I hate Santa Barbara (San Diego, San Francisco: cul-de-sac, lease, condos)

[rc251dc]

Here's another article which I thought illustrated just how crazy some people in Goleta are:

Santa Barbara Newsroom - Neighbors Line Up Against Costco Gas Station

That's right, a lot of the opposition was that if a plan crashes into the gas station, it might be bad for the neighborhood. You can't make this stuff up. Also, people complained of fumes to nearby homes. What? Take a look at a Google Map of the exact area where the gas station was planned:

from: 34.428985,-119.875313 - Google Maps

Now, the "A" is where the gas station was planned to be built. South of it is a Costco. West of it is a big parking lot and a Rite Aid (which was replaced with a new shop as I understand). East is the rest of the Camino Real Marketplace. and North is the former CompUSA building now being replaced by a BestBuy. So the closest homes are actually on the west side of Pacific Oaks Road, across from Santa Felicia Drive, the Rite Aid parking lot, then the Rite Aid building.

According to the Google Maps line tool, it's at minimum 650 feet away from the closest homes. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but here in San Francisco, I see a lot of homes ADJACENT to gas stations. How can that be? Aren't these people living next to gas stations afraid of dying when a plane will crash into the gas station?

My point is that this just continues to illustrate that many people in the South Coast need to be checked by doctors.

[mesaverde]

Hi rc251dc! Thanks for responding, I really appreciate your comments and insights. Sometimes, having lived there for so long, you get a certain blindness about what is "normal". Well, in some ways, there's "normal for Santa Barbara" and "normal for everyone else". We've always joked about living on the "island of Santa Barbara" because in so many ways it seems that way. And yeah, they'd like to keep it an island in terms of almost zero growth!

As far as the "big box" stores go, you really provided me with a way of looking at that I'd never considered. You are right -- big box may detract from the "boutique" image that they want to project. Never even thought of that!

Thanks for the update on Whole Foods! When we moved south last year, I stopped keeping track of the progress. I was actually in contact with WF at the corporate level and emailing the City Council with my support of the project too. I'm glad they're "in", I know they'll be a good asset to the community.

Our family is actually getting ready to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico and I'll be sad to say goodbye to S.B. and the surrounding area; this is where I was born and raised, but at the same time, I'm looking forward to experiencing new ways of living, new environment and new people. But, I'll still look forward to keeping up on my town (that I still love -- warts and all)!

Hope to "see" you on here again rc251dc!

Lauren

[Coolhand68]

I have mixed feelings about SB. I love the climate, sunshine, and walking up and down State St during the day. When I was there (1995 - 2003) the nightlife there was sketchy. There were several shootings between rival gangs and I remember one such case where the boxer Fernando Vargas was involved. I went to a few of the clubs there and there was always fights, I almost got into one within an hour of being there. Lot's of idiots and wannabe thugs looking for trouble.

Food I could take or leave, and the homeless didn't bother me, I see them as part of the landscape of the California coast. San Francisco has a lot more per capita than SB, you can't walk along the Fisherman's Warf without being harassed by homeless.

One thing I will say, for a seaside community it is fairly clean and safe. Most beach towns around the country are dumpy, like Hampton Beach in NH, Rockaway and Coney Island in NY or Salisbury Beach and Revere near Boston. Those are some dumpy places. SB is not bad, but I can see how someone would say it's overrated and not worth the price of admission for housing. I think San Luis Obispo is much nicer for the money.

I found San Diego to be a larger version of SB, a small big city but nice in that there isn't the traffic of L.A. or as much sprawl or congestion. It's a slower pace than L.A. I think L.A. has the most to offer in terms of variety, dining, nightlife, beaches and overall energy of a place.

[rc251dc]

And just to say, I might kind of seem angry at the place, but mot of my criticism is only because I think that the city would become genuinely better. It seems to me that the city council sometimes argues more about whether the downtown height limit should be 60 or 45 feet, rather than to tackle many of the issues that face the poor in the city. And recently, gang violence has become a nagging problem in the city. I just think the city in general should become more inclusive to all of it's residents.

[mesaverde]

Originally Posted by rc251dc

And just to say, I might kind of seem angry at the place, but mot of my criticism is only because I think that the city would become genuinely better. It seems to me that the city council sometimes argues more about whether the downtown height limit should be 60 or 45 feet, rather than to tackle many of the issues that face the poor in the city. And recently, gang violence has become a nagging problem in the city. I just think the city in general should become more inclusive to all of it's residents.

Well said!

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by rachelinala

There aren't any upscale car dealerships here that aren't in any other city in America. I have lived all over the country and they are everywhere, so don't feel special. They are all small & the service is overpriced. I have an Audi and can't believe the horrible service I received @ the dinky dealership.

Oprah lives on an estate, it's not like she lives in one of the neighborhoods with overpriced small ugly homes.

For such a small city, yes I am very surprised that the downtown is mainly a hang out for homeless people. In larger cities that is expected.

As for the shopping, it sucks. Luckily they have a Nordstrom & Saks, but they are both pretty disappointing in size & selection.

