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Thanks, bluesywalker. I think Big Sur inspires many nature lovers, artists and photographer. There have been many occasions I've found myself dumbstruck by its beauty. That same sense of enchantment and wonder help make it an easy subject to enjoy shooting. It was definitely one of the draws for me as a hobbiest nature photographer.
Then, throw in some great spots for dark, night skies and whale watching and it becomes a very diverse subject.
I've been living in Santa Barbara for a couple years and there is so much I love about the place, and I've gotten to know a lot of people here, but I'm not sure it's the right place for my wife and I to raise a family. Santa Barbara has amazing weather, beautiful scenery, good beaches, OK food, and excellent infrastructure, but the people element is not quite right for me. My wife and I lived here for a few years when we were younger and we knew what we were getting into when we decided to move back, but I'm questioning our decision at this point.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the people here at all, it's that I don't think the prevailing culture/customs/attitude will work for me in the long run. I work from home so I can easily isolate myself from it but I'm having a hard time coming to grips with the idea of raising my 1-year-old here (and more to come). The Los Angeles culture is probably the ultimate example of what doesn't work for me (I lived there for 3 years) and Santa Barbara has just a touch of it. Places I've been in California where I love the culture are north county San Diego most of all and also parts of San Francisco. Lots of open, happy, warm, laid-back people there, but both locales are too dense of me.
Within that context, how does Carmel compare to Santa Barbara? I've visited Carmel once but only for the day and only to Carmel-by-the-Sea. I thought it was nice but it seemed too touristy, and the beach was gorgeous. Now I realize there is more to Carmel than the touristy area and I plan to take a drive up there this coming week to have a real look around. Can anyone compare the prevailing culture in Carmel to Santa Barbara? How about the comparative prospects of raising a family in either place?
I hope I haven't offended any LA/SB folks. It's just different strokes.
I thought to take a peek at this thread wondering if perhaps in the more localized threads there might be a call for a social gathering of sorts. A time and place where maybe local folks could come and just gather for a meal and conversation every now and then, meeting new people in the process...
I found this thread instead that is also interesting because I know very well the story of migration from SoCal to NorCal, having grown up in the Los Angeles area before moving up to the Bay area for college. Later married, my wife and I got to thinking about where best to raise our kids during the four years we lived in Hawaii, our first born just before we moved there, our second born in Honolulu. Hawaii was the lowest ranked state in the country for education at the time, so we were glad our kids were still in diabers while we lived there.
When it comes to raising kids and where they will go to school, it really isn't so hard to look up the local ratings of schools, especially high schools, which pretty well tells you where your kids are going to get the best public education. Private schooling is another matter that fortunately we never had to consider...
Also fortunate, our kids went to a high school that had the highest rating possible, and it has served them well in terms of delivering a good experience, good friends and a nice step toward college. My wife and I were also free of those concerns, and happily so, when we moved to Santa Cruz three years ago. "Empty nesters," we chose between our two favorite places to retire (though I am still working full-time). It was either Tahoe or the Monterey Bay area.
Though I can understand many of the comments about the places along the Bay here, I find it interesting how some people judge. For example, after living here three years, I don't know that I have noticed any "impact" from Silicon Valley. Maybe I am just not that sensitive to some of those issues that others seem so intent on focusing upon.
For my wife and I, after living all our lives in very desirable areas, after I have been all over California NSEW more than most people I know, what we like most about living in SC is the proximity to all the fantastic offerings the Monterey Bay area has to offer. Within easy reach, we have Big Sur to our south, and San Francisco to our north. All we may need from the likes of San Jose is also an easy trek over Hwy 17 (and we just needed to go there last weekend). We visit Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Capitola, Half Moon Bay and all in between on a regular rotating basis, forever finding the new walk or trail or beach area worthy of a stop. Santa Cruz also tolerates the poor and homeless nothing like the other cities around here do, and that puts lots of people off, but I work downtown and have no trouble enjoying all else there is here without any heartburn over the homeless/hippie types (except maybe some sympathy for them, especially on cold rainy days like lately).
On the other hand, I know not everyone can be as lucky as my wife and I who live in a nice home from where we have just a short walk up Cliff Drive to Natural Bridges State Park and just a short walk down Cliff Drive to Lighthouse State Beach where our dog loves to run free with the other dogs. The surf there at Steamers is for the most part great all the time, but lately it has truly been something to see. If only I was young again to take better advantage. I have the board and the wet suit but the time still eludes me given all the other things my wife and I like to do around here.
