Santa Barbara, CA Rated Amongst the Best Mid-sized Downtowns in California
categories: Downtown Neighborhood, Restaurants, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Architecture
When people think of well thought out downtowns, obviously Santa Barbara comes to mind. Recently, the California Planning and Development Report voted Santa Barbara as #2 in mid-sized (pop. of 75,000 - 290,000 people) downtowns, only trailing Pasadena. The report states that Santa Barbara is a California icon that fits numerous criteria of being a delightful urban place that is both manageable and pleasant with a sense of place and a feeling of vibrancy.
For many locals, Santa Barbara downtown could fit on any of these sorts of lists because of simply its overall “feel”. Santa Barbara downtown is blessed with numerous open public spaces and parks, a fairly uniform 2-4 story building height creating an open non-claustrophobic feel, abundant venues for culture and art, boutique shopping experiences, fine restaurants ranging from gourmet steak houses and Italian tratorrias to vegan and organic take-out, uniform Spanish/Mediterranean architecture and much more.
State street is and always will be the hub of downtown, but in the past several years there has been an abundance of mixed-use buildings in the city center combing townhomes with professional offices and commercial spaces. The size of these building range anywhere from 4,000 sq ft. to 40,000 sq. ft. and are mostly all located within 1-2 blocks of State Street. This type of anti-sprawl development ultimately leads to a vibrant walkable downtown. One of Santa Barbara’s pleasures is to stroll through outdoor paseos and wonderfully landscaped plazas. Known famously as “The American Riviera”, Santa Barbara is a gorgeous mid-sized town sitting on the beautiful Pacific coastline.
Further Reading: Information About The Downtown Neighborhood, Articles About The Downtown Neighborhood
Kevin Schmidtchen - Thank you for reading. I hope you find Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice informative. Please feel free to comment below with any thoughts.
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