On the Beat
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Cost of Paradise: There’s an old joke: Why is divorce so expensive? Answer: Because it’s worth it. So if Santa Barbara is so darn expensive, is it worth it to live here? Why do we do it?
Well, U.S. News & World Report has come up with a list of “10 Pricey Cities That Pay Off.” In other words, towns worth the price you have to pay to be there. Why, the magazine asked, “are people willing to pay a fortune to live in certain places? And what are they getting for their money?”
On the Beat
Economists call it “amenity value,” the amount of satisfaction you get. In short, quality of life. And Santa Barbara’s got QOL up the kazoo, beach blanket bingo in the sunbeams placing second on the list. (Honolulu was tops, with even more bingo.) The problem is, although the report uses the term “cities,” it includes the entire Santa Barbara County, including a very dissimilar Santa Maria.
We also ranked third-highest in “trade productivity” — what we produce that others want. Exactly what they’re talking about here was left vague, other than pointing out that universities produce an educated workforce. And Santa Barbara does have UCSB and Westmont, to say nothing of City College, Antioch, and other schools. Does “trade productivity” include oil and strawberries? Is Santa Maria a “pricey” city, too?
Which brings us to the beach, golden in more ways than one. The study by David Albouy, University of Michigan economist, found that “People are following the amenities” when they move. And amenities, like lots of days of sunshine and proximity to a beach, translate to high land prices, he said. Like hefty home prices. The million bucks, or close to it, you’d pay for a Santa Barbara tract home would buy a whole lot more house in many of the places I visit. I just got back from White Fish, Montana, a lovely town of about 9,000 and gateway to Glacier National Park. For your million you’d get a beautiful, 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home in a “golf community.”
This is jaw-droppingly beautiful country, with lots of outdoor sports, lovely lakes and rivers, and snow-clad peaks. So why don’t I pick up and move north? Lots of reasons, but frankly, I got enough of winter in the Windy City.
By the way, San Luis Obispo (the entire county, that is) ranked fifth in the list of 10 pricey “cities” that are worth it. You can get an argument that Santa Barbara, so smug with its beaches, mountains, live theater, and concerts, is highly overrated. This is what Colin Greene had to say on the U.S. News site:
“I was born in San Diego and have lived in Santa Barbara for the last 36 years. Yes, it’s beautiful here, but jobs are scarce, the city closes down at 10 p.m. entirely and if you want to buy a home or even think about it you had better be a multi-millionaire. I’ve watched the population here grow from 180,000 to 400,000-plus people, and let me tell you, it’s not pretty.” (U.S. News cited 400,000 as reflecting the county-wide metropolitan area.)
“The mom-and-pop local businesses are all but gone, big high-end chain stores have moved in … Rents are at an all-time high. So high in fact, it’s laughable. I literally cannot believe what they are charging for a sub-par dirty hole-in-the-wall box with a gas leak! It’s an absurd shame. Also, if you are single and in the age range of 30-50, you can forget finding anyone here … the phrase is ‘Santa Barbara is for the newly wed or nearly dead.’” (U.S. News claims, however, that 70 percent of the population in the metro area is under 50.)
“I am leaving my fair city in September for Montana, where I can still hope to buy a house or a condo and live my life out in clean air and peace. I love the ocean, but for me the high prices are just not paying off in quality of life. I would like to own my own home and get out of the rent rat race.” (I checked out prices in White Fish, and found a condo listed for $114,000, far below S.B. listings.)
Posted Annie Linn: “I have lived 35 years in Santa Barbara, six in San Luis Obispo, with my other years in small cities in the Rocky Mountains [15 of them]. The article left off air quality, national parks-recreation, and economics. The coastal California cities are vibrant, fun, and culturally adept, but also crowded, expensive, polluted, and lacking in job opportunities. For my money Colorado and Utah top California for overall lifestyle at a reasonable price.”
KKG said it all with one sentence: “Santa Barbara has so many amenities it’s worth the cost.”
Others on the pricey-but-worth-it list: Boston; Los Angeles (Los Angeles?); Naples, Florida; New York; Salinas (Salinas?); San Diego; and San Francisco.
Me? I’m staying put.
Barney Brantingham can be reached at barney@independent.com or 805-965-5205. He writes online columns throughout the week and a print column on Thursdays.