Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions title=
Mr. Monopoly and Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse outside City Hall on Tuesday. (courtesy photo)
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By the edhat staff

The cheapest way to buy Santa Barbara property now might be with Monopoly money.

Mr. Monopoly paid a visit to Santa Barbara City Hall on Tuesday wearing his signature top hat and black tuxedo and posed for photos with Mayor Randy Rowse and city council members.

The popular Hasbro board game is planning to pay homage to our small town with a new rendition of its classic game, "Monopoly: Santa Barbara Edition."

The game will feature locally themed squares decided on by the community itself. The local edition will replace iconic properties on the board such as Boardwalk and Park Place with locally beloved destinations known to locals and visitors alike. Remaining true to the original Monopoly board, the new edition will include ‘Community Chest’ and ‘Chance’ playing cards that will be customized to Santa Barbara.

Board game manufacturer Top Trumps is spearheading the Santa Barbara version of Monopoly as part of a wider efforts to create customized, community-based editions of the game for the North American market. 

“We aim to showcase Santa Barbara in all its glory, displaying all the local favorites and cherished places, from the Old Mission Santa Barbara to La Super-Rica Taqueria, to many other iconic landmarks,” said Top Trumps representative, Jennifer Tripsea. “We want to hear from the community which local favorites they would like to see represented. The edition will be everything you love from the traditional game infused with some of the places you recommend, so please write in!”

Until April 28, community members can voice which locations they would like to see featured on the board via the official Monopoly email at santabarbara@toptrumps.com.

The finished product is expected to be released at the end of November 2023.

Monopoly first hit shelves in 1935 with the Race car, Thimble, Boot, Top Hat, and Battleship among the original set of Monopoly tokens while the Scottie Dog and Wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s. According to Tripsea, Monopoly is the world’s favorite family game brand and is enjoyed by more than one billion players in 114 countries across the globe.


(courtesy photo)

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biguglystick Mar 26, 2023 05:35 PM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

Ughhh. Mayor of a city with a CRIPPLING HOUSING CRISIS poses for a PR pic with Monopoly man, a game about predatory real estate practices. OH, THE IRONY. You cannot make this crap up!!! Perhaps they should put some of those EMPTY STOREFRONTS in this game, or some of Dario Pini's moldy run down condemned rental units... or maybe all the DISPLACED renters that just got evicted by an out-of-state greedy landlord so he can charge more rent. Dispicable.

biguglystick Mar 26, 2023 04:55 PM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

This is unbelievably tone deaf and maddening while hundreds of tenants are being evicted because the greedy out-of-state (Chicago!!!) owners want to charge more. Rents in SB are ridiculous, disgusting, really, and here's our mayor making an a$$ of himself with this stupidity. Infuriating. Hey Randy Rouse, how about you do something about AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR LOCALS???!!!

notme Mar 25, 2023 09:15 AM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

SBROBERT, it's no coincidence that your game came out in 1984. According to the PBS show, in 1983, the Supreme Court refused to hear a Parker Brothers' case against the creator of Anti-Monopoly, thereby allowing other companies to start making other versions of Monopoly, like Santa Barbopoly. College towns were popular, and because we had cats, we had Cat-Opoly.

Crystalandmaui Mar 25, 2023 08:34 AM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

Ty Warner house in front of the beach, San Ysidro Ranch, shoreline park, court house, Santa Barbara zoo, State Street, El Presidio, lotus land, Bellosguardo estate. Hotel savoy, Hill Carillon adobe, Hope House, hotel Virginia, Lobero theatre, The Sexton House, Stow house, Winchester adobe, Vera Cruz house,

RHS Mar 25, 2023 08:10 AM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

Yes, Monopoly stole the game and messed over the inventor for decades. A very ugly picture. Don't know why our mayor is making a fool of himself posing with a caricature of greed. But he doesn't seem to have much else to do from what can be ascertained--just public ceremonial moments.

a-1679707662 Mar 24, 2023 06:27 PM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

Ugh. From the soap opera to Western White House to Meghan & Harry. Not sure I like this combination. ;-)
I'd love to know the brainstorming and planning that went into chosing SB! Will they use the name "Montecito" for a property?

It's hard to buy and sell a wharf or mission. Maybe they'll make some seaside business/utility. A chartering business.
And there have to be residential and hotel properties. Crocker Houses, maybe the dog house? Definitely properties on the Riviera and Cliff Dr. Cabrillo hotel blocks, Belmond/El Encanto, Miramar. First couple of blocks of State.

"You’re sure to have a great time playing any one of our new official City Monopoly Editions! Added to our line up in 2020, the Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game is fun for the whole family. Buy amazing sites, make the highest bids on each property, build houses and hotels, and become the richest citizen in cities like Cambridge, Brooklyn, or San Antonio…pick your favorite token and roll the dice! Check our website for updates and see where we land next!" https://toptrumps.us/pages/about-us

a-1679710512 Mar 24, 2023 07:15 PM
Monopoly Plans for Santa Barbara Board Game, Asks for Local Suggestions

"Alameda Padre Serra"/"The American Riviera" (or whatever the correct tagline is) would work as a property name, as would "Cabrillo Blvd." But they need cutesy names to be divided up into 3's, right? It's been a while since I played.
Oh, and "Coast Village Road," as it is part of SB City. There's the Montecito tie-in.

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