What do you think of Lompoc California?

[CousinMaynard]

My Pa was raised on a farm in the Santa Ynez Valley and i have very fond memories of visiting my relatives in Lompoc as a child. Some of you locals might have known my Uncle Stanley and his family and could relate.

Surfing use to be my life's passion so i passed thru Lompoc so many times on my way down to Rincon, now i wished i'd stopped in to visit, its much harder to make it down there now with my own family and responsibilities.

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

"I visited an elderly great-aunt there for years."
Me too. For 34 years. Did not have the pleasure of meeting great-auntie.

"no entertainment whatsoever"
Not necessarily a bad thing. Some folks prefer DOING as in camping, hiking , cycling, fishing surfing, etc., as opposed to being entertained.

"And it's windy. And windy."
We get it. We get it.

"whole town looks like a trailer park"
There very well may be some trailers in town, but please see thread about why some people feel the need to exaggerate.

"Lompoc residents didn't exactly challenge my intellect."
Sounds as if somebody needs a lot of external stimuli

"This is all purely subjective."
News flash. Forum opinions are subjective.

"There are many better places to live."
Minus points for stating the obvious.

"In many ways, Lompoc reminds me of Oklahoma."
Let me guess. It's windy and windy and windy and...

Ick. Feel free to keep on passin'.

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by rock.city

I joined this site strictly because of this thread. Lompoc is by far, the most miserable, gloomy, depressing, and stifling little place I've ever seen. And I've been everywhere. I lived in that miserable Valley for many years, and couldn't get out fast enough. I actually attended schools there and can attest to the fact that it is definitely NOT the place to raise children. Unless you want them to become low-life, bottom-feeding, basement-dwelling, mouth-breathers.

I anticipate the hate I'll get from this post. But before you begin to bang away at your keyboard with a response, re-read what I said and REALLY think about it. Then tell me I'm wrong. I DARE you.

This entire post is the most entertaining contribution I've read on City-Data! lol

I mean it; it is a well-written, enjoyable read that made me chuckle.

BTW, I get where you're coming from. I live in Alaska, and man oh man...

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by visionfor2morrow

Why bother? Overpriced? You're off your rocker. Lompoc has the cheapest Real Estate price, especially for the area. Compton, Lancaster, Santa Clarita, Boyle Heights are infested with meth addicts and the such.

You could have shared why you like the town without saying he was off his rocker and taking his opinion personally. His opinion is about the town and his own experience of it, not about you.

BTW, he did write about the property prices appearing good compared to other communities. His point was that they are still overpriced for what one gets. If you'd not been so offended and reactive, you would have comprehended all of what he wrote.

Frankly, your steal was still overpriced, because all the popular areas of CA are horrendously overpriced. The cost of homes is out of control and unhealthy.

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by rock.city

I don't feel that I slammed or abused anyone. Stop crying. We're all adults here, right? My screen name refers to my home of Detroit. You're close with Pahrump, but no cigar. I live in Las Vegas.

How about instead of begging to be left alone, you take my great intellect and wisdom to solve the problems of the miserable town you live in? I notice you didn't address any of the points I made. You know I'm right, you just couldn't sleep knowing that someone had your town pegged for the hole it is.

Now I'm slamming you and being abusive. CHEERS!

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by rock.city

Well allow me to retort!

Try Again!

You are really funny. lol

[pgrdr]

Originally Posted by GregJ

hey Mr. rock, so why do you feel you have to join city-data just to slam and abuse people who disagree with you? I can only judge from your screen name that you live in some desert paradise like Pahrump or someplace, huh?

how about using some of your great intellect to solve the problems of the world and leave us the hel* alone.

Me? I just (3 hours ago) came back from a couple weeks out of state and AM VERY HAPPY to come home to Lompoc.

What a crock. People join a forum when something in it inspires them to want to contribute to the discussion. He's no different from anyone else.

