bakersfield and much of the valley was settled by good, salt-of-the-earth folks from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. In my opinion, they seem more proud to be American than in parts of California. I saw a lot of American flags a-flyin' when I was last there. Plus, who can't love a town with a suburb named Oildale? :-)
I'm sure Fresno is also a good place (aside from the illegals and the commie fools at the Fresno Bee). Right Jim?
My wife and I went back to visit this year and it is now a people's republic like Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
My wife made an interesting observation as we drove down State street: They must have passsed a law that forbids ugly people on the streets.
My all time retirement destination is Santa Barbara. The perfect melding of the mountains and the sea.
Check out Montecito.
CA is incredibly beautiful. I hate to see it bashed so much here. There are lots of great Conservatives here too.
It was nice until Al Gore moved to next door Montecito. As they say there goes the neighborhood.
I’m in SB for Christmas. It is one of the greatest places I’ve ever been. And I’ve seen 48 states and more than a dozen nations and several Carribean islands.
Be sure to go to Arigato Sushi.
“Until I checked out the real estate listings; egad! Definitely for the beautiful people.”
We have good friends who used to live in SB. While visiting us a few years ago, they mentioned that they were awaiting the sale of their house. Curiosity overwhelmed me and I asked what the sale price was.
“$540,000, they said matter-of-fact-ly”.
“Wow, must be a nice place! What would our house sell for?”
“Oh, about $700,000.”
“Huh?” (we bought this home in NC 12 years ago for just over $100K.)
al gore? gawd what a society suckup he is.
As a Texan living in Ventura right down the rd from SB, I agree with you. I always enjoy driving up the coast with Texas visitors and showing them SB and SLO. It’s gorgeous — and some of the quaint towns around there are good to visit if I feel homesick for East Texas.
I agree. Two other contenders are San Francisco, Santa Fe, NM, and Washington, DC. Interestingly, just about every beautiful city is a hotbed of leftist politics.
People in CA are paid more. That’s why we can afford it.
Curious ...Where did you go in Hawaii ? Big Island by any chance ?
We did the Century in Oct missed Maui had to rescue 3 men in a disabled sailboat we left it adrift 3 weeks later it beached itself on Maui
we had a great cruise
I lived in Santa Barbara, as did my parents and sister, from 1974 until the fall of 1989. Beautiful place and, yes it’s somewhat liberal, but there is a large and active TEA Party contigent in the city.
The Santa Ynez Valley, in the mountains above Santa Barbara, was VERY conservative when I lived in Santa Barbara. I believe this area still is rather conservative.
Ironically, this valley is where Michael Jackson had his 3,000 acre Neverland estate.
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