Is Goleta CA considered progressive? (Orange, Berkeley: fit in, apartments, for rent)

[jw2]

Originally Posted by goinglikesixty

......slow food movement, conservation AND environmentalism, alliances with those of different opinions for targeted problem solving, support of unions, and much, much more....

Pretty much all of coastal California hits your environmental and conservation concerns. But one thing that sticks out, when you said "targeted problem solving", the city that sticks out in my mind for you is San Francisco. It is a great city. Across the bridge to Marin County has a lot of nice places too.

Originally Posted by goinglikesixty

...
Statistics can only inform to a point. The more subtle points of life in any community is best ascertained by simply asking pertinent questions of people who actually live in the community. The ephemeral benefits can't be discovered from the real estate, tax and population statistics.
...

I see your point about the limited benefits of statistics but I am not sure what you mean by "ephemeral benefits". Would you rather longer term benefits?

[goinglikesixty]

Originally Posted by jw2

Pretty much all of coastal California hits your environmental and conservation concerns. But one thing that sticks out, when you said "targeted problem solving", the city that sticks out in my mind for you is San Francisco. It is a great city. Across the bridge to Marin County has a lot of nice places too.



I see your point about the limited benefits of statistics but I am not sure what you mean by "ephemeral benefits". Would you rather longer term benefits?

Thanks for this positive response. San Francisco is a great town but I think that the climate in the Goleta/Santa Barbara area would be a good fit for us. Also, there is GREAT mountain biking available very near in Goleta.

By ephemeral, I certainly mean long-term benefits which arise from a town's culture....i.e. political mix, the arts, care and concern for the environment, inclusiveness, the willingness of folks to smile at strangers, etc. I can't think of anything that would be more valuable than input from locals regarding some of these questions.....like gold for someone considering a very expensive move.

Thanks!

[jw2]

Originally Posted by goinglikesixty

Thanks for this positive response. San Francisco is a great town but I think that the climate in the Goleta/Santa Barbara area would be a good fit for us. Also, there is GREAT mountain biking available very near in Goleta.

By ephemeral, I certainly mean long-term benefits which arise from a town's culture....i.e. political mix, the arts, care and concern for the environment, inclusiveness, the willingness of folks to smile at strangers, etc. I can't think of anything that would be more valuable than input from locals regarding some of these questions.....like gold for someone considering a very expensive move.

Thanks!

You are indeed right on the weather. Anywhere south of Pt Conception has ideal weather.

From http://www.msc.ucla.edu/oceanglobe/p...entsentire.pdf

California Current: This flows from the Arctic waters of the North Pacific down the western coast of
Canada, Washington, Oregon and California. The beach and coasts north of Point Conception, located just
north of Santa Barbara, generally are chilly all year long because the California Current runs close to shore
in these regions. South of Point Conception the California Current veers offshore because the California
coast south of Point Conception curves eastward and a warmer eddy flows up the coast from the south,
warming southern California.

[soulseoul]

I loved Goleta/ Isla Vista. The people are warm and friendly. It's a small town vibe where locals wave and smile at you when you jog (I remember jogging near Hope Ranch and then got a lift back to IV). The political, cultural, and intellectual life stem from mostly UCSB, but also SBCC and Westmont. People are very civic minded and take a very active interest in the community. Even as a student, I never felt excluded. People are very inclusive here. You never get the feeling of snobbery, except in the Riviera and in Montecito. In Goleta, people are down to earth. I even remember getting discounts from local stores since they remembered me. The pace is slow, but not anemic. Really, it's a slice of old California (small towns and friendly people).

I hope this helps!

[Curmudgeon]

I'm getting a chuckle out of elements of this discussion. We moved, in retirement, from a decidedly liberal city in California to a very conservative, bible-belt part of the country. Amazingly, our neighbors and surroundings are most welcoming and the people helpful, almost everyone waves as you pass by whether on foot, bicycle or in your car. If people ask how you're doing today they actually mean it and take the time to listen and chat. Nature conservation is absolutely amazing, arts and crafts mirroring skills and practices that go back hundreds of years predominate and a great many of us seriously vegetable garden each year. Go figure! I guess liberals, progressives or whatever they wish to call themselves don't have a monopoly on being good neighbors to one another and the earth after all.

As to the matter at hand, Goleta would likely be ideal for the OP, as would a number of other California locations. But Goleta does have advantages in terms of weather and scenery as well as being quasi-isolated which discourages sprawl, thus far.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

But Goleta does have advantages in terms of weather and scenery as well as being quasi-isolated which discourages sprawl, thus far.

I think it's more been the building moratorium due to water issues that's discouraged the sprawl.

[wrcousert]

Goleta is home to "The Habit" so they're obviously doing something right.

[goinglikesixty]

Some great, specific answers. Can someone say more about the "water issues" in Goleta/SB and how the municipalities are planning for water shortages??? Thx.

[soulseoul]

Originally Posted by goinglikesixty

Some great, specific answers. Can someone say more about the "water issues" in Goleta/SB and how the municipalities are planning for water shortages??? Thx.

It's been years since I lived there (4 years ago), but during that drought water rates rose and we were told to conserve. I really don't know if they the patrol. I somehow doubt it since its pretty hard to patrol. In terms of planning for shortages, the South Coast is pretty good about pushing for more sustainable plants (many parks are native species or drought resistant). If you want more information, I would contact the Goleta Valley Water District. Really friendly and helpful.

[Traveler99]

Not sure why people can't just answer your questions, but yes, Goleta is considered progressive. I've lived here for about 25 years and am pretty Conservative, but I can count on one hand the number of other Conservatives I've met in town. I think Goleta matches your political persuasions exactly and you'll love it here. Goleta is very dog friendly with many dog parks, an off-leash dog beach, and even a yearly dog parade. Many businesses are dog friendly including Nordstroms! There are at least a couple of weekly farmer's markets, one in Santa Barbara and one in Goleta (there are probably more, but that's not really my thing, so I'm not sure). There are also several community gardens and organic food abounds here. This is a very philinthropic community with lots of benefits and oportunities to volunteer. You'll find lots of people concerned with the environment. People are very proud of their Prius's and Smart cars that are quickly becoming more prevalent. As far as the water issues, there currently isn't one. We had a fairly long lasting drought a while back and the county ended up over-compensating by purchasing water from the state (not just relying on Lake Cachuma for water) AND building a water desalinization plant. Immediately after doing so, the drought ended, and we have been paying for but haven't received a drop of state water and the desal plant has been moth-balled. So even if we do have another drought, we're in a much better position to handle it than last time. Even though I'm a different political persuasion than 90%+ of the rest of the people in Goleta, and even though this isn't the cheapest place to live, I love the people here and couldn't imagine a better place to live. Hope this helps.