What's the truth about Santa Maria - Orcutt? (Los Angeles, Bakersfield: military, work)

[Greenchili]

Originally Posted by candmforever

What if I plan to home school the kids (little to now worry about the schools), my DH is in the Air Force and I don't work (we won't be working w/ the public), we are currently living in FRIGID Wyoming where we frequently dig out from the snow and 8 months of the year deal w/ sub zero weather, (Cali weather, if foggy even, is a WELCOMED change ..we are florida natives!) and we have family in every direction? True we'd have to deal w/ rude people, other languages, crowded places, etc. But I think we can circumvent a lot of the undesirable things people mention about the place to an extent. I have a friend who lives there and she says there's PLENTY to do..the beacH? We have ATVS..sand dunes? Day trips to Solvang, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay? Seafood? We get NO seafood here in WY. We've found a lot to be excited about.

Eh..maybe we're optimist. Or..maybe b/c the Air Force says we have to go, we are trying to find the bright side? In any case, I'm excited to go! #1 reason? I LIVE IN WYOMING!!?? LOL

OMG Candmforever! Do not fret over this move, it is a very nice area
to live. The Central Coast area is great! We live in Lompoc(im sure somebody will trash talk it soon ) and we are fine and happy. The weather is
so mild and never extreme. My husband is retired AF, he didnt retire from
Vandenberg but we chose to retire here as all our family is here in Calif and
His family is here in Lompoc! My Husband works Civil Service at Vanderberg so if you have any more ??s just PM me and I will try to help all I can. Orcutt
seems like a cute little town, kind of an offshoot of Santa Maria. But we
enjoy living 10 mins from the base and work so Lompc it is for us. The base
has some of the nicest housing we have seen for the Military!

Deb

[mono#9]

Gotta chime in with Greenchili--my parents retired to Lompoc--Vandenberg Village to be exact--they spent their last ten years there and loved every minute of it. So many people bad mouth the place--I'm sure there are rough areas--but if you're careful where you pick to live, that area has the mild weather and the lovely places to visit close by that make it a wonderful place to live--and yet relatively affordable.

[candmforever]

Originally Posted by Greenchili

OMG Candmforever! Do not fret over this move, it is a very nice area
to live. The Central Coast area is great! We live in Lompoc(im sure somebody will trash talk it soon ) and we are fine and happy. The weather is
so mild and never extreme. My husband is retired AF, he didnt retire from
Vandenberg but we chose to retire here as all our family is here in Calif and
His family is here in Lompoc! My Husband works Civil Service at Vanderberg so if you have any more ??s just PM me and I will try to help all I can. Orcutt
seems like a cute little town, kind of an offshoot of Santa Maria. But we
enjoy living 10 mins from the base and work so Lompc it is for us. The base
has some of the nicest housing we have seen for the Military!

Deb

Thank you very much Deb! I'm very excited about the move and can't wait! I was basically asking all those ?s in response to the above poster.

Listen, when we moved from Panama City, FL to WYOMING in January of 2005 ....JANUARY.......it was teh biggest change my life will likely have. Completely different than anything I knew and tons of forums had me scared to death of the place. Yeah, we freeze our butts off most of the year, it's a smaller town, etc. BUT, as it turns out, we are very sad to leave. We really had a great time. THIS move has taught me that those that bad mouth a place..especially saying there is nothing do.....are the people that DON'T DO ANYTHING LOL. We came here expecting to be bored silly and we have been so active and found so so very much to do (especially in the nearby mountain..4wheeling, camping, etc) that we don't feel like we had enough time to do it all!

SO....I take all the negative stuff w/ a grain of salt. I do acknowledge it but i do so while realizing that everyone's view and experiences are different and hey..if I don't like it, it's only a 3 yr assignment and we're outta there anyway. Besides, in Cali we have family and if things get too miserable, we can always go see them, which is always a blast.

[Muck]

I lived in Santa Maria almost 10 years ago. In general its like any other strip mall, shopping center town, even more so now than it was then. Lots of big box stores, very generic, you might as well be in any other town. I did experience more gang activity there, even than I do living in San Jose. There is (or at least there was) a lot of small time gang activity. Lots of stabbings.

I really, really dislike the big box, generic strip mall look. Its the same look that every god forsaken town in the central valley has.

If you're going to live there, look on the far side of orcutt, on your way to lompoc. There are some nice houses out there.


If you can overlook the bad things, there are some great things though. Its close to the ocean, so its cool. Its also a BEAUTIFUL part of the ocean. The farmlands have a certain beauty to them if you can handle the smell of cabbage and I've saved the best for last. THE FOOD!

This is where my Tongue's pallate was awakened. BBQ, and taco's. Still to this day, I try to recreate in my kitchen the POUND AND POUNDS of taco's and tri tip I consumed in that town. Taco's de mexico was my favorite taco joint.

King fallafel wasn't too bad either, if you were in the mood for a salty, greasy burger, with big crinkle cut fries.. mmmm (make sure you go to the one on the north side of town, not in orcutt.. the orcutt one was never as good.. they probably cleaned their grill more often)

[lexi]

Originally Posted by CalBerkeley2002

I hear a lot of good and bad things about Santa Maria. Especially from GreatBasin (please don't jump in greatbasin, we all know you hate Santa Maria). But I'm looking for an unbiased opinion - perhaps someone who lives there now or has in the past? If you have a good income (+$100,000) certainly there are parts of the town that are nice where one can enjoy the nice weather and scenery, right? I assume there are school districts that are better than others as well, can anyone point me in the right direction in terms of where one should live if they are interested in moving to the area? Unlike greatbasin I enjoy a culturally diverse place and people speaking spanish does not bother me...hablo espanol tambien. Thanks everyone.

