Santa Barbara: a paradise for millionaires or an ordinary California city

Santa Barbara is probably one of the most famous cities on the West Coast of the United States among the inhabitants of Russia. This is due to the series of the same name, which went on central television for almost 10 years in the 90s of the last century. Today I will show you what this small town really is.

We were heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and Santa Barbara was on our route. Some 150 km along an excellent road from LA - and we are there.

If you look at the city from a bird's eye view, then this is an ordinary coastal American city with flat, wide streets. Nothing special:

But it’s worth a little walk around the city when expensive mansions and well-groomed streets immediately catch your eye:

The close proximity to Los Angeles, the lack of fuss and the incredibly mild climate made Santa Barbara the most attractive city for buying real estate. Here the weather is comfortable year round with minimal rainfall. The average annual temperature in Santa Barbara is about + 15 ° С. It is warmer than in cool San Francisco and much nicer than sultry Los Angeles in the summer months. This place is often called the American Riviera by analogy with the Cote d'Azur.

The population of Santa Barbara is only about 100 thousand people. Provincial town at a glance.

Almost in the city center is a train station. A small building built in 1905:

We were lucky. While we were walking in the area, the Los Angeles - San Francisco passenger train arrived at the station.

The composition is two-story and it is clear that it is not entirely new. However, there were a lot of passengers at the station. Apparently, this railway direction is popular:

In general, trains are not very popular in the USA. An excellent road network, cheap gasoline and affordable flights make trains less attractive for traveling around the country.

From the station we go to the side of the coast.

Tall palms are the first sign that we are by the ocean:

Dolphins at the entrance of the city pier:

Santa Barbara Beach Line:

City pier. It has various shops and cafes, as well as in Santa Monica or San Frnatsisko. Flags caught my attention. See the Russian tricolor?

This is the flag of the Russian-American company:

The Russian-American company is a semi-state colonial trading company founded by Grigory Shelikhov and Nikolai Rezanov and approved by Emperor Paul I on July 8, 1799.

A trading company was created to colonize the coast of America (!). After the sale, Alaska formally existed until 1881 and paid dividends until 1888.

Pacific Coast:

Well, we will go to another important place in Santa Barbara. On the way we will see the city:

Typical American Streets:

School bus:

On the way, I barely manage to catch the mansions with the camera:

Where are the fences? We would have closed all this with a 3-meter fence out of sight. Maybe this is the house of CC or Mason?)

So we came to one of the main attractions of the city. Mission of St. Barbara:

At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, the Spaniards conducted active missionary activity in California (of course, in order to strengthen their influence in this territory). For several decades, they built 21 missions at a distance of about 48 kilometers from each other. The mission of Santa Barbara was founded tenth in a row in 1786. Now it is the most visited operating among all California missions. The city of Santa Barbara arose precisely around this mission.

The mission is located in the upper part of the city: