Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is a hotspot in California which is very laid-back compared to for example Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many Californians visit this city to get a weekend-vacation or similar. The background with the mountains is fabolous and I do understand why people like this place just off highway 1. The famously scenic backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains, spanish-style architecture, long white-sand beaches, a lot of shopping and restaurants seem to offer visitors and locals whatever they need to get a fulfilling time or vacation. According to texts I´ve read about Santa Barbara it´s an accepting, environmentally conscious city which leans towards west-coast liberalism.
A homeless man making drum-music in a street next to the main street, State Street. According to people wo live here this is a wealthy and happy city, but there are not a lot of jobs and most of them revolve around tourism and are not so well paid. Consequently a lot of locals move from this place to find a job elsewhere. So. Santa Barbara is not without its problems, but they pale in comparison to what other cities face. For example, SB is famous for having a high homeless population.
Shopping area.
This is Salinas (next to Monterey) where we waited for a 6 hours delayed train that would take us to Santa Barbara :)
Believe me. It was a true satisfaction to finally arrive to the hotel in Santa Barbara. And take the local bus (not the one above though which seems to be a tourist bus) to downtown SB for a walk and fish and chips at the pier.
