Santa Barbara vs. La Jolla (San Diego, San Luis Obispo: to rent, houses, neighborhood)

[Boca to Santa Barbara]

Lol. I would also pick La Jolla, CA as an alternative to Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara may be on the decline (jobs, housing, infrastructure). SB is also a very old town (one of the oldest in the state) with old problems.

[CynHunt]

It's hard to compare Santa Barbara to La Jolla. I have lived there and made the mistake of moving from there. It's hard to get back in now! Too cost prohibitive! I have friends and family who live there. Santa Barbara's architecture, the downtown area, the mountains, the neighborhoods, are much more beautiful than La Jolla. It's just too expensive for most people. It's older and not as homogenized as La Jolla.
I have spent a lot of time in Rancho Santa Fe and while I agree it is a very lovely place, Montecito is more beautiful and has a more settled feel to it, much grander.
I think a lot of the older locals feel that the Hollywood element has ruined it.

[Sampaguita]

I lived in Montecito for 8 yrs and moved to San Diego after I got married. I loved the small town feel of Montecito - very friendly and warm people. I do not get that vibe at all in LaJolla. Even celebs that I saw on a daily basis would wave "hi" just because they saw you every day at the local coffee shop or Vons.

I also love Santa Barbara'a architecture and it's proximity to mountains & ocean. There's a certain charm to SB that I just don't feel in LaJolla.

[CentralCoastAdvisor]

Out of the two I'd guess I'd have to pick...Carmel by the Sea.

I think it really just depends on what it is your looking for...if you need to earn your income like most then La Jolla is open to much more opportunity, however if your independently wealthy then I'd take Santa Barbara out of the equation and choose Carmel. But then again, I have very expensive taste...

[CynHunt]

Originally Posted by CentralCoastAdvisor

Out of the two I'd guess I'd have to pick...Carmel by the Sea.

I think it really just depends on what it is your looking for...if you need to earn your income like most then La Jolla is open to much more opportunity, however if your independently wealthy then I'd take Santa Barbara out of the equation and choose Carmel. But then again, I have very expensive taste...

Well, yeah! Carmel is incredible! I love the Northern coast. I don't think one is better over the other though, because they are quite different, don't you think?
I still have a special feeling for SB. I love the history of that town and I think the neighborhoods are wonderful.

[LDDiamondGirl]

I am always looking for posts about SB because we want to move there ...the sooner the better. But a move there will necessetate my husband commuting from his business in SanLuis Obispo. We live in the SLO county now and it is just not my cup of tea. We've given it a year and a half for the culture shock to recede. But it never gets any better. I have lived in Malibu, Corona del Mar, and West L.A., and now the central coast. This area is just too rural for my liking. And talk about angry and festering politics ? The Hatfields and the McCoys would give these folks a run for their money. There is a lot of divisiveness in this area. From 20 year ad-infinitum fights over sewers in Los Osos, to death grips on development, to resistance to any change whatsoever, it is just turning into one big senior citizens home/retirement mecca with a college as it's epicenter. No jobs, no doctors, no development, no nothing for anyone young to even think about moving here for. My kids have been here several times and they wouldn't even consider moving here.

But, to answer the question posed here regarding SB vs. LaJolla.....I would have to say that my choice would be Santa Barbara now, but if I were 30 to 40, it would probably be LaJolla.

LaJolla is crowded, noisy, full of young, neuveau riche, celebrity, and yuppies. Perfect for my son or daughter. Tons of other kids their age,....what could be better? Lots to do. San Diego with clubs, bars, happenings not too far. Shops filled with beautiful young women, just dreaming about dripping in Chanel.

But, SB has a much quieter wealth. Classy, I think. Still small town, conservative, vintage (with integrity...not just old). It is small town, but has the right stuff to satisfy just about anyone. SB is much more my kind of town at this time in my life. Now, someone said Carmel by the Sea ??? Wow.... there is a place I would never want to live. But it is fun to visit as long as you don't mind bad weather 90% of the time you go there. I didn't move to California to spend 6 times more money on a home than anywhere else to freeze my tush off most of the year. I have friends who had a house there for a while before they sold it and moved into Carmel Valley, where there's some sun. We'd sit in the fog on their multi million dollar beach front porch wearing a down jacket and Ughs in July.

Of all the places mentioned, and including where I live now in SLO county, the weather is the most divine and pristing in Santa Barbara, I think. Not too hot, not too foggy, divine sailing, beaches, and mountains and trees. I hope to be there by next summer.

[greatbasinguide]

Curiousity here, LDDiamondgirl, do you think there may be antisemitism in the SLO area?

[LDDiamondGirl]

Hi there...GBG,

That is a very curious inquiry. I had not personally encountered any Anti-semitism in SLO, but then, I know it is everywhere in this country, if you just look for it....sometimes it's just under the slimy rocks. I was wrong to think that over the years the hateful groups in this country would die off, leaving a better progeny. But every now and then something happens and by the things I read in the media, it seems that I am wrong about that, and maybe the reason why I sometimes think it's going away is that the offspring of the hateful ones have just been taught to hide it better. It is not too cool to be so overtly politically incorrect today.

I once participated in my AOL Forum, and I never will go on there again. Every political or social question posed is always answered by a bunch of angry religious zealots, making everything about "what Jesus would do/not do," and they are so hateful, angry, and revengeful sounding.....and they can't spell or formulate a grammatically correct sentence. No wonder so many people are scared of these types. Where are they being incited like this? What church? What ministry? Jerry Fallwell? It's like the American Taliban.

I have encountered more fundamentalism, extreme right religious Christians, and evangelical churches in SLO county than anywhere else in California that I have lived. But I have not encountered any hatred (outwardly manifested, that is). Should I assume that one follows the other? Now I am curious. Why did you ask that question of me?

[greatbasinguide]

Your use of the word Tush, classic Jewish, if you were Jewish and encountered antisemitism it could account for your feelings about SLO

[LDDiamondGirl]

Gee, if I had said,

"help a sister out," would you have asked me if I encountered any anti-black racism in SLO?

Well, Tush is as common as Bagels and cream cheese. Ever hear of those?

Also, if one has a negative opinion, (and shows a modicum of diplomacy when expresses it as I have tried to do) does that mean they should be a target for hatred by the people who live there by finding something to hate about them?

I think that's a pretty strange conclusion, GBG.

I do not like living in SLO, and I have rationally stated why, and not ever put anyone here down, or in any way debased the people who like it here. I have used the Forum as a way to provide an opinion from a metropolitan human person who moved to a rural small town community and ended up not liking it at all and not finding it to be at all what I expected. Possibly, in so doing, I could help someone else who may be making a mistake by listening only to the vacation brochures when making a decision to move to "the lovely laid-back country life."

It is not for everyone. But to say that because I have stated my dislike for living in this kind of area because it doesn't satisfy my particular needs I could be setting myself up for "antisemetism (if I were Jewish) is amazing to me. In fact GBG, I think it is a perfect example of how people use Anti-semetism, and Anti-everything as ammo for completely unrelated causes.

Glad you brought this up. I think anyone else reading this will see that your conclusion is pretty strange.