Relocating to Goleta (Orange, Santa Barbara, Vista: sales, real estate, to rent)

[mikej27]

My family is seriously considering relocating from North Orange County to Goleta. I travel there for work frequently, so I'm familiar with the overall area, but have little knowledge of the neighborhoods and would appreciate any info. Our budget would be around $800k. We are a fairly active family with kids in both grammar and high school. We are looking for a neighborhood that is safe and family friendly. We are fairly active, so easy access to the beach and/or hiking trails is a big plus. The few areas that I have found from a quick internet search are Santa Barbara Shores and the area north of the 101 around Dos Pueblos HS or Los Carneros Park. Any info on these areas in particular or the overall town of Goleta would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Chowhound]

I used to work at UCSB, this was 17 or so yrs ago, I know back then just about everywhere in Goleta was pretty good overall.

I wonder if the Hamburger Habit is still there, loved that place, along with a little place called the Cajun Kitchen. Couple of great places to eat.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off the rails there.

In terms of very specific neighborhoods, couldn't tell ya, but like I said, I don't recall there being a "bad area" of Goleta.

I'd love to live there again if I could get a job that could pay the outrageous costs of living in the Santa Barbara area.

Real estate there is just stupid expensive.

[mgm805]

Originally Posted by Chowhound

I used to work at UCSB, this was 17 or so yrs ago, I know back then just about everywhere in Goleta was pretty good overall.

I wonder if the Hamburger Habit is still there, loved that place, along with a little place called the Cajun Kitchen. Couple of great places to eat.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off the rails there.

In terms of very specific neighborhoods, couldn't tell ya, but like I said, I don't recall there being a "bad area" of Goleta.

I'd love to live there again if I could get a job that could pay the outrageous costs of living in the Santa Barbara area.

Real estate there is just stupid expensive.

The Habit is still there, right in Old Town....yummy!

[mikej27]

Both the original Habit and Cajun Kitchen are still there. I haven't eaten at the Cajun Kitchen. I'll have to give it a try next time I'm in town!

Can I ask where you live now? I was wondering how to interpret your comment that you'd love to live there again.

[sourdough]

I am in Carpinteria, a nice little town south of S.B. $800K is reasonalble but not great for here or Goleta. It will be a tight market. A realtor will be able to help you. Find one that is local, has a family like you and let them show you around. That's what they do. Don't be bothered if you don't connect with the first realtor you get. Try another. They are suppose to be looking out for you but in the end they are a sales person.

[mgm805]

Originally Posted by mikej27

My family is seriously considering relocating from North Orange County to Goleta. I travel there for work frequently, so I'm familiar with the overall area, but have little knowledge of the neighborhoods and would appreciate any info. Our budget would be around $800k. We are a fairly active family with kids in both grammar and high school. We are looking for a neighborhood that is safe and family friendly. We are fairly active, so easy access to the beach and/or hiking trails is a big plus. The few areas that I have found from a quick internet search are Santa Barbara Shores and the area north of the 101 around Dos Pueblos HS or Los Carneros Park. Any info on these areas in particular or the overall town of Goleta would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Goleta is a great place to live, I for one am almost out of here. Rent keeps increasing and it's not really going to stop anytime soon.

For your questions though, I live in Ellwood which is the Santa Barbara Shores area currently and we love it. Nice quiet neighborhood with the bluffs behind us. It has been a great place to live with our 3 little ones. When I say quite I mean not loud parties and that sort of thing.

Cons= There is A LOT of development going on in this area right now due to the new condos or whatever those over priced things are supposed to be at the end of Hollister.
They are also making a mixed retail and living area right up the street just look up Hollister Village Goleta.
And at the corner of Hollister and Glenn Annie, they are putting up another new Hotel.
They are also about halfway through construction of an ice skating rink which is right down the road on Glenn Annie going towards Isla Vista.
Oh and a little further down they are putting up more student housing. And cant forget the other condos that are being built right on the bluffs at the end of Phelps rd, that turns into Cannon Green.
This is all within 2 miles of you.

I also grew up on the Dos Pueblos side, which they coined El Encanto Heights several years ago, my mom still lives over there. That place is quite, If I could afford to rent an actual house I would live on that side of the freeway.
Los Carneros are is also nice, and quite depending on how close you live to La Patera Park. People like to go and have parties on the weekends. Its a nice big park to do so.

The Turnpike are is also a pretty nice quite area. I would say most places are nice, if I could by a home I would stay away from the lower westside (San Andreas St) and the lower east side (Milpas).

I would also suggest you looking on Santa Barbara Edhat there's a guy on there named Roger the scanner guy. He listens to the scanner most of the day and post real life breaking news that is helpful on many different levels. But he also posts every Monday Wednesday and Friday all of that incidents that he just heard over the scanner but wasn't "breaking/important" news. Or not, I stopped a while ago because my perfectly little community I live in didn't seem to perfect anymore. You can also use the search function to look into old posts. I say this because there have been several neighborhoods being robbed recently I don't remember exactly where, except for knowing that its in Santa Barbara. Just an FYI in case you start looking into other areas.

I will say that I will always choose living in Goleta over Santa Barbara. We may have all this construction going on right now, but its so much calmer to me than SB. And if and when you need to go there its a very short drive away. Hope this helps.

[mikej27]

Sourdough, thanks for the advice. I think I may meet with a realtor next time I'm in town on business.

[mikej27]

mgm805, lot's of good info. Thanks!

Are the bluffs generally safe for walking in the evening? I was checking the area out last time I was in town and it felt strange that not many people were there...but then again, I'm used to crowded Orange County.

I'm favoring the Ellwood area to the El Encanto area simply because it would be easier to walk or bike to the beach from the south side of the freeway. Are the neighborhoods much different? I'm curious why you say you would prefer to buy on the north side.

Do you have any opinions on Dos Pueblos vs. San Marcos HS? There are a few negative comments on greatschools website that make it sound like San Marcos has gang issues, but maybe that's just an isolated incident.

I did notice all of the construction (the skating rink would be a plus for me) last time I was up there. I didn't think much of it since it's normal in my current area. My only hope was that the Hilton would not be too large of a building. That could really make that intersection feel closed in.

Sorry for so many follow-up questions. I hope you don't mind. Thanks again!

[mgm805]

I don not mind at all!

Yes there are people out there all the time in the evening, maybe just not when you where here. I probably wouldn't stay out there very late because I'm a scardy cat when it comes to wilderness and things like that but it definitely doesn't bother a lot of other people.

For me personally I like the north side because that's the side I grew up on, but I have lived on the south side the last 7 years. Also I want to live in a neighborhood and drive to shopping areas, I hate having to go through all this traffic now just to go home. I usually drive up to Winchester then backtrack down Hollister.

I'm DP alumni, so I favor it. But it also is a great school they have added the engineering department and an art department if I'm not mistaken. The school has received some national attention for awards in engineering. Im not too sure about the gangs in the schools anymore, when I went there in 99 they were at all 3 high schools but I have been told by my nephew (DP) that he doesn't see that there as much as the stories we have told him anyways.
I would assume that San Marcos would have more, just because of the kids that go there from the west side. IMHO of course.

Ellwood is great, don't get me wrong. It sounds like the things that are frustrating to me now may actually be some of the things you prefer in a city and there's nothing wrong with that.