I hate Santa Barbara (San Francisco, Burbank: rent, live in, restaurant)

[RiWrites]

Santa Barbara is a bad place? As a nurse do you sometimes forget and take some patients meds instead of vitamins? Anyone who dislikes a beautiful place like Santa Barbara must be on something.

You would probably appreciate a place in the US that doesn't have beautiful skies, views of the Pacific Ocean etc.

[rc251dc]

Does anyone notice the common pattern that everyone defending Santa Barbara either resorts to personal attacks or doesn't address any of the criticism? There were some very valid points made in this thread, would you like to respond RiWrites?

[mesaverde]

I agree the title of this thread is less than constructive, and that I have not read the entire thread -- I came late to it and was intrigued by the very valid observations that rc251dc was making, so I added my perspective, which is based on 20+ years of living there.

I love many things about Santa Barbara. And, after living somewhere long enough to understand the challenges and the politics, yes, you do form opinions about what you see. Any city in the world is going to have it's wonderful points and it's difficulties. Voicing dissenting opinions and even sometimes criticism is what shapes public policy. Talking about it on a board is interesting and if you're careful, you just may learn something. I see nothing wrong with this thread from that aspect.

Leaving a "drive by" sentence, which is not constructive or helpful to advancing the dialog, adds nothing.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by mesaverde

Leaving a "drive by" sentence, which is not constructive or helpful to advancing the dialog, adds nothing.

A "ride by" would suffice, but MTD and Amtrak aren't well enough distributed to come out this way.


Anybody mention how cool it is to go see a show at the legendary County Bowl or the Arlington and walk to and from downtown before and after the show? In perfect weather? [Hmmm...just posted a suspiciously similar sentiment about the Shark Tank and downtown San Jose. Such a coincidence]

Miss SB and IV, but the Earthquakes and Raiders are up here. And lots of music. But some day, the return to SB may be imminent. Some rather goofy, single friends have managed to stay after graduating and buy houses on the Mesa, so it can be done. Always nice to make the 101 drive down there on the way to L.A. Time to check the County Bowl 2009 lineup...

[mesaverde]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Anybody mention how cool it is to go see a show at the legendary County Bowl or the Arlington and walk to and from downtown before and after the show? In perfect weather?

Oh man! How could I forget that on my list of things I love about SB!! I have so many awesome memories at both places. I remember seeing Billy Idol at the Arlington in the 80s, and Stevie Ray Vaughn at the Bowl. Of course I seen many groups over the years at both, but those really stand out. Stevie died some time later, and so that was a really good memory to have been able to see him. What's really cool is when you have a friend that lives within walking distance (of the Bowl) and can park at their place and walk in. No dealing with the traffic in and out of the place.

[Michael Tryn]

I thought Oprah and Kevin Costner had places in S.B. Why would they pick some bad place ? You have given me some insight. Tell me about S.F. please for family life. I asked this on the S.F. board! I know the jobs are poor in S.F. unless one is into med. banking or computer. Maybe I am wrong... Also I don't want strange weird people around my family . There are few places like this in Cal. I understand.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

SB is a great place to go to school. OK for being a new grad (but even at such a tender young age, it's frustrating career wise). Later in life, unless one is independently wealthy, at a very high level in a company, or, very successful with a small business, it is not a good place to be. Nice environment, crappy economic infrastructure. Of course, these days, I guess you could say that about much of the used-to-be-Golden State! :lol:

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by rc251dc

I know that Union Pacific does own the track rights for a lot of the corridor. However, there do seem to be vacant parcels that could support a new rail station. For example, the southeast corner of the 101/Storke intersection seems to have a lot of space, as does the parcel of land slightly west of the southwest corner of that same intersection. But yeah, I've been unfortunate enough to also arrive at that station. Luckily I've always had rides set up. The one time I didn't, I specifically chose to stop at Santa Barbara instead for the bus access, even though it ultimately required more traveling. And I guess the Santa Barbara station is actually pretty nice...

I don't know if I can count on SBMTD to fill the gap though. I mean, they haven't even uploaded their routes yet to Google Maps/Google Transit yet. That kind of forward thinking is against what Santa Barbara stands for I guess. And I did read in the CalTrans files that apparently the roundabout wasn't built big enough for a bus to circle around... that is so ridiculous I have no words...

By the way, here's a little map I've been working on highlighting Goleta's development:

Google Maps - My Goleta Master Plan

Green is approved projects slated to begin construction, orange is developments still going through the planning process, and blue is my own wishlist. I also always thought that building basic shopping in Isla Vista (as controversial as taking away the Del Sol Open Space) would reduce traffic tremendously, as students have to shuttle out of Storke and Los Carneros to take care of basic tasks. That area of land would put shopping within 5 minute biking distance of all of Isla Vista, and almost everyone already owns bikes there.

That's an excellent plan.

[rc251dc]

Oh, and an update, there are rumors that the property formerly housing Linen's N Things (now out of business) may become a Kohl's store. I'm glad to see more affordable clothing options being offered in the south coast.

[Sea2mist]

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.

And, yes I am forced to be here under contract. I'm hoping I can try Laguna Hills next assignment or go back to San Fran. What do you think? Thanks for the replies btw All very helpful!

I can not believe you hate Santa Barbara this much. I live in Burbank and I go to Santa Barbara about 5 times a year. It is BEAUTIFUL. I love the shops. The people are really nice. Houses are divine.It's right next to Solvang which is a dazzling little town with quaint shops and restaurants (though it is slowly changing, it still is very Dutch). It has great weather most of the time. It DOES have a great mall with more than just Nordstrom, it is mostly out doors but it is great none the less with all the same shops as other malls. It has a great beach where I learned to kayak and it is reasonable to rent a kayak, didn't cost much at all. The restaurants have great food, from pizza to fish. It even has places like subway if you want food from a place with its restaurants in every city. I used to want to move to Santa Barbara but now I'm thinking about New England or the UK. But thats do to where my friends and family live.

And in responce to your fears about LA.. YES LA IS as bad as you thought, but the city is working hard to clean it up and there are really nice places there too. Its only parts of LA that are bad, namely downtown. The whole city is getting a make over so soon it should be the way it was intended to be, Clean and beautiful.