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Are you thinking of moving or relocating to Goleta, California? Would you like to know what the quality of life is like living in Goleta?
Kevin Ott reports in this review:
| Weather | | How much crime? | | What are the neighborhoods like? | | What are the people like? | | Goleta is on the beach in Central California, which has a mix of warm Southern California (Los Angeles) beach weather and the colder northern California (San Francisco) beach weather. But there are no real extremes. It is mild. Most days throughout the year are in the 60s-70s. In late summer we occasionally get hot days in the 80s. In the winter we might get lower temps with highs in the 50s and lows in the 30s. May and June are notorious for the marine layer (heavy fog). Between January through March, we typically have large amounts of rain and, in rare cases, heavy flooding and mudslides. Also, from May through November is our fire season -- an annual danger in California. Goleta is also near a large earthquake fault and a tsunami zone, but it has not experienced a major earthquake for many decades, if not longer. These disasters rarely if ever happen. Goleta has some of the mildest, most consistent weather in the world. It is almost always sunny and pleasant. | | Most of the crime occurs among the college student population in the apartment zoned areas of the city, such as Ellwood or Isla Vista. In the apartment complexes and residential areas where college students live, friends of mine had their car broken into. A few had their tires slashed. There are consistent alcohol or drug-related arrests -- usually drink college students. I have heard of a few sexual assaults as well, and women are always advised to be cautious in places like Isla Vista and Ellwood at night -- especially on weekend nights when crowds are out partying. There have a few minor assaults from homeless people. Assault crimes or thefts are not constant. My church has only had one attempt of theft on our property in the past 14 years. Most of the crimes I hear about are students being arrested for intoxication of some kind. Because of this, drunk drivers are a concern, and police officers are always on high alert for questionable driving. In my 14 years here, it has generally been a quiet, safe place to live. | | Probably the worst part of town is the "old" section of the city are the residential blocks between Kellogg Rd and Fairview Ave. Although the storefront along the main street -- Hollister Ave -- has been rapidly improving in that area between the Kellogg and Fairview (with the addition of a very nice hotel in recent years), some store fronts are in bad shape and the residential areas behind the main storefronts are low income, small/old houses in poor condition where a concentrated low income Hispanic population lives. There are also some low rent apartment complexes that are not in good condition. They house a mix of college students and low income residents. I have not heard of many crimes in this area, but as far as the income level and physical appearance/niceness of the city, the residential areas between Kellogg and Fairview need the most help -- along with a few of the storefronts in that area. The best part of town are the higher income residential blocks on Cathedral Oaks Drive between Patterson and Evergreen. The racial mix in this area is somewhat diverse -- you will frequently meet Asian, White, Indian, Hispanic, Arab. | | The age range in Goleta is well-represented because of the mix of college students and long-time working professionals -- as well as a fair amount of retired people. People are highly educated because most of the jobs in the city are with universities or with the many tech companies in Goleta. Santa Barbara County is mostly liberal, so hippies or other liberal types generally feel at home in Goleta -- and you will certainly meet many of them; however, there is also a noticeable enclave of conservatives in Goleta compared to its more liberal neighbor Santa Barbara. Goleta is known as being more pro-business, pro-family than Santa Barbara. You will frequently meet a variety of ethnic people, though I would say the black population is the least represented. Although there are some low income populations, the vast majority of Goleta appears (and feels in its culture) to be more Middle to Upper-Middle class. People will not go out of their way to talk to you -- California in general is not known for its proactive hospitality -- but generally people in Goleta are amiable, friendly, and polite when you encounter them in day-to-day situations. | | Downtown Area | | Restaurants | | Schools | | Single life | | The Camino Real Marketplace is the best shopping area in Goleta, and it is one of my favorite places: it has great stores like Ross, Home Depot, and Best Buy, it has the best burger place in town (Kahuna Grill), it has the only movie theater, and it has a very lovely, clean, Spanish architecture feel to it in the Marketplace center. This, technically, is not the downtown area but it might as well be because that's where everyone goes. The actual downtown is in "old town" Goleta, and it is in worse shape in comparison; although the city has made consistent efforts to improve "old town" and I believe it has a bright future ahead of it once the city completes more