Probably should also add that the weather here could not be better, for me anyway, since I like it cooler rather than warm, clear, clean and green, or maybe I best just quit with this write-up because I could go on quite a while with all the reasons I love it here...
For similar reasons I do not like Santa Cruz anymore due to the overcrowding and influence from the Silicon Valley. Though, its a beautiful place to visit, especially the redwood forests. My son and I went mountain biking there on New Years Day on the most beautiful mountain bike trail I've ever seen. Redwood, waterfalls, banana slugs. What more could you ask for, right?
PS: Where is this mountain bike trail of which you speak? Where is the trail head and/or how best can you get to it by car?
I thought to take a peek at this thread wondering if perhaps in the more localized threads there might be a call for a social gathering of sorts. A time and place where maybe local folks could come and just gather for a meal and conversation every now and then, meeting new people in the process...
I found this thread instead that is also interesting because I know very well the story of migration from SoCal to NorCal, having grown up in the Los Angeles area before moving up to the Bay area for college. Later married, my wife and I got to thinking about where best to raise our kids during the four years we lived in Hawaii, our first born just before we moved there, our second born in Honolulu. Hawaii was the lowest ranked state in the country for education at the time, so we were glad our kids were still in diabers while we lived there.
When it comes to raising kids and where they will go to school, it really isn't so hard to look up the local ratings of schools, especially high schools, which pretty well tells you where your kids are going to get the best public education. Private schooling is another matter that fortunately we never had to consider...
Also fortunate, our kids went to a high school that had the highest rating possible, and it has served them well in terms of delivering a good experience, good friends and a nice step toward college. My wife and I were also free of those concerns, and happily so, when we moved to Santa Cruz three years ago. "Empty nesters," we chose between our two favorite places to retire (though I am still working full-time). It was either Tahoe or the Monterey Bay area.
Though I can understand many of the comments about the places along the Bay here, I find it interesting how some people judge. For example, after living here three years, I don't know that I have noticed any "impact" from Silicon Valley. Maybe I am just not that sensitive to some of those issues that others seem so intent on focusing upon.
For my wife and I, after living all our lives in very desirable areas, after I have been all over California NSEW more than most people I know, what we like most about living in SC is the proximity to all the fantastic offerings the Monterey Bay area has to offer. Within easy reach, we have Big Sur to our south, and San Francisco to our north. All we may need from the likes of San Jose is also an easy trek over Hwy 17 (and we just needed to go there last weekend). We visit Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Capitola, Half Moon Bay and all in between on a regular rotating basis, forever finding the new walk or trail or beach area worthy of a stop. Santa Cruz also tolerates the poor and homeless nothing like the other cities around here do, and that puts lots of people off, but I work downtown and have no trouble enjoying all else there is here without any heartburn over the homeless/hippie types (except maybe some sympathy for them, especially on cold rainy days like lately).
On the other hand, I know not everyone can be as lucky as my wife and I who live in a nice home from where we have just a short walk up Cliff Drive to Natural Bridges State Park and just a short walk down Cliff Drive to Lighthouse State Beach where our dog loves to run free with the other dogs. The surf there at Steamers is for the most part great all the time, but lately it has truly been something to see. If only I was young again to take better advantage. I have the board and the wet suit but the time still eludes me given all the other things my wife and I like to do around here.
Probably should also add that the weather here could not be better, for me anyway, since I like it cooler rather than warm, clear, clean and green, or maybe I best just quit with this write-up because I could go on quite a while with all the reasons I love it here...
The impact that Silicon Valley has had on Santa Cruz county has been happening over a period of many years. Because you've only been here for 3 years, that impact would not be something that is noticeable to you. You don't know what you missed / what it was like before.
It's not so much about judgement ... just an awareness of what's happened to a community due to the impact of Silicon Valley. Both in terms of population impact and the issues that result from it and a certain "ilk" who have come into the area .... hyper aggressive, entitled, rude, don't care about the community just me, me and me too. etc..
Sigh. Still love it here but yeah, it's changed a lot.
The impact that Silicon Valley has had on Santa Cruz county has been happening over a period of many years. Because you've only been here for 3 years, that impact would not be something that is noticeable to you. You don't know what you missed / what it was like before.
It's not so much about judgement ... just an awareness of what's happened to a community due to the impact of Silicon Valley. Both in terms of population impact and the issues that result from it and a certain "ilk" who have come into the area .... hyper aggressive, entitled, rude, don't care about the community just me, me and me too. etc..
Sigh. Still love it here but yeah, it's changed a lot.