I don't really care for Santa Maria either... we were going to move there to Orcutt and buy but decided we'd rather
rent a nicer place in Pismo Beach than buy a 500k dump in Santa Maria. If I were you I'd move to Arroyo Grande
or Pismo over Santa Maria.... that's my 2 cents. Santa Maria just isn't very eye appealing to me. The weather is
fantastic though....good luck!

[redbirdny]

Greenchili if I may ask, where did you see Lompoc listed as one of the best places to live? Just curious as I used to live there myself. I guess weather preferences are subjective aren't they? Weather in the 60's during the summer just does not do it for me even with the intermittent onshore flow which gives the periodic heat wave. My memories involve being blown around a lot. Cold winds and what the politically correct newsguys called marine layers. I call it fog and ugly to live in.

Another poster was dead on accurate when stating that a household income of 100k could get you sitting pretty. I take that to mean often times a dual income couple with kids in daycare and mom and dad who commute to Santa Barbara...........not just from Lompoc but from Santa Maria as well. We got out of there before housing got outrageous. We did not want that type of lifestyle for our family so we relocated elsewhere. By the way, as a bonus we chose a place that is known for warm summers and winters.

[Greenchili]

Originally Posted by redbirdny

Greenchili if I may ask, where did you see Lompoc listed as one of the best places to live? Just curious as I used to live there myself. I guess weather preferences are subjective aren't they? Weather in the 60's during the summer just does not do it for me even with the intermittent onshore flow which gives the periodic heat wave. My memories involve being blown around a lot. Cold winds and what the politically correct newsguys called marine layers. I call it fog and ugly to live in.

Another poster was dead on accurate when stating that a household income of 100k could get you sitting pretty. I take that to mean often times a dual income couple with kids in daycare and mom and dad who commute to Santa Barbara...........not just from Lompoc but from Santa Maria as well. We got out of there before housing got outrageous. We did not want that type of lifestyle for our family so we relocated elsewhere. By the way, as a bonus we chose a place that is known for warm summers and winters.

I think it was on Yahoos homepage a while back. It had Santa Barbara/Santa
Maria/Lompoc, and San Luis/Atascadero/Paso Robles grouped together
like that. I kid you not! It has taken me 5 yrs to get used to Lompoc
weather, but to be honest, not all of the summer is in the 60s. It usually
has a cooler late May and June, but then the rest of the time is nice. We
kind of get a later warm season, and find Sept-Jan to have some really
beautiful weather. I am VERY curious where you have moved to that
has warm summers AND winters, do share! Another reason we live here
is family,church, and my husbands job is here. We have tried to transfer
back to New Mexico,but no jobs so far. So, we have decided that we are
meant to be here. I like that there is no traffic problems here. It is quite
windy here, but thats just a thing we accept. They are supposed to be
putting in windmills to take advantage of that soon. Sorry you didnt
care for it here. But, really, where is that place of yours? warm summers
and winters...................
Oh, and yes, cabbage can be smelled at certain harvest times, and flowers too.
But, I figure, its better than smog.

Deb

[redbirdny]

Hi Deb

Well yeah the falls in LPC were warmer than the actual meteorological summers. Still though I had my share of park picnics that I had to quickly bring indoors due to that God awful wind off the ocean. The fresh smell of veggies and flowers never bothered me even with all my allergies. I loved flowers. I just did not like the idea of having to have a sweater around during the summers. 4th of July with jackets just was not my fantasy. Weather aside, I loved eating at Thai Cuisine, coffee at Southside and Hi Let's Eat and if you are ever looking for a church, go to First Southern Baptist on Pine. We got priced out of LPC in 2001 with husband's job layoff and inability to buy back into the expensive housing market. I had wanted to move anyway and had found the right opportunity to do so. I should be very suited to the cold since my family is from upstate NY........and our short stint in Albuquerque,NM. I reside in beautiful Titusville,Florida. This town is what LPC was in the 70's. A tropical version of Lompoc though....lots of jungles and wetlands. Yes it is warm here even in the winter.

[Greenchili]

Hey
No thanks on Florida. Just not my style. Im a westerner! And where did you
hear Lompoc was congested with gangs and overbuilt.? Thats really not
true. And I might add, housing prices are dropping. It does cool down at
night, which is perfect for sleeping. So yeah, you would need a sweater
on the 4th. Hi lets eat is gone, now replaced by Jalama Cafe,and they
have a great new Thai restaurant called Suvans Kitchen. Never been to
southside cafe, we do Starbucks or make our own! We are getting a Michaels
and have gotten Ross. Lompoc has been good to us. We are members
at Lompoc Valley Baptist. Great church!!!


Deb

[redbirdny]

I have friends that still live in LPC and I did live there prior to 2002. I don't think we are going to see eye to eye on the gangs. That's fine.

That's a shame about Hi Let's Eat. Okay so it was not gourmet yuppie grub. My deal was to walk to K-mart on the weekends for their fresh baked cookies and coffee. Give the 99 Cent store a try. You would be surprised at what you can buy there. Same with Foods Co on Central Avenue.

Again I wasn't trying to offend anyone. You did ask where this warm place was and I told you. Wow your reaction was like that of many people in CA. That's cool. I like old cracker towns where folks hang out on the marinas and shore lines fishing and chilling and sweet tea that does not have some sort of weird fruit syrup. We even have a Dairy Queen.

My main purpose of even posting here was to get people to see that Lompoc is not a bad place. However facing the problems that any growing town has is not a bad thing either. One cannot say that they are not crazy about the large Mexican problem without someone being called a bigot or racist.

Take Care. I don't plan on bothering anyone here anymore.