another world

I have one of the most amazing commutes in the world.  I blogged about that drive once before with some photos here.  It is a 35 mile drive from my home to my job.  The first 9 miles of my drive are across the Santa Ynez valley and then over the Santa Ynez mountains using the Gaviota Pass until I run right into the Pacific Ocean.  About the next 20 miles are along the Gaviota Coast, a gorgeous and almost completely undeveloped coastline with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other.  There are a few ranches on the mountain side including one with llamas, but mostly it is rock and chaparral.   The road weaves closer and farther from the ocean but for most of that stretch, it is very close to the water.

It is a California highway so I rarely drive it much under 70 mph.  That means that I get glimpses of incredible beauty but rarely get to savor them.  Today was one of those days.  As we came through the pass, the sun was shinning brilliantly.  There are multiple oil platforms visible from the shore, all of which are a minimum of 3 miles from the shoreline.  Some 22+ miles out are the Channel Islands.  Often the islands are obscured by fog.  Today, there was a fog bank we could watch moving across the ocean, slowly enveloping one after another of the oil platforms.  I caught a glimpse of what I think was a whale spout and then a bit of the back of a whale submerging into the water.  I have seen whales from my car at least 2 other times and possibly 3.  A number of times a year I see a pod of dolphins swimming by.  Watching the surfers on their boards always makes me think of the surfers and swimmers who have been attacked by great white sharks in the area.  Once or twice a week we see scuba divers putting on their equipment to dive and I wonder what amazing things they will see.

I look both left and right, mountains and sea, and see beauty and wonder both ways but today I was struck by the realization that I feel comfortable on the land.  That is where I live.  I understand the mountains.  I know there is danger there - rattlesnakes, mountain lions, bear, the possibilities of dehydration or a fall, or even getting lost in the wilderness, but it still feels familiar.  The ocean... that is another world altogether, just feet away but completely foreign to me. 

the beauty of a place

Once upon a time there was a Texan visiting the northeast.  He had heard about the beauty of the place and was excited to see it.  Standing on the side of a Vermont mountain, looking across a valley he turned to his host, shrugged and remarked, "I guess the scenery is nice... but it is so hard to see with all of those trees in the way."

I have been very few places that did not have real beauty.  I love the stark beauty of the desert with the shapes of the rocks and colors of the hills.  I love the impressionist like landscapes in the northeast.  I love the rolling hills, dotted with grazing cattle and sheep that we saw in Scotland.  I love the fecundity of Hawaii where the flowers bloom everywhere and the mountains fall into the sea.  I love El Junque, just east of San Juan Puerto Rico where everything literally drips with life, the green is overwhelming, and the oxygen so thick it is almost oppressive.  Oklahoma didn't do anything for me... and I've been a few places in the central valley of California where it was also difficult for me to see anything truly beautiful but I expect that if I spent even a few more hours in either place, I would find something.

All that said, where I live is astoundingly beautiful.  While I lived in the northeast, the picture I often had of California was of the sprawl of Orange County or the urban blight or extreme wealth of parts of LA (thanks television!).   Those are certainly part of the picture here but the one piece that really surprised me, and still does at times, is how wild California is.  About once a year we hear of a sighting of a mountain lion, often in a place where significant populations of people live.  A few months ago, I was driving home along the Gaviota Coast and looked over to my right only see a golden eagle take off from a telephone pole.  This past Friday, I was driving along the same coast in the other direction and looked out to the ocean only to see a whale spout about 200 yards off shore.  It was the second time I'd seen a whale from my car while driving in that area.  Then there are the more common wildlife - coyotes, hawks, hummingbirds, dolphins, sea birds, sea lions, elephant seals, varieties of lizards and snakes, and tarantula...  And while we live in an area that is technically semi-arid, there are always flowers blooming of one sort or other.  The hills are usually golden brown dotted with live oak trees, but after a rain, they turn green and then in spring they turn yellow, covered with mustard flowers.  The sides of the mountains along with rock faces are often covered with the dirty green of chaparral, live oak, and evergreens.  The mountains rise and fall into the ocean.  In winter when the air is very clear, you can look south across the ocean (the coast runs east-west in the SB area) and it seems that you can reach out and touch the Channel Islands, the closest of which is 22 miles out. 

Gaviota Pass

Driving from Santa Barbara to Buellton, where we live, you go along the coast for about 20 miles and then turn north, paralleling the coast which also turns north a bit further west, and drive through the Gaviota Pass through the Santa Ynez Mountains... the mountains are glorious with the southern end of the pass being particularly dramatic.  Once you get to the Santa Ynez Valley, you're in wine country with some of the best Rhone style and Pinot Noirs in the world surrounded by vineyards, cattle farms, and other produce. 

So, I highly recommend a visit some time and I expect I may hear you sitting at a breakfast spot either in Santa Barbara looking out at the dolphins playing in the ocean or in the valley, enjoying Danish pancakes and in either place, talking across the table, wondering whether you might somehow be able to move here.

McMansions and the Gaviota Coast

Once again we see how money and power talks in Santa Barbara and if you have neither... well, just shut up and commute.

The coastline headed west of Goleta is breath-takingly beautiful and represents one of the longest stretches of undeveloped coastlines in Southern California. It is also one of the 15 most biologically diverse habitats in the world. So what is happening there? 72 McMansions ranging from 3,500 to 10,000 square feet on about 3,200 acres of land were approved for development. Some land will be set aside for a public park and there will be an Equestrian Center for the residents.

The county supervisors voted 3-2 to approve this development. It is obscene. We don't need multi-million dollar estates dotting what was a pristine coastline and taking land that has been actively used for agriculture. We need workforce housing for real people. Teachers, nurses, fire fighters, police officers, engineers, even pastors end up commuting long distances to work in Santa Barbara and Goleta because affordable housing just isn't available and whenever anyone tries to build any, they are shot down. Literally thousands of middle class and working class folk commute 30, 45, and even 60 miles or more each direction because they cannot afford housing in Santa Barbara and the best we can do is allow a developer to build obscenely large homes for 72 families? I will drive past those monstrosities each day as I make my 35 mile commute.

Compare this to the Bishop Ranch proposal - Bishop Ranch is a 240 acre parcel located within the city boundaries of Goleta. While the property is zoned for agricultural use, it has not been used in that way for over 40 years. This proposal would have provided 100's of homes including housing for middle class and working class people within the city limits. The plan was carefully constructed to enhance the broader community and would have been a tremendous help in addressing the social pressures in this area. It was shot down and the land continues to lie unused and vacant.

We need infill. We need high density. We need affordable housing in Santa Barbara and Goleta. We do not need the Naples development. I hope that the California Coastal Commission has the wisdom to reject this proposal and keep the land open.