Monterey vs. Ventura/Ojai (Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz: crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[Pakalolo]

Anybody have any personal views that they would like to share about either of these places? I currently live in CT and am planning a move in August.

I'm leaning towards Monterey and it's proximity to Big Sur. I am more of a mountain person than ocean, but I love to be near the coast. I like to MTN/road bike and it seems that I can get that in either place. I also enjoy backpacking in the middle of nowhere and the Monterey area seems to have more areas like that to escape to.

Thanks for any help, all.

Josh

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Pakalolo

Anybody have any personal views that they would like to share about either of these places? I currently live in CT and am planning a move in August.

I'm leaning towards Monterey and it's proximity to Big Sur. I am more of a mountain person than ocean, but I love to be near the coast. I like to MTN/road bike and it seems that I can get that in either place. I also enjoy backpacking in the middle of nowhere and the Monterey area seems to have more areas like that to escape to.

Thanks for any help, all.

Josh

You've mentioned the important stuff like backpacking being near the ocean. What about the trivial stuff like where you will work, housing, schools (if you have kids), proximity to health care, proximity to big city amenities, etc.?

[Pakalolo]

Housing is somewhat trivial, but with having a dog, not entirely so. I don't need lavish housing, but the smallest of fenced yards would be ideal. If I can get 700 sq/ft I'm fine. I am permitted to live in the East Campus apts. with my dog at CSUMB. They are 1200 sq/ft, 2 bdrm, garage for $1200 a month which includes all utilities. That is obviously a steal.

I'll either be attending Monterey College of Law or Ventura College of Law. I'll work somewhere as a paralegal while I finish up law school. The median for a paralegal is about $45-50k from the info I'm looking at.

I have no kids and no one else will be living with me.

I have no need for health care. I basically use Western medicine only if I need stitches or something and don't go to doctors even yearly.

Working full-time and attending school part-time, I have little remaining time for big city amenities.

In Ojai I have no housing options as of yet.

Near Monterey, if I can't live in the campus apts, I would like to live in Carmel Valley or in the proximity of Big Sur, but there don't seem to be many options for the latter, at least not any that I can find online.

[rubyskye]

Since I love Big Sur more than any place on earth, I recommend the Monterey area unless you could live up the road a bit in Santa Cruz county which I like better than Monterey but that would probably be too much of a commute to your school. But Monterey and Pacific Grove and Carmel are all really nice places to live. It is expensive and having a dog makes it even more difficult to find a place but you can do it. If school starts in the fall, maybe you could come out in the summer and camp in one of the Big Sur campgrounds, explore the area and find a place.

Up in the Santa Cruz area there's a good mountain biking scene with miles of trails in the redwoods/santa cruz mountains. I take frequent trips to Big Sur from Santa Cruz and, without traffic, it's an easy drive down there and I do it in under 2 hours. And it's about 40 minutes to Monterey from Santa Cruz without traffic.

It's not easy to find a place to live in Big Sur. Every now and then there's a sign advertising a place on one of the local bulletin boards but it's rare. Speaking generally, either you own property there or live in the woods in a tree-house If you were there you could ask some of the employees in the different shops where they live. I know that alot of them do not live in Big Sur itself.

The other good thing about Santa Cruz is that you can (well, I can) get to Truckee (Tahoe area) in under 41/2 hours (shhhhh don't tell CHP) if the traffic isn't bad. Being close to the Sierra is a big deal if you love the mountains. So just add a bit more driving time from Monterey to Truckee .... you're still relatively close to the Truckee/Tahoe area. I know that from an easterners point of view 4-5 hours is a long drive but not out here. I just finished a 14 hour drive a few days ago so 5 hours is nothing.

The other thing I'll add here since you're a fellow dog "owner" is that living in the redwoods involves ...... arrrrgggghhhhh ..... tics and in the rainy season they are just awful if you, like I, don't use that Frontline crap. So living in Big Sur itself, if you could swing it, will present that problem. If you have a short haired dog, like I do not, it's pretty easy to deal with 'cause you can see them. I use a flea comb to get them out before they dig in and start sucking and i'm quite skillful at pulling out the ones that have dug in with a tweezers. Don't wanna add to your burdens but just giving a heads up about the tic issue in the redwood .... gets bad around mid-November and by the end of May (or thereabouts) they go away for the most part.
Good luck out here! You'll love Monterey Bay. The central coast is a wonderful place.

[Nexis]

I am considering similar areas for relocation. As much as I enjoyed the pacific grove/big sur area for its scenery I don't think I would like living there year round because of the rain, fog and dampness. I'm leaning more towards Ojai and Santa Barbara because its warmer and Ojai gets a lot more sunshine.
People I've met in Pacific Grove seemed friendly for the most part though I'm not so sure about Santa Barbara welcoming people unless they are very well off. I will be visiting Ojai early this summer to see what its like.

[kturbe]

I love Monterey and as nexis noted Pacific Grove is great. Last time I was up there, stayed a bed and breakfast Dear came right up to our door. So beautiful!

[bhcompy]

monterey is nice, and its proximity to carmel and big sur are nice as well. good culture, good eats, lots of places for hiking, etc

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by Pakalolo

Anybody have any personal views that they would like to share about either of these places? I currently live in CT and am planning a move in August.

I'm leaning towards Monterey and it's proximity to Big Sur. I am more of a mountain person than ocean, but I love to be near the coast. I like to MTN/road bike and it seems that I can get that in either place. I also enjoy backpacking in the middle of nowhere and the Monterey area seems to have more areas like that to escape to.

Thanks for any help, all.

Josh

Based on the attributes you describe in the OP - Monterey. You get ocean coast in both places, but they're dramatically different from each other. In short, beaches in Ventura, rugged and rocky near Monterey.

[rubyskye]

There are alot of beautiful sandy beaches along the entire central coast however.

[visalian]

I like Monterey alot better than Ventura. Ventura is quite a big bigger than Monterey and has more of a big city feel- I think there is more crime and problems in Ventura. Santa Barbara is close to Ventura but in the past few years, it has really become pretty crowded. I used to love it there but now can't stand it because every time I visit, there is so much traffic and people.

Monterey is alot more rugged- cliffs, sealife, lighthouses, cypress trees, etc. Santa Cruz is nearby and it has great beaches and huge redwood forests. It is a great place for biking, backpacking, etc. There are several huge redwood parks where you can hike all the way from the mountains down to the oceans (like 20 or so miles).

I also think Monterey has a more laid back feel to it than Santa Barbara. It's a very outdoorsy place. And a very gorgeous place.

Monterey is Northern CA and Ventura is Southern CA and the two are pretty different. SO Cal for the most part is more fast-paced, more crowded, and warmer. NO Cal is more beautiful with cliffs, mountains, wildlife, etc. In Monterey/Santa Cruz area, you might very well have skunks, racoons, and other wildlife even in normal neighborhoods. The weather is mostly warm and sunny, sometimes foggy and sometimes rainy.