I love California in general. I just hate this city. I think it's very overrated and it didn't meet my expectations. Lake Tahoe is beautiful as is the entire bay area. I was just venting.

And I'm not alone. Most of the other travel nurses I work with say it's very boring and don't like it here either. Hate to burst your little bubble.

The restaurants downtown aren't any good either. The one restaurant, Bouchon, that is suppose to be wonderful...isn't. What a waste of $200! Not to mention bad service. Another overrated & overpriced place here in Santa Barbara. Just like the disgusting "taco stand" La Super Rica!

Oh and I forgot to mention something This ugly place is called the Mediterranean of America? Please.

But, like I said earlier, maybe if you're retired you will like it. I do see a lot of old men with wives clearly 20-30 years their junior here. Kind of funny to watch, but I guess this is the norm here? So pathetic.

Plenty of fun times for me on State Street and I'm no crazy party-hungry dude at all. Too bad the daily rag there is a joke.

Boring? Ugly? OK, you're not even trying. I wish my hometown's houses were as ugly and generic as Santa Barbara's.

What about the shopping is missing besides the selection at a couple dept stores? It's hilarious to read you complain about homeless people then talk glowingly about San Francisco.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by rc251dc

That's why I was careful in saying "liberal elite" and not "liberals". My definition of "liberal elite" are very wealthy liberals who want to keep a high image of wealth in their communities. Even though poor people are required in all communities (houskeepers, gardeners, maids for example), these millionaires want to pretend that such people do not exist and don't deserve the services that would be beneficial for them.

You're still pissing in the wind because many, if not most, of these multimillionaires are dyed in the wool right wingers. They used to get so pissed off at the college kids because we would out vote their precious right wing demagogue candidate and elect a democratic candidate instead. Most of those people aren't liberals by any stretch of the imagination and instead are just selfish right wing elitists who want to make a private kingdom of the rich by the rich for the rich in Santa Barbara. They don't want any affordable housing because that attracts "poor" people (meaning people who are not multimillionaires) and they never want to fund public schools because all of their kids go to exclusive white only (defacto not an official rule) private schools in Montecito and Hope Ranch. I grew up in a very upper middle class home in coastal San Diego but even I found the arrogance of these right wing millionaires to much; they literally cared for know one else and were actively trying to exclude anyone who couldn't afford a 5 acre beach front estate from the community.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by rc251dc

Here's another article which I thought illustrated just how crazy some people in Goleta are:

Santa Barbara Newsroom - Neighbors Line Up Against Costco Gas Station

That's right, a lot of the opposition was that if a plan crashes into the gas station, it might be bad for the neighborhood. You can't make this stuff up. Also, people complained of fumes to nearby homes. What? Take a look at a Google Map of the exact area where the gas station was planned:

Most of the people who own in Goleta bought there 20 or 30 years ago and moved there because it was a small town. They want to live in a small town which is why they're anti-growth because they want to keep things small. Of course this is all still just NIMBYism and I hate NIMBYism but I still kind of sympathize with them a little bit but not to much. It is funny watching them flail around trying to find excuses to block development (and none of them actually believe plans are a threat to a gas station; they just are try to find any excuse to block development in their small town).

BTW I learned to fly cessna's out of Santa Barbara airport in Goleta. It's a nice little airport/ex-military air field. It is tiny though with only three little airlines operating there each only having one or two flights per day.

[rc251dc]

Alright, I'll stop using the terms liberal or conservative or right wing or left wing. I'll just say that I had the rich in Santa Barbara no matter what kind of political ideology they have.

As for the Goleta NIMBYs, what seems troublesome to me is that as much as they decry Camino Real, a lot of them sure seem to use their services. I often saw a lot of well-to-do looking families shopping at Costco and KMart. Now, surely these can't be familes from Santa Barbara and Goleta, because they are opposed to big box stores, right? Or did they realize that maybe these stores can actually be pretty convenient?

[rc251dc]

By the way, I have a few more questions, since some of you seem to be pretty well versed on the history of the South Coast.

Why the hell was the Goleta Amtrak Station built on La Patera? Ok, I mean, I assume land their was owned by Amtrak. But there is zero public transportation directly at the station. Currently, anyone wanting to take public transportation must walk half a mile to Hollister, where they can take either the 6 (which serves UCSB but NOT Isla Vista) or the infrequent 12X.

Why wasn't it built at the corner of Storke and Hollister? The raiload tracks are .2 miles from the intersection. Compared to La Patera, this intersection is served by the 10, 12X, 15X, 23, 24X, 25, and 27.

If the train stopped on this corner, people would have direct bus access to Elwood (25), El Encanto Heights/Winchester Canyon (23), UCSB & Isla Vista (15X, 23, 24X, 25, and 27 - plenty of way for students to get home!!!), Cathedral Oaks (10) and Noleta/Goleta Valley (11). This station would also be near the Bishop Ranch community, should it get built, and also near the Rincon Palms hotel that will be built on the vacant lot at Storke/Hollister. Also, weary travellers can acccess the Camino Real Marketplace for food.

Is it just me, or was placing the station at La Patera a failure of epic proportions?