San Jose vs. Santa Barbara. Where would you move to?

[IE]

Ahhh!!!... This is killing me. I'm currently in San Luis Obispo, and at my current, pretty well paying job they are asking me to move to Santa Barbara. Now, I'll hopefully have an offer up in San Jose for about the same money by the end of the week.

I'm from San Jose, well Mountain View, area and wouldn't mind going back there, since Tahoe is close, and I've been skiing Kirkwood/Alpine/Sugar Bowl for years. On the other hand, Santa Barbara is a little closer to Mammoth and I love that mountain, having skied there all through college. Neither place would be that bad, though, I kinda don't like Santa Barbara that much, because I perceive it as a fluffy SoCal place. I haven't spend any kind of extended amount of time there, so I'm probably partly wrong.

Here's the problem: I love it here in San Luis, and don't really want to move. I did pretty well here finding my current job, but there just isn't much else available in my field, and I've got bills I have to pay.

WWMD???

[tarkman1]

I've been in SB since April. Sure if you want to hang out on State St and do the touristy thing, it's there. Then again, there's climbing, hiking, surfing, mountain biking all here as well. Oh, Patagonia has their HQ in Ventura. That might tell you that there is stuff for the outdoors minded around here though commuting to/from Ventura is a pain. Don't forget that you can always live over in Goleta or Isla Vista if you are looking to 'keep it real'.

Mammoth from here is about 370 miles with big b/c stuff up 395 south of Mammoth being closer. I make the drive all the damn time when I'm in skiing mode.

I can't speak for San Jose. I prefer SB to the last places that I've lived, Carlsbad and Huntington.

[truth]

I'd head west.

[cj001f]

I'd head west.

Yet another midwesterner who hasn't the cojones to make it over all the mountains.

I live in Ventura now. Aside from the weekend crowds it's pretty damn nice. Surfing, climbing, good road and Mt. Biking. Santa Barbara would be nice; a good bit like SLO except richer. Not nearly the variety and big city aspect of the bay area. If I lived in the Bay Area, I'd live where I grew up, Santa Cruz area. Good Biking, 1/2 hr longer to the mountains. Good surfing but everyone in NorCal surfs there now.

[Spats]

Silicon Valley: horrible smog, constant traffic jams, no nightlife, no women. There are a lot of cool things that are sort of close (Santa Cruz, Tahoe) -- but good luck getting there, because everyone else has the same idea on the weekend and the highways are one big parking lot.

Kirkwood is 3.5 hours under ideal conditions, but add some snow and that's 4.5 hours. Add Friday or Sunday traffic and that's 5+ hours.

Go live in Santa Barbara.

[IE]

Thanks, you guys actually made me feel a little better about SB. I'm no closer to making up my mind, though. I should probably just do the obvious and move up to Tahoe for the winter and whatever happens happens.

[Viva]

The trails in Santa Barbara make for some great running.

There's lots of Chinese in San Jose, which is cool, if you're me. But the running sucks there.

[cloudpeak]

The trails in Santa Barbara make for some great running.

There's lots of Chinese in San Jose, which is cool, if you're me. But the running sucks there.

When I lived in San Jose, I liked to run at Rancho San Antonio. In fact, when I'm in the area, I'll still run there. I also ran the Vasona trail in Los Gatos (you can run all the way to Lexington Reservoir). When I worked in Mountain View, I often ran trails during my lunch hour that traverse some dikes in the Bay. On days when I had the time, I'd drive to Santa Cruz or Monterey. Both towns have nice runs along the ocean.

San Jose itself doesn't have particularly good running trails, but you can find good spots in the vicinity. Unfortunately, except for Santa Cruz and Monterey, the whole area tends to have bad smog in the summer.

[Kellie]

Santa Barbara, no question. I'd avoid the suburbs if at all possible. I like SB from what I've seen, although I could see how all the money there could be suffocatingly SoCal. On the other hand, it's beautiful, there is an escape nearby if you need hills or ocean to ease your mind . . . and having the university there means that you'll have a younger, less-conservative and more funky vibe . . . plus, it looks like you've already got a carpool buddy to Mammoth and the East Side!!!!

[Pura Vida]

This is an easy one, Santa Barbara. I've been really happy living here and the quality of life is high, but pricey. If you have a job offer that will enable to live here comfortably, I'd go for it. As others have mentioned there is the best of many worlds here and I continue to be amazed on many of the hikes/rides/climbs I go on here about how nice and often empty a lot of the spots are. I was nervous about distance to snow, but it's acutally not too bad and being stuck in Santa Barbara once in a while is not such a bad thing. Yes it's different from SLO, but far from being as "fluffy" as down further south.

[chaka]

Having lived in both, I think it shakes down as follows:

SB: beautiful landscapes with the SY mtns as a backdrop to the ocean, beautiful people, good mtn biking, surfing of course, laid back, pain in the arse to go skiing but doable, pretty expensive to very expensive.

SJ: pretty cool views depending on where you live, so-so people, traffic gets bad, doe sget smoggy sometimes, my personal opinion better mtn biking than SB, surfing is at least an hour away, skiing - albeit also a pain as many people have the same idea - is MUCH more accessable. Nicer parts along the SC mtn foothills, are pricey. Pretty expensive to very very "are you fukkin kidding me" expensive.

Does this help you, probably not. My summary is I enjoyed both places immensely. So, I don't think you can go wrong.

[Duder]

Santa Barbara.

It is probably my favorite place in Southern CA.
Beautiful Girls
Good surfing (Rincon...classic break)
Laid back easy going town.
the JAMES JOYCE bar (sp?)

[Duder]

Oh and....if you are thinking about skiing/snowboarding you are moving to the wrong place.

[skier666]

I grew up in San Hizzy,

Bottom Line - San Jose is closer to Kirkwood than Santa Barbara...I've made it home in 2 hrs 15 mins when I was in High School. (record time of course)

...good luck.

[freeskisquaw]

I live in San Jose... 3.5 to Squaw was my record. I really like San Jose though, mainly because of the high school girls though...

[SquawMan]

I live in San Jose... 3.5 to Squaw was my record. I really like San Jose though, mainly because of the high school girls though...

I regularly made it from SF (russian hill/polk st) to the turnoff for Truckee in less than 3 hrs last season taking the Golden Gate to Richmond Bridge and avoiding the downtown and Berzerkley traffic....best time was 2 hrs 45 minutes (albeit at off hours)

Santa Barbara is a nice place to visit, but the Bay area wins hands down for proximity to just about anything great in the outdoors, I don't even think it's a horse race unless you need to be close to the entertainment industry / L.A. for work purposes

(just don't buy a house.... rent for the next year or two while this bubble deflates)

[IE]

Is traffic as bad on the 17 from Santa Cruz to San Jose and back as I keep hearing? What about Carp? Any of you live there or know anything about it? It's closer to SB than Ventura, so I'm looking at it as well.

[Woodsy]

Oxnard, CA

[cj001f]

Is traffic as bad on the 17 from Santa Cruz to San Jose and back as I keep hearing?

It's not bad, better than it was during the boom years. Get's screwed up in wet years with rain storms and accidents. It's not a quarter as bad as people make it out to be. Housings expensive on the SC side of the hill as well.

Why would you want to live in Oxnard if you work in SB? Drive an hour to work so you can live in Oxnard