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[quote=Anonymous]I'm sure OP is long gone since this thread is pretty old (somehow I missed it the first go around), but thought I'd weigh in since I'm the only actual current SB resident to post. There are a lot of mistruths on this thread - first of all, you can definitely find a house for around $1M, and in a good school district to boot (Goleta or the unincorporated SB area). Second, houses in Montecito do NOT start at $4M. We bought recently in SB proper, but looked at Montecito and there were several houses in the $1.5-$2M range we considered. However, the fire risk put us off, so we decided to stick with SB and ended up buying a place near the water for about $1.5M, in a good school district (for elementary at least). We may send our kids to private school eventually but wanted the option of a top notch elementary to start.

Second, having lived in all the other areas mentioned on this thread (LA, OC, SD), I can tell you that SB has both pluses and negatives compared to each. The biggest negative that I can see is the job market. Salaries tend to be much lower than LA/OC, but the COL is just as high, which makes things difficult. Diversity is also a problem (both ethnic and socioeconomic). However, traffic (which is the thing I hated most about living in LA/OC) is virtually nonexistent. My DH and my commutes are each 5 minutes, each way, which would basically be impossible in LA/OC and probably SD also. That means we get a ton of time with our family that we wouldn't otherwise have.

Also, not sure who is complaining about the hiking and beaches, but I would say both are nonpareil compared to most beaches in LA especially. Super clean and not crowded, relatively speaking.

Ultimately, I'm not sure we'll stay here forever. But I can't deny that it's an amazing place for my children to grow up - they have access to the mountains, beaches, clean, safe spaces to play in, and great schools. There's a lot to be said for that, and plus we have family nearby, so it was really a no-brainer for us. OP if you are still here I'm happy to answer questions![/quote]

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