I did not read one instance in that post where he slammed or abused anyone in here. Taking his opinion of your town personally as though he was talking about you is not the same thing as being slammed and abused. In fact, he didn't communicate with any individual, but you and a couple of others did direct your comments at him personally. So really, you are the abuser.

"Leave us the hel* alone"? What do you think this is? Your own personal little club? Do you think that strangers posting opinions is somehow directed at you and about your personally. You are wrong on both counts. It is a public forum where people ask for advice and opinions, which means you need to toughen up, dude, and let all opinions be voiced (written) without getting your panties in a twist.

[TarynB]

I remember reading this thread over a year ago when we were relocating to the Santa Barbara area for work. Now, after living over a year in Lompoc, I have a few observations. YMMV, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. I will also add that we have no school-aged children, so the schools are not part of this comment. We were not willing to buy in this area since we wanted to see how the job worked out and whether or not we could stand living here, and we decided to rent a house in Lompoc, mainly because we got more bang for our buck and it was really hard to find a rental in Santa Barbara or the SY Valley that would take dogs. Also, I work from home, so I know how the town is during the week days. Now for the observations:

The good: Weather (breezy and fresh air, never gets over 80 in the summer and this past winter was very mild), gorgeous surroundings on every exit out of town, plus tons of scenic spots in the surrounding hills. Absolute quiet, except for the sound of frogs and cicadas at night during the summer months. The proximity to nature is amazing--I sit out on my patio in the afternoons and watch the hawks hunting overhead, listen to the owls hooting at night and the coyote packs squabbling. It is very isolated, which is both a good and bad thing. I love driving over to Surf and watching the sunset and the whales migrating. I saw two awe-inspiring rocket launches. I am within an hour's drive of some pretty amazing food and wine destinations, not to mention access to cultural events. Not much different from when I lived in LA, when it would take me nearly two hours to reach an event downtown. I loved discovering Central Coast Specialty Foods for great sandwiches and meats, Floriano's for Mexican, and the burgers at Jalama Beach. I kept reading about gang activity upthread, but it must be pretty small-time because I never see it. Believe me, I lived in LA during the riots, and grew up near Compton, so I know what I'm looking for. Never any trouble getting a parking space, "rush hour" is when the workers from Vandenberg come into town for lunch, this is definitely a small town.

The bad: The town is definitely in need of a facelift, better restaurants and stores, and needs a good scrubbing. I was shocked to see a trailer park (literally, not mobile homes) directly across the street from the high school, and can only imagine what goes on there. Lots of homeless fellows hanging about, but they aren't aggressive. There seems to be a lot of people on the dole here, which isn't surprising since there is so little opportunity for employment, and if you don't have a car it can be pretty tough to get around. We had a medical emergency and went to the local hospital, which was terrible and completely missed a serious medical condition my husband had developed. Overall the medical and dental situation is not very good, and you are far from a good trauma hospital if one is needed, since Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is an hour away. Same thing with my dog - had to drive to Santa Barbara in the middle of the night when he got sick suddenly, since all the local vets close up shop by 6. The grocery stores are laughable, with rotting produce and near-expiration perishables. You need to check every little expiration date, because the stores apparently don't. I end up ordering a lot of grocery items from Amazon Prime, because the selection in the stores is so poor. It's a pain having to drive to Santa Maria when you want to go to Target or Best Buy.

Overall, though, we like it enough that we are looking to buy a home, since the job seems to be working out well. We will take the good with the bad, and soldier on. I have to say that I worked with a realtor on finding a home in Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley, and the prices for poor quality homes were ridiculous. Same in Buellton. You can get a much nicer home in Mesa Oaks or Vandenberg Village for less than a 3 bedroom box in a Buellton tract home. I think Lompoc overall has a lot to offer, and we have enjoyed living here.

[Winston Smith]

Nice and honest account of your time in Lompoc, TarynB. Good to see this old thread revived.