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First Impression
updated: Aug 07, 2012, 4:31 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

What first good or bad impression did you have when visiting Santa Barbara for the first time?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 305529	2012-08-07 04:47 PM
Moved here 25yrs ago with 150.00 bucks in my pocket - bad impression - lots of slum lords - first place my wife and i looked at was 600 and had dirt floors and no water - good - long list - beach's - great harbor area- great schools - great hiking - great happy hrs - CC is a great local College - Harry's Cafe - Joes- The Pier - The El Encanto balcony at sunset - Very great locals -
COMMENT 305534	2012-08-07 05:04 PM
bad - tenants who complain good - everything else!
COMMENT 305537	2012-08-07 05:08 PM
I first came here in December from a seasonal area that was very cold at the time, and I was amazed by how beautiful it was! We moved here with pets from out of state, and I was surprised at how difficult it was to find a rental (it wasn't hard in my old city). The high cost of living was jarring too. I was also surprised by how difficult it was to find good professional jobs here that aren't in the tech industry. Another thing that surprised me my first summer here was June Gloom. Wasn't expecting that. Also wasn't expecting how miserable August could be without AC, and still can't get over how people get by without it here (we ended up buying a room unit).
COMMENT 305543P	2012-08-07 05:38 PM
I really liked the nursery at Cottage Hospital and my pink blankie!
COMMENT 305548	2012-08-07 05:52 PM
I love how all the dumps in this town are referred to as "quaint"
COMMENT 305552	2012-08-07 06:00 PM
I really liked the nursery at St. Francis and my blue blankie!
COMMENT 305553	2012-08-07 06:03 PM
45 yeas ago....clean beaches, grass at East Beach, good schools, friendly neighbors, lots of free recreation, Fiesta horse in downtown bank lobby, no gangs, no panhandlers, locally owned shops, fresh food all year round, great winter temps, moderate summers, fruit on trees, a good church, La Cumbre just opening,Vons was shiny new, a $35,000 house we sold for $750,000 some years later. Life was good...still is.
COMMENT 305554	2012-08-07 06:04 PM
I was born here, therefore I don't know any different.
COMMENT 305557P	2012-08-07 06:11 PM
Hey 552 - HAVE WE MET?
COMMENT 305558P	2012-08-07 06:13 PM
The humingbirds, our sense of heritage, the way the seniors like to drive up the one way streets in the wrong direction...I could go on and on!
COMMENT 305565	2012-08-07 06:18 PM
Over 10 years ago, I visited and stayed at the Fess Parker Doubletree. I'm from PA, and it was fantastic. Weather was beautiful, I went swimming at night in December. The airport was actually my very first impression, and I was shocked - my tiny airport near home was gigantic compared to the tiny adorable airport here. Moved here about a year and a half later as soon as I graduated from high school. Still love it. Sure, SB has some negatives. But its beauty is still magnificent.
COMMENT 305568	2012-08-07 06:28 PM
I was born here. I moved away for a brief period in my early 30s and when I came back home I remember being completely in awe of how beautiful the mountains and our sunsets are. I think I always knew it, but it took moving away to see what every non-local who doesn't grow up here is so taken by when they first come here. A nice sunset or sunrise has never passed me by since without me appreciating it. I can't say that I ever thought twice about the local beauty when I was growing up.
COMMENT 305575P	2012-08-07 06:38 PM
558 - very funny about seniors driving the wrong way on a one way street. After returning from Australia, not long ago, I was very jet lagged, turned wrong way on Gutierrez St. It was Friday night, 9 pm. Immediately, thankfully, a policeman stopped me - couldn't believe that I'd lived here 40 years and didn't know my streets. Was visually tested twice and told to be on my way. I love it here, though I occasionally have a love/hate relationship with SBA, living elsewhere seems not an option.
REDTOP	2012-08-07 06:38 PM
We checked out Santa Barbara in the 80s and were turned off by the panhandlers, street people and empty shops on State Street. It was expensive. We moved here in the 90s after driving up and down the coast and realized that SB was really where we wanted to be. The panhandlers and street people are still here and it's still expensive, but the quality of life is unbeatable.
