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I have lived in both locations. I live in Santa Barbara for six years from 1989 until 1994. The cost of housing is significantly more expensive and depending on what part of the city you live in, you are always keeping up with the Joneses, putting on airs, going to the best restaurants. There is a ton of culture in Santa Barbara. For a while I was a provisional docent at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Now loading on the big Island, it’s a much slower pace. However if I had to compare living in Honolulu versus living in Santa Barbara, I would take Santa Barbara. Probably because in terms of traveling it’s easier to get to other parts of the country if you wanted to do that. But the beaches and activities are pretty spectacular in Santa Barbara. The reality is that I just cannot afford to own a home there and have an ocean view. When I was living there, I was renting. I moved south to the Ventura area to buy my first home but if I had to do it all over again I would stay in Santa Barbara and save and scrimp until I can afford to buy something. From an investment potential that city cannot be beat
But the beaches and activities are pretty spectacular in Santa Barbara.
They may look nice - but as I write this, the sea temp in Santa Barbara is 56 degrees - the sea temp around Kailua-Kona is 77 degrees. Personally, I can't swim in 56 degree ocean temperatures.
Hi Honuman, I lived in Kona for 4 years and wondering if SB has a simular community feel? Kona has a small town feel where most know everyone and a natural community concern for others which is a beautiful thing and I'm seeking something simular to that calmness too. Lived in Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and both Oahu and east/west big island too. Thank you kindly for any advise.
Ha! I was randomly browsing the Oahu forum, saw this thread, didn't pay attention to when it was created, saw a post by a person who attended a grad school based in SB, assumed it had to be the same one I attended, read the name of the poster... and saw that it was me! I dropped off of City-Data for a while starting in 2014, and when I tried to log back in as Honuman, I received an error saying that no such account existed. So I tried to recreate it, and I received an error saying that the account already existed. I decided that the easiest thing to do was register under a new name.
Anyway, I'm not qualified to answer your question, sorry. I only spent those few days in SB and haven't been back since, and I don't know anyone who lives there. I've visited Kona several times, but the place I know best is Hilo, my wife's home town. That definitely has a community feel. On every vacation we take to Hilo, we always make an overnight trip or two Kona. I resurface on the Hawaii forums when we think we'll be able to move to Hilo, but we always reach a financial stumbling block. My wife retired last fall, and I have a job from which I can telecommute. Unfortunately, my company's health-insurance policy doesn't extend to Hawaii, and I can't afford what I'd have to pay through HMSA or Kaiser. I still have a few years before I'm eligible for Medicare. And so we remain in remain in Oregon and visit Hawaii every couple years.
I, too, lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area as a kid, then lived in Atlanta for 25 years (my parents moved there for work), and have lived in Portland for the last 20 years. The quality of life here has declined over the past few years due to drugs, homelessness, city-government stupidities, and too many people moving here for what the infrastructure can support -- i.e., the same problems facing many cities today, including Honolulu. I love Honolulu, though, as well as the rest of Oahu, and of course the Big Island. When I turn 65, we'll reevaluate our moving options one last time.
Ha! I was randomly browsing the Oahu forum, saw this thread, didn't pay attention to when it was created, saw a post by a person who attended a grad school based in SB, assumed it had to be the same one I attended, read the name of the poster... and saw that it was me! I dropped off of City-Data for a while starting in 2014, and when I tried to log back in as Honuman, I received an error saying that no such account existed. So I tried to recreate it, and I received an error saying that the account already existed. I decided that the easiest thing to do was register under a new name.
Anyway, I'm not qualified to answer your question, sorry. I only spent those few days in SB and haven't been back since, and I don't know anyone who lives there. I've visited Kona several times, but the place I know best is Hilo, my wife's home town. That definitely has a community feel. On every vacation we take to Hilo, we always make an overnight trip or two Kona. I resurface on the Hawaii forums when we think we'll be able to move to Hilo, but we always reach a financial stumbling block. My wife retired last fall, and I have a job from which I can telecommute. Unfortunately, my company's health-insurance policy doesn't extend to Hawaii, and I can't afford what I'd have to pay through HMSA or Kaiser. I still have a few years before I'm eligible for Medicare. And so we remain in remain in Oregon and visit Hawaii every couple years.
I, too, lived in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area as a kid, then lived in Atlanta for 25 years (my parents moved there for work), and have lived in Portland for the last 20 years. The quality of life here has declined over the past few years due to drugs, homelessness, city-government stupidities, and too many people moving here for what the infrastructure can support -- i.e., the same problems facing many cities today, including Honolulu. I love Honolulu, though, as well as the rest of Oahu, and of course the Big Island. When I turn 65, we'll reevaluate our moving options one last time.
Thank you for your response, and update on yourself. Understand how had to change name on City-Data.
Best of luck in the future.
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