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Old 06-30-2006, 10:33 AM
 
1 posts, read 10,757 times
Reputation: 11

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Hi! We are looking at relocating to Santa Barbara, CA from Denver, CO for my husband"s job. I am an elementary teacher. We live fairly comfortably in Denver and enjoy the climate, outdoor activities and being close to our families!

I am wondering about...
cost of living
teaching opportunities
quality of life
housing market

Any thoughts, opinions or information would be appreciated.
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Old 07-02-2006, 01:24 AM
 
676 posts, read 3,075,313 times
Reputation: 795
Quote:
Originally Posted by jljones77
Hi! We are looking at relocating to Santa Barbara, CA from Denver, CO for my husband"s job. I am an elementary teacher. We live fairly comfortably in Denver and enjoy the climate, outdoor activities and being close to our families!

I am wondering about...
cost of living
teaching opportunities
quality of life
housing market

Any thoughts, opinions or information would be appreciated.
What kind of research have you done so far on Santa Barbara? You didn't mention what your husband's salary will be and that is a HUGE factor when moving to Santa Barbara. I was about to post a long response, but I have instead sent it to you as a private message. I have pretty much said the same thing in other threads, so I will spare other people the gory details
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Old 07-02-2006, 01:41 AM
 
Location: In a room above Mr. Charrington's shop
2,916 posts, read 11,075,147 times
Reputation: 1765
Santa Barbara is a tad isolated. You can find most services there, but it's a bit of a trek if you need something outside of SB. But, before anything like that becomes a factor, housing should be your biggest focus. Vacancy rates are very low, rents are high, and with the median home price of $1.2 million, owning is out of the question for more than 80 percent of the residents. If your desire is to be in SB's corner of CA but find it too expensive, then you might research west Ventura County just to the south. It's not SB, but you still have the climate and weather (for many people the area's biggest draw) with HALF the cost in housing. Ventura County is also close enough to LA to enjoy without having to live there. From Ventura you are more centrally located for jobs than SB, which is commute distance. But equally within reach -- and with less traffic -- is Santa Clarita in northern LA county. East Ventura County's cities of Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village and Moorpark/Simi Valley are between 18 to 40 miles from the west county.

Last edited by Winston Smith; 07-02-2006 at 02:06 AM..
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Old 07-04-2006, 10:50 PM
 
1,312 posts, read 6,467,337 times
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Salary is important, but the amount of home equity that you can bring to the move is a huge issue as well. I would not move to Santa Barbara with less than a half-million to bring to the real estate market as a down payment.
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Old 07-10-2006, 11:41 AM
 
39 posts, read 254,744 times
Reputation: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by jljones77
Hi! We are looking at relocating to Santa Barbara, CA from Denver, CO for my husband"s job. I am an elementary teacher. We live fairly comfortably in Denver and enjoy the climate, outdoor activities and being close to our families!

I am wondering about...
cost of living
teaching opportunities
quality of life
housing market

Any thoughts, opinions or information would be appreciated.
Better have some money in your pocket Santa Barbara is very expensive. I've attached a link to what your money will buy for about a half a million. 2 bedroom 1 bathroom 800 square feet. It's not pretty...

removed

Last edited by Marka; 07-10-2006 at 11:58 PM..
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Old 07-10-2006, 01:57 PM
 
676 posts, read 3,075,313 times
Reputation: 795
Quote:
Originally Posted by iansmom
Better have some money in your pocket Santa Barbara is very expensive. I've attached a link to what your money will buy for about a half a million. 2 bedroom 1 bathroom 800 square feet. It's not pretty...

removed
The sad thing is that house isn't even in Santa Barbara. It is in Oak View which is about 45 minutes away inland on the way to Ojai. If that house was in Santa Barbara it would be a lot more than that! The median price is 1.4 million dollars and 1 bedroom condos are more than half a million. I had also sent the original poster a private message about the low demand of teachers in SB and that is because no one with kids can afford to live in Santa Barbara. There is a declining population. The town is pretty much RICH, Hispanic, college kids and babyboomers who bought houses years ago. Oh yeah, and there is a fair amount of homeless people. There really isn't much in between unless you are renting or commuting into Santa Babara from North County (Lompoc area) or south from Ventura. The traffic is getting bad in the direction of Ventura to Santa Barbara because most people who work in SB live south.

Last edited by Marka; 07-10-2006 at 11:59 PM..
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Old 08-26-2006, 10:08 PM
 
2 posts, read 21,502 times
Reputation: 11
Default living in santa barbara

If you want to move to Santa Barbara, unless you're rolling in money, you will need to rent. You can rent a two bedroom townhouse for about $1800 a month. Stick to Goleta or the areas bordering it, like Turnpike area for the best value for your money. These are nice neighborhoods. Quality of life is not so great as far as housing. Most likely you will have to share your washer and dryer with the whole complex. On the other hand, everywhere you look in Santa Barbara there is something incredibly beautiful so your quality of life as far as things to do and wonderful places to visit will be very high. www.LotsaFunMaps.com has lots of photos of Santa Barbara that show places to go, parks, beaches, etc.
I don't know about teaching opportunities.
Hope this helps!
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Old 08-26-2006, 10:30 PM
 
2 posts, read 21,502 times
Reputation: 11
Default Not isolated

Oh, one more thing. In a previous post someone said that Santa Barbara is isolated and it made it sound like a small town. Actually, Santa Barbara has everything you would need. You never have to leave. If you want amusement parks, you have to go to LA. But you have all the shops, culture, music, art, university events, anything really, that you could need. It's a pretty big area. The university, and the wealthy older people keep lots of money and interesting events flowing through. Not sure what they meant by isolated. It's true there aren't a lot of huge malls or fast food places like other parts of America (thank goodness). But there's a Costco, Kmart, Borders etc. Hope this helps!
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Old 08-26-2006, 11:40 PM
 
1 posts, read 10,747 times
Reputation: 15
I have lived in Santa Barbara all my life. You will be much better off
moving to Boulder, where the people are nicer, better educated and more affluent. Santa Barbara has nice weather (no snow) but the city, and the state of California, are being overrun by lowlifes from "south of the border" and gang bangers. Accept the snow and raise your kids among good people.
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Old 08-27-2006, 06:11 PM
 
1,398 posts, read 6,605,139 times
Reputation: 1839
jljones, unless you've won the lottery or your spouse is independently wealthy, an elementary school teacher will never, ever, be able to afford home ownership in Santa Barbara. Your kids would have rich playmates, your surroundings would be gorgeous, you'd all be safe and it's the most perfect climate on the entire planet (more Mediterranean than the actual Mediterranean: rarely cooler than 57 in winter, rarely hotter than 87 in summer), but you'd not be able to afford to be there in the first place. Seriously, this sort of inquiry is like asking about buying a penthouse next to Central Park, NYC, or horse farm on Jupiter Island Fl. It really is beyond the reach of most working people.

Last edited by fastfilm; 08-27-2006 at 07:27 PM..
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