COMMENT 305578	2012-08-07 06:44 PM
My first clear memory of being in SB was standing in the old Santa Cruz market (Milpas & Cota), looking down at my little white shoes. You know, the kind you put on kids who are just learning how to walk. My mom used to buy me a 5-cent dill pickle out of the barrel there, or maybe a stalk of rhubarb to chew on. She always had a vegetable garden and planted fruit trees and grapes at every property she owned. It was fun growing up with a duck, a huge avocado tree (still there) and lots of room to roam. On Sundays, we would drive through Montecito and, years later, went to look at all the Goleta tract homes being built. I loved all the old walnut and lemon orchards out in Goleta. I still have the menu my mom got at Cottage Hospital the day I was born. Too bad so many people who don't really appreciate the beauty of our town had to move here. I cringe every time I hear some bozo say, "It's still better than L. A.!"
COMMENT 305579	2012-08-07 06:44 PM
If you don't like panhandlers move to Kansas.... they don't like it there either.
COMMENT 305580P	2012-08-07 06:48 PM
Bingo for 579 - thanks for the hearty chuckle. SB is a jewel to be guarded carefully.
COMMENT 305583	2012-08-07 06:53 PM
Hitch hiking thru in 1970, at the lights by State St., holding up a sign that read OZ, first car asked where that was, I turned down the ride, 2nd car said, Far Out, it was 1970, we drove all around SB for 3 or 4 hours, got stoned, got out, and came back to live here 13 years later.
COMMENT 305588	2012-08-07 07:15 PM
Would come here on summer vacations while my Dad was trying to find work down here. [Mom lived here as a teenager and wanted to move back really badly.] Always June gloom. I was a totally disgusted teenager. What did my Mom see in this place?? I came here for college because we had friends of the family living here, and I knew eventually my parents would move down here, which they did. September 1986: all drizzly and rainy, lol! And alot of rain during fall and winter. My opinion did NOT improve. Eventually I got treated to more normal SB weather and realized this place was awesome. :) Graduated 1990, never left. Married a local, have a young son. :)
COMMENT 305590	2012-08-07 07:17 PM
First impressions must have been great based on the photos of me minutes after birth at St Francis. First twenty years were great as well, enjoying the wide open beaches and the freedom to enjoy every corner of the area without my parents worrying about bad influences or harm to me. The next ten years proved difficult as things changed. To maintain life the way we were accustomed to we were forced to use SB for income and not pleasure, as other landlords do, and left for more leisurely, easygoing areas, reminiscent to old SB, not yet discovered by the masses. Don't get me wrong, Santa Barbara is a GREAT money maker when exploited correctly.
COMMENT 305594P	2012-08-07 07:23 PM
I was once asked by someone from Pennsylvania - I had come here from Ohio - how long it took me to acclimate. I said as long as it took to get off the plane. I am still here 38 years later and he has gone back to Pennsylvania. I loved the old airport and I love the life style. So did he, but his wife missed her family.
COMMENT 305595	2012-08-07 07:26 PM
The long strip of palm trees, as well as grass, right at the beach at Chase Palm Park. And, when you have your back to the beach you look at all how "foresty" the city is climbing up the hills, and then behind the hills a second row of MOUNTAINS. Gorgeous.
COMMENT 305641	2012-08-08 06:44 AM
New airport is difficult to negotiate for persons with disabilities.
COMMENT 305643P	2012-08-08 06:52 AM
After skipping around the US after moving from Canada, my parents discovered Santa Barbara. Lived in one of those $11,000 tract houses behind where OSH is now. Left for 7 years for school etc, moved back at 30 and never left. Once you have lived here, its hard to live anywhere else. I see many many areas that have not changed a bit, downtown is another story. But it could be worse. I'm talking about all the chain stores and paseo nuevo, that is disappointing.
COMMENT 305654	2012-08-08 07:43 AM
I came here with my family in 1969 and our experience was the Big Oil Spill. Not such a great first impression, but that was then and this is now. We love it here. Haven't left since then.
