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Old 05-19-2008, 08:48 PM
 
81 posts, read 356,979 times
Reputation: 40

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenchili View Post
Lompoc doesnt have high crime. Ive lived here 6 yrs and its a sleepy
small friendly town. Sure theres crime, but not what would be considered
"high" crime, like youve "heard".

Greenchili
Agree. Lompoc crime index is 292 versus 370 for Santa Maria. Actually, 370 is not too bad either.
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Old 05-20-2008, 01:28 PM
 
142 posts, read 524,067 times
Reputation: 64
Don't listen to basinguide, I've lived in SM my whole life and have none of the things he's talked about.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klassyhk View Post
Wow, this helps me a lot. I was considering applying for a job position that I was made aware of but reading your comments I get the feeling that I would see things the exact way that you do. The reason I even considered SM in the first place was because I thought it would be close to the beach, mountains nearby, and have an artsy progressive community. So Wranglers jean, huge belt buckles, and a F250 comes standard?? Very familiar with places where these are the "local" types. Been there done that. In that case, Santa Maria, CA is NOT the place for me.
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Old 08-25-2008, 04:32 AM
 
20 posts, read 107,203 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by corndog67 View Post
The Gangs. Santa Maria has a serious gang problem, some people seem to be trying to sugarcoat it, but just watch the news every morning. Someone gets shot or stabbed there every day. Take a drive around, its real obvious. Some neighborhoods you just stay out of. The houses I made offers on are in nice neighborhoods, I won't need to put up security cameras. Maybe. Maybe I will any way. There is also a major problem with unlicensed/uninsured drivers there. And illegal aliens are a major problem too. 70,000 population? I bet 40 or 50% higher than that due to the illegals. And the highest unmarried teen pregnancy rate in the nation.

But its not all bad news. El Toro and Su Mesa have the best mexican food I've ever eaten. Have a Sears and Costco, too.
We live and own our home in Orcutt. I was raised on the central coast. The Santa Maria valley is the LAST place I would have chosen to live on the central coast, but due to job location, this is where we live. 'Corndog67' is correct about the gangs/crime. Criminals from Santa Maria spill into the surrounding cities (not just Santa Maria). The police are not proactive unless it's a drug related case. The city of Santa Maria is also well known as a safe haven for illegal immigrants (the city won't even allow the USINS to open an office here, so it is located in Lompoc).

As far as restaurants, Mexican food and meat (tri-tip), have been the ONLY choices until this last year. A vegetarian restaurant finally opened and another sushi restaurant (I think that makes 4 japanese restaurants now). I like meat, don't get me wrong, but I can't eat meat or mexican 24/7. In Santa Maria, it's all crappy, anywhere, U.S. chains i.e. Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Roadhouse, Red Robin, Coolhand Luke's, Denny's, IHOP (& I believe that's the complete list!). Old Orcutt, at least, has 3 non-chain eateries to choose from & Orcutt has a couple also. We're supposed to be getting a Trader Joe's! Forget clothes shopping - it's a wasteland unless you're retirement age. Bookstores are non-existent. For entertainment/restaurants, luckily the 5-Cities area (Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach/etc.) & San Luis Obispo are within an hour, depending on traffic. It's actually very sad, when you drive into the Santa Maria valley heading south on the 101 you can literally see the change as you drive over the bridge. Santa Maria just doesn't fit in with the rest of the central coast. I love my neighborhood and everyone is friendly - that being said, the abundance of RV's gets a little old (having them parked in front of your house with extension cords running from the neighbors house to the RV). Also, I never felt comfortable running in Waller park either - too much oogling by hispanic men hanging out (no offense, just my experience). For info. about the crime, just start reading the local newspaper on a daily basis online: www.santamariatimes.com (look at County Lines).

Here are a few links to recent crime in the newspaper:
Santa Maria Times (http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2008/08/24/news/centralcoast/news06.txt - broken link)

Santa Maria Times (http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2008/08/14/news/centralcoast/news11.txt - broken link)

County Lines for August 25, 2008 (http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2008/08/25/news/centralcoast/news07.txt - broken link)



As far as schools - I'm told that students from the Gaudalupe/Santa Maria district are being bussed over to Orcutt district.

Also - it's very difficult to find jobs if you don't speak spanish - nearly every job (except non-specialized jobs i.e. engineering, medical doctor) requires that you speak spanish. If you don't, good luck! Jobs are better paying in SLO compared to Santa Maria also.

Depending on the wind direction - it can stink. When we drive towards Santa Maria from Orcutt it literally begins to smell (farmland?). Lots of farming chemicals also since the valley is full of strawberries.

The beach: Guadalupe Dunes Beach is very restricted due to the protected Snowy Plover - can't walk your dog there - have to pay to park. It is a ecological beach (set aside for conservation) - not a sunbathing beach.

I have been pleasantly happy with Marian hospital. I had to be hospitalized for a week at Cottage in Santa Barbara and Marian was far better. Oh and that is another topic - mass exodus of physicians! It is very hard to keep doctors in this area; check with your insurance!!