enhancements. | | The best burger joint in Goleta is Kahuna Grill in Camino Real Marketplace on Hollister Ave and Stork Rd. It is absolutely delicious, locally owned, has a fun surf culture theme to it, and always has very friendly staff. Their burgers are the highlight of their menu though they also have great kabobs, sticky rice, and other Hawaiian-themed dishes. As far as gourmet high-end dining, you cannot beat the Beachside Bar-Cafe, which is located on the sands of Goleta Beach right next to the pier. Your tables are perhaps only 20-30 yards from the ocean at high tide, and they serve the best (and priciest) food in Goleta. | | I have not had a child at a Goleta public school, but my friends who have do not speak very highly of the public schools. One family I knew -- and they weren't especially wealthy -- opted to send their child to a private school instead, which are of higher quality and have much stronger reputations. | | Unless you're college aged, I do not see much opportunity for singles who are out of college in their adult years. Singles are much more likely to visit the trendy night clubs or restaurants/bars in Santa Barbara than hang out in Goleta -- with the exception of college students at the coffee shops or the Camino Real Marketplace with its theater and restaurants. | | Noise | | town comparison vs. | | Best hospital | | Tourist attractions | | Santa Barbara Airport is smack dab in the middle of Goleta, so the sound of planes landing and taking off is constant from most parts of Goleta, though it is amazing high quickly you get used to it. If you live close enough to the shore, you can hear the sound of the ocean, especially at night, which is a nice trade-off. The 101 highway goes through it, so certain neighborhoods will have more freeway noise. If you live close to Ellwood, a center for college student living, you will have more noise of college student life -- though it is not where students go to party. Thankfully, that party zone it is not in Goleta (it is in Isla Vista). | | It neighbors Santa Barbara and, as mentioned above, Goleta features more family-friendly stores and restaurants such as (currently) k-mart, Home Depot, Best Buy, a nice marketplace with a movie theater, Costco, a drive-in movie theater, and eventually an ice rink and a Target. The streets are wider, and in general there is more parking than any neighboring towns such Santa Barbara or the ultra-rich hamlet of Montecito. In Santa Barbara and Montecito, most of the shops are high-end specialty shops, the parking is less abundant, the streets are narrower -- much more like a European city -- and they do not have family-friendly venues, or not as many, as those in Goleta. | | Goleta Cottage Hospital just rebuilt its main facility and is a very high quality facility, though -- because it works with a lot of specialized treatments -- for most hospitalizations it will transfer patients to the Cottage hospital in downtown Santa Barbara, which is an even nicer, state-of-the-art hospital. It does have an ER in it, and unfortunately I've been there before. Any ER is not a good experience, but they seemed capable and quick. | | By far the nicest place is the beach -- Goleta Beach. It is stunningly beautiful. There is also a small lake -- Los Carneros lake -- along Los Carneros Rd that is fun to visit because of the wild ducks and geese that you can feed. The strip along Calle Real Rd also has a fun bowling alley (where I once met actor Paul Walker when he took his daughter bowling there a few years ago) and some coffee shops and decent restaurants, including the local favorite Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch. Santa Barbara Airport, located along Fairview Ave as it winds around to the beach, is actually an incredibly beautiful place -- the most beautiful airport I've ever seen -- and it has a WWII memorial on its perimeter that's interesting to visit. The Stowe House next to Lake Los Carneros also has some interesting exhibits about the history of Goleta as well as a mini-train for kids to ride on. | | General comments | | | | | | | | It has a small town, middle class, family-friendly feel to it. For example, they are going to be adding a family indoor ice rink and a Target in coming years. Goleta's ritzy neighbor Santa Barbara would drop dead before it added crass low brow "commercial" venues like that, but Goleta never shies away from adding things that will enhance the experience of a middle class family. It also has the energizing feel of a college town. Despite the bad examples above, most of the college students are well behaved, articulate, and intelligent, and all of our coffee shops are filled with them at all hours studying, and this gives the town more life. You can go to a coffee shop late at night and still find people out and about doing things. So on its best days, it's a fun mix of a quiet small town and a stimulating university town. Besides that, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth: it is a beach town with a large beach and pier and it is also a mountain town, built at the foot of the Santa Ynez Mountain Range with hiking trails and camping. You can have a classic California beach experience and a mountain hiking experience on the same day without driving any more than 20 miles. | | | | | | |
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