COMMENT 305663	2012-08-08 07:54 AM
First visited here New Year's Eve 2001 and was amazed at the scenic beauty (I'm from Texas, so it really didn't take much to amaze me then). Was lucky enough to move here in 2005 (married a local) and love it. Year round moderate temperatures? Mountains and ocean? Parks and hiking trails? Yes, please. I still cannot beleive the summers are on the cool side (except for about 10 days) and that most homes don't have A/C. June gloom doesn't bother me, b/c during that time Texas has 90-100 degree days with humidity! The only negative: cost of living. But hey y'all, paradise isn't cheap.
COMMENT 305684	2012-08-08 08:31 AM
Bad- Amount of VRBO's that are on the raise. I hate living next to one. It's breaking down the neighborhoods. Having only one hospital that has become an airport. Good- No billboards, the sign committee, the green trees outside of all my windows. My little path to the beach. Knowing everyone at the grocery store and talking with them. Knowing my neighbors (except for the VRBO). All the volunteers that make SB such a special place to live. All the wonderful local musicians and the SB Bowl.
COMMENT 305685	2012-08-08 08:31 AM
Spring of 1965 I came to SB to take tests to get into UCSB. I stayed in a motel on State and Alamar and drove out to school. I remember I was told to get on Hollister and keep driving. There were tons of fruit trees separating SB and Goleta. I went to UCSB, worked at UCSB for 42 years and am still living in the $19,000 house my first husband and I bought. I love living here. We didn't have gangs and graffiti then, and people seemed a little more friendly then. I avoid downtown most of the time. There's little there I need. Having moved here from the San Joaquin Valley and its heat, I LOVE June Gloom and the overcast days.
SBJULES	2012-08-08 08:33 AM
Went to Junior High & highschool here & have always loved it. re:#305553 , there were gang fights across the street from SBJH when I went there and there have always been panhandlers. It's part of life here.
COMMENT 305692	2012-08-08 08:40 AM
I noticed that the women outnumber the men 3 to 1.
COMMENT 305708	2012-08-08 09:00 AM
I actually just passed thru on the freeway, toward evening, and I noticed there were a lot of exits but that I couldn't see the town very well. Years later after I moved here, I realized that was because there are so many trees here and no billboards allowed! I love those two things about SB!
COMMENT 305713	2012-08-08 09:13 AM
March of 1981 we(myself my girlfriend our dog,Abbey,a bueatiful border collie, four suitecases and two sea-bags were hitch hiking to San Diego. We were picked up in the Montery area by a couple who said they were going as far as Santa Barbara, we said fine even though we never heard of the place. About six joints later they dropped us off in a parking lot near the beach. We liked the vibes so we decided to rent a hotel room for a week and check the area out. The next day we were walking down the street when the guy who gave us the ride the previous eveing came out of his house and asked if our dog liked roast beef ( I belive that was the day Abbey learned to talk). He than preceded to put the roast,platter and all,on the ground in front of Abbey. The three of us stood there in silence and watched Abbey eat her lunch. When she was done the picked up the platter said "cool dog" than went back into his house.
COMMENT 305723P	2012-08-08 09:36 AM
595 Says it for me too! The beach, the hills, the greenery - aren't we a lucky bunch!?
COMMENT 305730	2012-08-08 09:41 AM
Summer 1972, after a movie @ Riviera Theater we discovered our car wasn't going anywhere so we walked down the hill to State St and there was Frimple's restaurant with that beautiful tree growing up thru the middle of it :) I had seen it driving by earlier in the day and it looked even better all lit up at night. It felt very welcoming as we ate our dinner and I still love that tree.
COMMENT 305733P	2012-08-08 09:45 AM
First impression was that this is a desert. Yuccas in bloom on the mountains. No trees in the Natl. Forest. 1970 this was still a small town with friendly locals and local shops and love of the community was everywhere. We bought a fixer upper for $30,000 and fell in love with the laid back lifestyle. Never left and never would.
