Thoughts about living in Nipomo vs. Arroyo Grande (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria: home, to buy)

[Hawk J]

Maybe live by Buellton, get some Anderson Pea Soup & fresh made bread...

[the city]

AG's suburban part is about as suburban as any suburban city or town in Orange County.

Look at the hills behind Wal-Mart and K-Mart, look at that shopping center, look at West Grand Avenue, and etc....

Of course I like tv, cell phones, gadgets, dining, movie theaters, nice stores, affordable places, big suburban homes, etc...Who doesn't? It makes live easier and more convenient. Cities, which AG is, need money to run. Money comes from spending and taxes.

I've lived in the area long enough to know that Paso Robles and AG had ****ty downtowns and cities with no money until Wal-Mart came in and drew in people and people's money and more businesses.

I spend alot of time outdoors actually, so whose to judge.

I could bring in other threads where people have got pissed off at highnlite, but I will wait on that.

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by the city

... Of course I like tv, cell phones, gadgets, dining, movie theaters, nice stores, affordable places, big suburban homes, etc...Who doesn't? It makes live easier and more convenient...

I don't ... fact, I hate 'em ... "hate" is not too strong a word, either ...

And I would argue that what you go through to earn the money to have those things you list, and to update them, repair and maintain them, to have space to keep them, to secure them from theft and damage, etc., etc., etc., makes your life vastly harder and less convenient and less free than living without them.

Yes, I do live without most of what you list. Internet is my only connection to modernity, which I took up for connectivity with family and a few friends -- and which, for about $0.02 I'd drop like the bad habit it has become. My life in a van and on my little boat is awesome without conveniences to worry about and protect and pay for. Your favorite nemesis to hate, .highnlite, has seen my van lifestyle. I'm not pulling your chain.

[.highnlite]

.....

Originally Posted by the city

AG's suburban part is about as suburban as any suburban city or town in Orange County.

Holy cowabunga batman, that part of town is pretty depressing, I don't know anyone who lives there, whomever they are they do not contribute to the vibrancy of the town. They are just developer's wet dreams.

Look at the hills behind Wal-Mart and K-Mart, look at that shopping center, look at West Grand Avenue, and etc....

The Walmart and Kmart strip malls look like hell, strip malls are always a bad idea, chain store crap from China. Fortunately Arroyo Grande got smart years ago and forced the developers onto the hills and prevented them from ruining farm land, unlike San Luis Obispo. The poor Italian and Portuguese ranchers sold their dry hills for big bucks, so it was good for them.

Of course I like tv, cell phones, gadgets, dining, movie theaters, nice stores, affordable places, big suburban homes, etc...Who doesn't? Many people don't, the best kind of people don't, myself and my friends, we'd rather burn meat 20 miles from asphalt, drink a few beers, tell stories. If you want all that stuff, Mordor is 150 miles south, go there, don't bring Mordor here.

It makes live easier and more convenient. Cities, which AG is, need money to run. Money comes from spending and taxes.

Small towns need less money, growth for the sake of taxes is irrational.

I've lived in the area long enough to know that Paso Robles and AG had ****ty downtowns and cities with no money until Wal-Mart came in and drew in people and people's money and more businesses.

Arroyo Grande has never had a bad downtown, what the heck are you thinking? Before Walmart there were several clothing stores, three grocery stores, a variety store, a fabric store, a drug store, two liquor stores. Us kids could ride our bikes into town and get ice cream at Bennett's Grocery for a nickel a scoop.

Walmart put all of that out of business, and would have turned downtown Arroyo Grande into a ghost town except that the council and downtown merchants turned it into a tourist area.

Paso Robles shrank because of the cutbacks at Camp Roberts, wine saved Paso Robles, not Walmart.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day, "Napa is for Auto Parts, Paso Robles is for wine"

I spend a[]lot of time outdoors actually, so who's to judge? That sentence is so vague as to be meaningless.

I could bring in other threads where people have got pissed off at highnlite, but I will wait on that.

Why would you consider someone getting angry at me something of note. I make lots of people mad, Conservatives, they prefer belief to fact and don't care to have their beliefs challenged

[the city]

Originally Posted by .highnlite

.....

I believe the opposite of everything you said. And yes I lean right, and I am not sure how you think cities become nice. Would you prefer places like Cambria and Santa Cruz running around with druggies and pot smokers and homeless? I sure don't. I think the hills in AG are nice and I would like to live there one day. Big homes, nice parks, great for families, Wal-Mart and K-Mart and TJ's and OSH and churches and a movie theater and bowling alley and a mall not too far.

Without modernization geesh maybe America would be like Thailand or some poor nation. Thank goodness for a wealthy government and rich corporations which ALSO pay taxes and fund our military for our protection.

[TrueTimbers]

Originally Posted by the city

I believe the opposite of everything you said. And yes I lean right, and I am not sure how you think cities become nice. Would you prefer places like Cambria and Santa Cruz running around with druggies and pot smokers and homeless? I sure don't. I think the hills in AG are nice and I would like to live there one day. Big homes, nice parks, great for families, Wal-Mart and K-Mart and TJ's and OSH and churches and a movie theater and bowling alley and a mall not too far.

Without modernization geesh maybe America would be like Thailand or some poor nation. Thank goodness for a wealthy government and rich corporations which ALSO pay taxes and fund our military for our protection.

The hill makes makes me sick. Walmart, tore the soul out of our nation. It is evil as evil gets. I like the towns you mention, along with the Mendocino coast, and parts of rural Sonoma county. REAL PEOPLE

[the city]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

The hill makes makes me sick. Walmart, tore the soul out of our nation. It is evil as evil gets. I like the towns you mention, along with the Mendocino coast, and parts of rural Sonoma county. REAL PEOPLE

Wal-Mart, Costco, K-Mart, Trader Joes, Petco, Pier 1, and Marshall's. Cheap, easy, and good stuff you can get there. Thank God for our right to choice. You can live in the rural, townish areas or the more suburban, modern areas.

[Goin' Coastal]

Husband and I are also looking at property in the area, and seem to gravitate toward the mesa, looking at both the nice tracts in Nipomo and the larger lots on the AG side of the mesa for my dogs to run around and my husband to raise his veggies.

Does anyone know anything about Black Lake Estates development? In particular, the HOA? I've never lived in a community with an HOA before, but I've heard horror stories about how restrictive they can be. I think that having a community work together (and pay together) to keep the place nice can be beneficial (I come from an older part of the SF Bay Area, so am ready to try something new), but I am a little wary of HOAs.

Comments or feedback?

[Dean Trails]

I spoke to the Trilogy crew and they quoted $362/month for HOA fees,,Yikes! Black Lake last year was a reasonable $82/month. BUT, with so many nice properties outside of the Large Developents, I would get some acreage and save the HOA fees..I hate them and wil never go that route again. I will paint my house what i desire and not some Association Board. I think that is what is hurting Talley (sp?) farms out Lopez Canyon way.

Highnlite? The City? Any local comments?

[Goin' Coastal]

It's a little over $100 now, but the fees include pool, RV storage, and clubhouse. That doesn't seem too awful.

I do look outside the developments but haven't really hit just the right place yet.