I honestly think Lompoc has become a nicer area than Santa Maria despite it's own gang problem (probably because of VAFB & I also think people are moving in from Santa Barbara).

Last edited by jrmint; 08-25-2008 at 05:27 AM..
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Old 08-27-2008, 02:41 PM
 
75 posts, read 304,423 times
Reputation: 36
I am looking to move to the santa maria or lompoc area... I am willing to consider other towns that are no more then a 30 minute commute to VAFB.
If you would let me know of other towns I may want to look into I would appreciate it.
I have a large family and will be moving there in less then a months time... so an info.. would be appreciated.

Also do you know of any campgrounds that have trailers or whatnot to rent until we find a rental there... going on the assumption we have not found anything at the time of the move.
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Old 08-27-2008, 02:42 PM
 
75 posts, read 304,423 times
Reputation: 36
Also could you post some photos of the surrounding area... not just the pretty photos either.. A realistic view of the areas there would be appreciated.
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Old 08-28-2008, 08:41 PM
 
177 posts, read 261,341 times
Reputation: 106
After reading many posts regarding Santa Maria and Lompoc, I have decided to stay put. Thank you JRMint for describing the truthful picture. I refuse to live in a area that is predominately Illegal immigrants who use guns and knives to harm others.
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Old 09-09-2008, 12:20 PM
 
20 posts, read 107,203 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalif View Post
It appears Basinguide's reputation is proceeding him. Santa Maria is a fine town to live in. I've lived here pretty much all my life. There are some very nice neighborhoods in Santa Maria. If you make over $100,000 a year, you should be able to get into one of those neighborhoods.

As far as gangs go, I don't see them, nor have I ever had any encounter with anything or anyone resembleing a gangster. Being Hispanic doesn't make you a gang member. I live the American dream, and am very happy to call Santa Maria my home. We have great weather here, it's seldom too hot, never too cold. We have a nice junior college in Allan Hancock J.C, I live close to some nicest of the beaches in all of California without having to pay beachtown mortgages, I live relatively close to some very nice lakes in Nacimiento and San Antonio where I take my boat out with my family. We're almost halfway between LA and SF (a little closer to LA).

I would recommend living in South East Santa Maria for anyone planning on moving here.
Please tell me you're joking! You don't see a gang problem? Also, the lakes you mention are in 2 other counties (SLO and Monterey)...Naciemento takes a good hour and a half (not to mention towing a boat) and San Antonio is further. Accessing a beach that you can use is at least a 25 minute drive north.
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Old 09-09-2008, 12:38 PM
 
20 posts, read 107,203 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnowFlower View Post
I am looking to move to the santa maria or lompoc area... I am willing to consider other towns that are no more then a 30 minute commute to VAFB.
If you would let me know of other towns I may want to look into I would appreciate it.
I have a large family and will be moving there in less then a months time... so an info.. would be appreciated.

Also do you know of any campgrounds that have trailers or whatnot to rent until we find a rental there... going on the assumption we have not found anything at the time of the move.
If you have kids, I've heard that Cabrillo High School (Lompoc) is a very good school - so you might want to base where you end up settling on that. I would look into the area known as Vandenberg Village (just outside of Lompoc). It sits slightly above VAFB. The Mission Hills & Mesa Oaks neighborhoods above Lompoc are nice also. If you're willing to push your driving limit (drive highway 246) I would highly consider Buellton (which borders Solvang/Santa Ynez = gorgeous scenery/wine country) and is a quick jump onto the 101 freeway. The Lompoc & Vandenberg Village areas will have overcast days due to fog while the Buellton area is warmer and no fog. I'm assuming you've been to VAFB so you know what the terrain is like in the area (so I don't have to describe it more).

I'll have to do some thinking about trailers for rent - in the mean time I'm sending you a message about one I know of to avoid.

Other than those areas, my last "recommendation" would be Orcutt. It's an easy commute to VAFB from here.
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Old 09-10-2008, 08:14 AM
 
75 posts, read 304,423 times
Reputation: 36
Thank you for your input jrmint.
If you should hear of or think of any others that I should look into or avoid.. .let me know;-)
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Old 10-05-2008, 10:03 AM
 
81 posts, read 356,979 times
Reputation: 40
I made a quick visit to Santa Maria (& Orcutt) recently to consider it as a possible living location. But I could tell right away that it was not right for me (but maybe you will like it). Here's what I found:

Orcutt and Santa Maria are very near to rural areas. I mean "near" as in there are fields right up to the edge of the city on just about every side. At first I liked the feeling, but as I spent more time there, I felt uncomfortable with the smells and the dust.

Retail is very "chainish", i.e. you will recognize just about every store name. Very little in the way of local businesses. The streets then tend to look very generic...like one big strip mall of Targets, Subways, McDs, Burger King, Payless, Exxon, etc. etc. Very convenient, but lacking in any unique culture or feel.

There are some nice housing areas sprinkled around. But even the nicer ones tend to have lots of boats, RVs, and cars-under-lengthy-repair in front of the house.

Overall, an OK place to live if you were transferred there for some sort of high paying job, but for me it's not a place I would voluntarily move to.
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