Santa Barbara? Central Coast?

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by RatherBeInCabo

How could Ventura county fall under L.A.? It would fit better with Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo/Ventura, AKA Central Coast.

I agree, Ventura County is not L.A. Even cities close to L.A. that effectively serve as suburbs, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, do not resemble nor behave like L.A. By their good fortune to be across the border in Ventura County, Simi and T.O. are subject to completely different growth policies and planning philosophies than if they were to be located in L.A. County. (Think Santa Clarita or Antelope Valley to understand how it could have been if Ventura County was like L.A.) The further west you travel in VC, the more the area takes on the character of the Central Coast, which technically begins at the Oxnard Plain.

But the idea of having a separate sub-forum for VC or to lump it in with Santa Barbara or a generalized "Central Coast" forum has come up before. To me there are too many differences between the various areas of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties to justify one sub-forum for the region as a whole -- i.e. east versus west Ventura County; north versus south Santa Barbara County. San Luis Obispo again has its own variances, some that resemble the San Joaquin Valley more than the Central Coast.

Besides, the geographical size of the VC-SB-SLO area is too big to form a cohesion that would be beneficial as one sub-forum. Just MHO.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Seems that this comes up all the time. Those of us that are in either Ventura or Santa Barbara County that contribute often, don't get the numbers needed to warrent our own spot to call home. One way to see it happen is to generate more questions and comments that are specific to the area.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Get over it folks, the Oxnard Plain contains LA burbs. Heck, that was apparent 30 years ago.

[Winston Smith]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Get over it folks, the Oxnard Plain contains LA burbs. Heck, that was apparent 30 years ago.

How do you mean?

[osuzana]

Originally Posted by jeweloflight

I'm just wondering why there's no forum for the Central Coast of California. Even Santa Barbara. San Luis Obispo, Montrey, Big Sur, Salinas, etc. Is it that small?
Anybody know anything about Santa Barbara in particular? Type of people? Job market? I've already been doing some research on the cost of living. All I can say to that is yikes! But I don't care, I'm coming to California no matter what.

Santa Barbara is a very beautiful yet isolated area that has a mixture of young, old, homeless and rich. You have a large student population that hangs out at State Street all the time as well as homeless wanting a handout or intoxicated. The homeless even have a tree named after them. Personally, I would go nuts living so far from a city and more culture than a nice mission, unless you are retired, a student, surfer with a trust fund or like being far from everything, with lot's if money. Fun to visit when the traffic isn't terrible but that's just me. I love Cambria and most of the Central Coast but again, I would go crazy living there full-time. A weekend place would be a dream come true.
As far as your question about having a Central Coast forum, there isn't a Kern Valley forum either and that is pretty big. It is what it is.

[fatmancomics]

To the OP and anyone asking about these areas. Keep in mind where it is that you are moving from. If you're looking for big city living then Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties are not the places to go. Yes, there are college students and teenagers that loiter the streets in Santa Barbara and SLO but that is because they are just that, students and teenagers, which means they don't usually have the means (financial or otherwise) to go and hang out in L.A.

I lived in Santa Maria (a small, agriculturual city on the outskirts of SB County) for two years, the first of which was quite enjoyable but only because I was looking to get away from big city living after living in a bad part of downtown L.A. for a while. The second year was when I got married and my wife, who is black, moved in with me. She was greatly mistreated and the worst of her treatment came from the migrant workers from remote parts of Mexico that reside there.
We made it a habit to go out for long drives (a rare luxury when you live in L.A.) but, with only a handful of places to visit, got bored with this after a few months. In the end, we moved back to L.A. (the San Fernando Valley this time) since we were spending all our weekends with our families here anyway along with my wife being mistreated.

The only thing we miss other than traffic being almost non existent is the food. Even the chain restaurants in that area had better food (we used to frequent Red Lobster and were sorely dissapointed when we ate at our local Red Lobster here in the SFV). Sadly, the people in the neighboring cities (like Paso Robles, Pismo,SLO, Buellton, Solvang and Los Olivos) were much better behaved and polite than the folks in Santa Maria but the prices for homes in those areas were prohibitive for us as we lived there at the peak of real estate prices.

Again, those places are nice to think about retiring in or settling down to raise a family in but I wouldn't recommend for someone who is moving here in order to get some excitement along with good weather.