I hate Santa Barbara (San Francisco, Oakland: rental, buying a house, buying)

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Homero

But SF? Man, talk about an over rated city...

Just got back from SF...window smashed, stuff stolen. For the THIRD TIME!!! (My car once, friends' cars twice) Broad daylight, expensive neighborhood, nice Sunday afternoon. Unbelievable. F'ing crackheads. Hope you enjoy pens and books, cuz that's all you got in my backpack.


Doesn't happen in Santa Barbara.

[Venusian_Artist]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Just got back from SF...window smashed, stuff stolen. For the THIRD TIME!!! (My car once, friends' cars twice) Broad daylight, expensive neighborhood, nice Sunday afternoon. Unbelievable. F'ing crackheads. Hope you enjoy pens and books, cuz that's all you got in my backpack.


Doesn't happen in Santa Barbara.

Yeah, what is the big deal with San Francisco? I grew up there and I cannot figure out why people genuflect so hardcore about it. Maybe they've never lived there...

[ElliottJM]

santa barbara shopping does suck, i dont understand. i went there last weekend and asked around to find a mall, the people were weird and the mall sucked. The city seemed pretty crappy. i guess the nice areas are awesome but it doesnt make up for it. SF is nice but there are screaming bums there to and my car got keyed and i want all of the hippies to shut the f*ck up. Im not conservative AT ALL but its seriously too much.

[CADRMNDANES]

Originally Posted by happ

What I don't understand is how the poster, who is from Alabama, can so easily find Santa Barbara & Malibu to be so "ugly". Something isn't right with this picture

Well there ya go!! AL isn't perfect.

It sounds like something is going on with you and that is why you are
not happy.

My stepson graduated from UCSB. It is not run down. Yes, some of the housing around it is. Students don't care about lawns and if the house is painted.

I visited SB several times while he was there and I wouldn't describe it the way you did. It's not that bad. SF can be worse in some areas, it's not perfect. I like to "visit" both places, but wouldn't choose to live in either one of them.

Plus don't forget that SB had huge fires not to long ago. The beaches are probably still a mess and haven't recovered.

Why don't you try Sydney, Australia.

[CADRMNDANES]

Originally Posted by jc76

About your last sentence, VERY true. You job has the trickle down effect. If you hate your job it's like a zombie infection, it will contaminate the rest of your being. Or even if you like your job, if you work with a bunch of A-holes that can reek havoc on your personal life as well. I know, I used to work in factories (til they all closed down) and that was the worst, most depressing time of my life. I had to be severely medicated to deal with it. Don't feel bad Hope things are getting better. Good luck

I agree!! That could have a lot to do with it!!

[Scott5280]

This is one of the most ridiculous thread titles I have ever seen on CD..sounds like a bunch of envious whiners complaining because they can't afford to live there. Santa Barbara and the surrounding coast is without a doubt one of the premier central coastal gems in California. It may not be where you wanna live, but it sure as hell does not suck.

[no place]

So much to say...
For starters, I understand that you want to leave Santa Barbara because you don't like it (happens to the best of us; to each his own; yada yada)... that said, what I do not at all understand (and I pride myself on my imagination) is... how can you not like it for the abundance of homeless, the ugly beaches, and the "weird" people and then say that you want to escape to the City by the Bay that you adore?.. Are you for real?.. That's like saying, 'yeah, I hate Watts, it's too damn black, and the neighborhood's very bad with all the crime and stuff, I want to get out of here and go back to E. 13 in Oakland!'
Sorry, but the problems you describe in Santa Barbara (which I've heard nothing but good things about) are problems that are much worse in San Francisco. In fact, SF has the highest capita of homeless of any city--ANY city--in America (period). And, here's news, but the drive from San Francisco to LA is a lot more than two hours, so consider yourself lucky; but if that's not enough to sway you, than don't dely, just move.

[jzt83]

Suggestion: Visit the next places you intend to move to before moving there.

[NewToCA]

Funny thread, I guess everyone has their own preferences.

If you hate Santa Barbara for the reasons stated, you may just want to get over to someplace like Leesburg, VA or Bethesda, MD.

[rc251dc]

I'm originally from San Francisco and I went to UCSB for 3 years. I just want to note that I lived in Isla Vista, not Santa Barbara, but I traveled throughout the South Coast enough that I think I can comment on Santa Barbara in general. There's a lot of things that were great about Santa Barbara, but here's what I think the major problems were:

Bus system - Pretty horrible. The 24x UCSB/Downtown connection was good, but that's about it. 30 minute wait times, no direct connection to the Fairview Shopping Center or Goleta Amtrak Station, often not on time. I understand some improvements are being considered with the IV Master Plan, but a little too late. Speaking of the Goleta Amtrak Station, why the hell was it built at La Patera? Totally brainless. If it was built at the corner of Storke/101 or at Fariview/101 it would have a bunch of bus connections included already.

Envirohypocrites - The city is really anti-development. While some anti-development sentiment I can understand (Naples), the outcry for other projects is a lot more questionable (Bishop Ranch). Most people state that there's too much traffic already (how about you stop driving your cars?), that they want to preserve open land (yet their own houses destroyed what was once beautiful land cultivated by the Chumash), and that they want to keep SB small.

Anger at big box stores - As alluded to previously to in this thread, there is no Wal-Mart, and a possible Target faced massive outcries. There is also a lack of cheap shopping (Kohls, Marshalls, etc). Yet, all the chain stores botiques that cater to the rich (Louis Vitton & Tiffany at La Cumbre, Saks 5th Avenue and Nordstrom downtown, etc) are totally cool in this city. I think the underlying reason for the anti-WalMart sentiment is really a contempt for the city's poor population. I mean, we wouldn't want to think that any dirty poor people actually live here, right? The lack of cheap shopping puts an additional stress on the poor population, which already faces many problems in the city, such as the growing gang violence.

Needless to say I was pretty happy to leave. For all it's problems, the superior public transportation, walkability, cheap eats, etc make San Francisco a much better place. I also think Davis pulls of the college town aspect than Isla Vista does.