FLICKA	2012-08-08 09:45 AM
In the 1950s there were drunks hanging over bus benches on lower State, got by panhandling. Also, gang bangers at SB Junior High causing trouble. By the 70s at SBJH kids with "big hair" hid razor blades in there. With more people the problems are more noticable, they've always been here. Complaints about how awful SB is? Maybe another town would suit you better. Smaller population, smaller problems.
COMMENT 305735	2012-08-08 09:46 AM
Was born here in a petri dish and went on to become a world-wide pathogen.....so, no complaints.
COMMENT 305751	2012-08-08 09:56 AM
1976, 9 years old, on way to LA with parents for track meet, remember Fair and Ferris wheel, stuck in traffic on the 101 at the stop lights. 1984, road trip with friends when senior in high school, low riders and bad vibe on State street (and vomit on sidewalk outside of pizza joint) and quarter-fed vibrating beds at Motel 6. But then I came to UCSB and am still living here, so I guess I like it.
COMMENT 305769	2012-08-08 10:18 AM
I first arrived here after dark in 1970. When I awoke in the morning I was struck by the beauty of the mountains and the ocean. The bad impression was, and still is, the oil platforms.
JOHN WILEY	2012-08-08 10:25 AM
Adult Ed! Back in the early '90s when it was still a vibrant program. It was one of the main reasons we decided to live here permanently rather than just a year as originally planned. Also all the other similar programs at Extension, Parks & Rec, etc... The weather of course. Even before finding out about Adult Ed at a Sierra Club hike, we were watching KEYT the evening we got our TV working. There'd been a "gang" shooting in broad daylight on a busy street within a couple of blocks of our rented condo. Pretty alarming, but what happened next was a -big- factor in beginning our love of SB. For context, in Sandy Eggo where we'd lived before, the TV news would be overflowing with all kinds of larceny and violence. The community mantra would always be along the lines of "more jails, three strikes, capital punishment." Understandable sure, but opposite of what actually works to build and sustain a safe, free and friendly community. So back to SB: the guy whose business had bullet holes from the episode said, "I've been thinking, we have a back room that's not used at night and maybe we could set up a youth program to get these kids off the street." Sold!
COMMENT 305789	2012-08-08 10:50 AM
First laid eyes on SB on a road trip with my parents, in early 1966.. We loved EVERYTHING about SB. My folks lived the rest of their lives here, feeling they had found paradise, and nowhere else on this Earth would offer the overall combination of appealing features that we enjoy right here. 46 years later, I completely agree.
COMMENT 305797	2012-08-08 11:11 AM
We heard Santa Barbara was a beautiful place to live and since 1962 we would stop by on trips from LA toSF and back. Each time it was socked in with fog and we wondered what the attraction was. But still heard great things and it sounded like a retirement resort town and pricey. But we decided to come before the golden years and live. Transferred from LA in 1966 and rented six moths and bought in a new development by the More Mesa. Wonderful to hear the wildlife and sound of the waves breaking and the crickets. Perfect place to raise children. Lots of outside activities all year long. Now the grand kids are enjoying the benefits. Hope they appreciate Santa Barbara. Like John, I often enjoyed both the Adult ed, but also SBCC and got two degrees there while my kids were in school. And Fiestas and so many civic things to get involved with. Great memories of SB.
COMMENT 305816	2012-08-08 11:38 AM
Moved here in 99...straight to Isla Vista. Won't count that against my first impression. Kidding aside, I loved Santa Barbara as a bright eyed twenty year old. LOVED it.
RED CREEK	2012-08-08 11:42 AM
As a kid from Lompoc, SB was for eye doctor's visits at Sansum clinic and maybe a lunch with Mom at El Cielito. If we were really lucky we'd go to the harbor area and dig around on fossil hill (which was later towed away to make a parking lot at the harbor).
COMMENT 305829P	2012-08-08 11:57 AM
My first impression was of Cottage Hospital although I don't recall much :) I have lived here all of my life (42 years), growing up at Refugio as a child and in my adult life I have lived in almost every area of town (Mesa, Westside, Eastside, Uptown, Downtown etc) and I loved this town. I currently live in Noleta and I have to say that my impression of SB has changed and that I prefer Goleta to SB now, mainly due to the increase in violent crime, muggings etc that occur in broad daylight let alone at night. I have watched State Street go from being a kinda iffy place to a place I try to avoid when I have my kids with me. It makes me sad.
