Californication

 

We just returned from a two-and-a-half-week trip to Santa Barbara, CA. We had a wonderful time with our two furry kids in a lovely rental house soaking up the California lifestyle and enjoying some much needed relief from the summer Arizona heat.

California has something for everyone – sparkling water, sandy beaches, snow capped mountains, hot deserts, fertile valleys and everything in between. Santa Barbara sits 100 miles north of Los Angeles nestled between the coastal mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. They call it the American Riviera for good reason. It has a Mediterranean climate, a booming wine industry, celebrity mansions, beach bums, a thriving local food scene, and that hip, Southern California vibe that we all watch on TV. 

So why don’t we live there?

Well there’s the traffic. 

Cars are as vital a part of California culture as the Pacific Ocean. Everywhere you go, there’s thousands of other people in their cars seemingly going the same place that you are. And they all want to get there before you do. Drive down a residential street and there’s someone right behind you that wants to go there too. Same holds true for the grocery store, a restaurant, the beach, the gas station, the golf course, etc. If you were headed to the colonoscopy center at 2 am for an emergency rectal exam there would be someone else on their way there too. So hurry up and get out of the way. 

Santa Barbara is a little less congested than the larger cities like LA and SFO, but it’s still car focused. There’s only one freeway, the 101. It’s 2 or 3 lanes in each direction and can become a parking lot at any time. The surface streets are very busy as well. For a city of 90,000 people it feels like there’s ten times that amount of cars.

And the cost of living.

Imagine a small home (less than 1,000 square feet), with 2 tiny bedrooms, one and a half baths, no garage, no view, on-street parking (no driveway), and a small backyard in a very modest neighborhood of similar houses. Now imagine paying over $1 million for it and then covering the corresponding property taxes every year. Jesus wept.

And it’s not just housing that costs too much. Go to the grocery store and pay $4 for a gallon of milk. Pay $4 for a gallon of gas. Pay $500 – $1000 to register your car every year. It all adds up to a lot of money to live very modestly.

And the natural disasters.

Remember last year when the largest wildfire in California history was burning its way toward Montecito? And then a few months later over a foot of rain fell on that burn scarred mountainside and decimated all those multi million dollar homes? That was all happening just a few miles from downtown Santa Barbara. But is it really any different than a tornado in the midwest, or a hurricane in Florida or a crippling blizzard in New England? Depends on what you are willing to risk to live in paradise.

But the climate is perfect.

If sunny skies and daytime highs in the 60s and 70s with a light cooling ocean breeze blowing all your cares away are your thing, then Santa Barbara is your ideal weather zone. Yes, you may get some morning clouds (May gray and June gloom are annual occurrences) but it never really gets hot or cold. Any outdoor activity is fair game any day of any month of the year. I think it’s the Goldilocks of climate – just right.

And the scenery is gorgeous.

The hills of Santa Barbara are a beautiful emerald green after the winter and spring rains are over and then everything turns golden brown through summer and fall. State Street and the downtown area are well kept and tree lined and every bit as pretty as Rodeo Drive. You can shop till you drop if you’re so inclined. The wharf is a typical touristy waterfront with beach cafes, seafood restaurants, marina, pier, bike paths, that all hug the sparkling Pacific. Take in any view and it looks like a postcard.

Then there’s the wine.

Pinot noir grapes thrive in the area between the Pacific Ocean and the town of Buellton. The Santa Ynez valley produces some world class Syrahs and other Rhone varietals. If you saw the movie Sideways, it was all filmed in the Santa Barbara County wine growing region. You can stay at the Windmill motel in Buellton. You can eat and drink at the Hitching Post. You can play golf amongst the vineyards at Alisal. You can re-live all of Miles’ and Jack’s adventures from the movie. Just don’t drink the fucking Merlot. 

If you grow tired of pinots and Rhone style wines, head 100 miles further north to Paso Robles with juice that rivals some of the best of Napa Valley. We came home with two new wine club memberships as well as 4 cases loaded into some very heavy coolers in the back of the truck. We are now stocked up for all of our summer sousing needs. 

And the politics – half of you will love it and half of you will hate it. Just like the rest of the country right now. No further political comments at this time.

So why don’t we live there? The short answer is we like Tucson better. We like having money in available to travel to places like Santa Barbara and other places around the US and the world, all from our nice home base in Tucson. The cost of living in Santa Barbara would put a serious dent in the fun budget. We also like getting around our city with relative ease, not worrying about what the traffic is doing or where we will find parking. We like living in a UNESCO city of gastronomy where the restaurants are a foodie’s dream. We like playing world class golf at a great club for a reasonable amount of money. And, save for a couple of hot months, we have a damn fine climate here too.

Today’s post started out as an homage to California and Santa Barbara and turned into a validation of our decision to live in Tucson. I guess Dorothy was right – there’s no place like home.