I must respectfully disagree, or perhaps we just run in different circles. To be honest, I don't do as much socializing as I did once upon a time, but I do encounter the people at my work, downtown, neighbors, walks, here and there, and I have no sense of all this "hyper-aggressiveness" you describe in some pretty nasty terms. In fact, my wife and I are forever noticing how everyone smiles, waves, seems happy...
Though I have made Santa Cruz my home only these past three years, I have been coming here frequently ever since I moved to the Bay Area back in the 1970s. Over the course of those many visits as a single guy, then married, then with kids for bike rides and the Boardwalk and all the rest, I've only seen the improvements along the way, not the opposite.
I must respectfully disagree, or perhaps we just run in different circles. To be honest, I don't do as much socializing as I did once upon a time, but I do encounter the people at my work, downtown, neighbors, walks, here and there, and I have no sense of all this "hyper-aggressiveness" you describe in some pretty nasty terms. In fact, my wife and I are forever noticing how everyone smiles, waves, seems happy...
Though I have made Santa Cruz my home only these past three years, I have been coming here frequently ever since I moved to the Bay Area back in the 1970s. Over the course of those many visits as a single guy, then married, then with kids for bike rides and the Boardwalk and all the rest, I've only seen the improvements along the way, not the opposite.
I don't run in any circle. And although i am in various parts of S.C. proper regularly, my "stomping grounds" are Aptos, Soquel, Capitola. So it may have not to do with the circles we run in, but where we find ourselves from day to day.
It's still an amazing place to live. I still love it. I haven't left. And yes, there are many friendly, open people in the county. I encounter them daily ... hourly. I love it. I love to live in a place where people are grateful to be and to live where they do. I am one of those grateful people who can live on the Monterey Bay (although in order to do it i have to live in a trailer in the redwoods which is kinda great for 7 or so months of the year and otherwise kinda s____. Oh well. My choices, my life).
But, for example, drive to Aptos during the weekday. It used to be an enjoyable experience. It used to be quiet and traffic- free between commuter times. Even commuter times weren't that bad. Aptos itself was quiet, mellow, easy and relatively empty. Now it's a zoo. And the city planners are going to allow even more development (even another New Leaf) when Aptos at this point is bursting at the seams.
Many people who grew up in Santa Cruz can't even afford to live in their home town. Why do you think that is? Do you think that just possibly, Silicon Valley has something to do with it?
And the rental scene in the county is deplorable with many, many "high-end slumlords".
There are a few of us who remain but most of the hippies have left (and i'm not talking fashion statement hippies or hapless / homeless souls).
And if you consider development and an unsustainable number of people in an area (unsustainable in the sense that every area has a point where, when there are too many people, a place becomes imbalanced) "improvement" (i don't) then i take you point.
So maybe it's not the circles we travel in but what we most value and whether we can acknowledge that it's both a paradisiacal place but has also changed in ways that aren't so good at all. I can hold both of those "truths".
Though I have made Santa Cruz my home only these past three years, I have been coming here frequently ever since I moved to the Bay Area back in the 1970s. Over the course of those many visits as a single guy, then married, then with kids for bike rides and the Boardwalk and all the rest, I've only seen the improvements along the way, not the opposite.
My wife and I were married in Santa Cruz and l really enjoyed in back in the late 70s, early 80s. But it has changed a lot over the years. The population has doubled, the traffic is much worse and the city planners simply did not take into account its future growth. We still enjoy visiting it and its still a beautiful place. But there is no denying things have changed. That is common knowledge if you look at statistics and talk with the locals. Of course some still enjoy living there and no place is perfect. I have several friends who have lived there for decades and are still happy to call it home. But they will be the first to admit the changes haven't all been for the best.
This is true for many places, not just Santa Cruz. Where I grew up along the SoCal coast, it has changed significantly for the worse, from my perspective. Though, its still not a terrible place. It's just not the more enjoyable, laid back, less impacted area it once was. The developers went crazy with greed and overbuilt the heck out of it. At least there are more building restrictions along the Central Coast as well as a greater awareness of environmental impacts.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 02-03-2016 at 11:09 PM..
PS: Where is this mountain bike trail of which you speak? Where is the trail head and/or how best can you get to it by car?
Look up Big Basin Redwood State Park. You start at Waddell Beach and bike through the Redwoods into the park. It a truly amazing, magical place. One of the gems of Santa Cruz for sure. Some people hike in as well and even stay overnight.
Derek
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Monterey Bay...