ARCHIE	2012-08-08 12:09 PM
I visited for first time in 1960. Nothing going on. Sense of a city stopped at Sola. On Saturday nights a long string of cars paraded down State Street. Dates strolled the aisles of downtown drug store. UCSB mostly WWII barracks. Stayed for a year. Went to SBCC and got kicked out. Didn't go to classes. Hung out with friends instead. My first impressions.
LUCKY 777	2012-08-08 12:33 PM
In 1969-72 I used to come up here from Pasadena when I was in high school and go to the many thrift stores on lower State Street, epic treasures! Then we'd go down and hang out at the beach and feel like we'd stepped out of time and entered an entirely different world. I never thought then that I'd end up living here, but the Fates decreed that I'd get a scholarship to UCSB and after those years I was determined to be a local. Years ago I read a phrase in a WESTWAYS Magazine that has always stuck with me: "Los Angeles, well, it is already gone, but Santa Barbara still has a tense smile on her pretty face."
COMMENT 305889	2012-08-08 01:35 PM
Born here and moved to NYC in late 20s and moved back 22 years later. Lower State Street is awful - all the drinking is done by 20 and 30 something wannabes, Paseo Nuevo is awful and La Cumbre Plaza is worse. LC Plaza had great stores when I was in high school, it was crowded and you could not find parking. Theatres much improved, museums and former Child's Estate hugely improved. Beaches ravaged by storms and improved with parking and great restaurants. Way too much growth, people wise. It was empty land in rural Goleta. Now, UCSB itself! That is greatly improved! It's all one in a city that is growing.
COMMENT 305968	2012-08-08 03:32 PM
First visited in the early 60's to visit cousins. So many cute blonde boys! Moved here 10 years later. Found the locals to be horribly snobby. Still loved the town and the backdrop of the ocean and the mountains. Every time I go to my old neighborhood I get a flood of wonderful memories.
COMMENT 305999P	2012-08-08 04:35 PM
Love the description of standing at Chase Park on the grass with the palm trees; behind you is the ocean; before you are the foothills, the greenery, and the Santa Ynez "mountains" - perfect description of one of the things I love here. I'm not a native of anywhere.....born to an army officer and his wife in a naval hospital in Lakewood.....left CA six months later and moved around six or seven times after that. Loved that life too. Ended up at UCSB 1967-71 (yes, I did watch the bank burn. It was what we called "street people" back then...now called homeless. It was not students who pushed the burning dumpster into the bank). I digress. Been here ever since; live in the upper East. Love breakfast on the deck at El Encanto (hopefully that will open again soon). Love the Rose Gardens at the Mission. Am always amazed when people whine about homeless people and crime. Try downtown L A at dark.......dozens of people rolling out their cardboard and sleeping bags to go to sleep. "There but for the grace of God go I...." Love it here and never plan to move.
SPARKEY	2012-08-08 08:44 PM
After my escape from the womb at Goleta Valley Hospital, I found the mountain area much to my liking and have since spent as much time there as possible.
COMMENT 306127P	2012-08-08 10:39 PM
Thanks Edhat readers - these are good stories and it's nice to have Edhat help join us in our shared sense of community.
COMMENT 306595	2012-08-09 08:15 PM
Came here in 69. Drove up from Newport Beach just months after migrating from Virginia Beach after growing up in upstate NY and Key West. Spent the night @ Cachuma and came back down for breakfast. Very early we were having a great breakfast on the pier with a tied boat that was banging the pilings with the swells. The scenery was awesome, the vibe was small town friendly and beautiful. Perfect. Not here for very long but the impression lasted A few years later, UCSB became the best option. We looked @ USanta Cruz, CSUSF & CSChico. Have been here ever since & it's been a great life. It seems like a lot of folks complain, why? We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. It's not perfect. So what, it's still a home worth loving, even with it's faults. It's way better than the competition (which also has the same faults plus some others & minus some). These people need to look around and realize just about how good it really is.

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