Carpinteria

Set 12 miles south of Santa Barbara, Old Town Carpinteria runs between U.S. Route 101 and the Pacific coastline, offering public beaches and locally owned cafes and shops. While this is a popular vacation spot for snowbirds and Los Angeles locals, year-round residents here have a strong sense of community, removed from tourism. Events like the annual California Avocado Festival and organizations like the Carpinteria Arts Center ensure there's never a shortage of things to do — but residents can always head down to the shore, in any season. When Spanish colonizers arrived here in the late 1700s and saw the indigenous Chumash people building canoes, they dubbed the area "La Carpinteria," meaning "the carpentry shop." Today, the neighborhood’s oldest remaining buildings date to the early 1900s, either small homes and bungalows or sun-faded storefronts. Carpinteria City Beach is a favorite spot for Old Town locals to go sunbathing, swimming, kayaking and surfing; snowbirds flock here in the colder months. Though pets aren’t allowed on the beach's main stretch, there's a dog-friendly zone on the north end. The adjacent Carpinteria State Beach has a large interactive play area with wildlife statues inspired by the Chumash tribe, who originally inhabited this area; there are also camping areas for visitors. Northwest of the beaches, the 110-acre Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park is a wetland sanctuary for more than 200 bird species and many rare plants, and a popular place to watch the sunset over the Santa Ynez Mountains. Next to the local Amtrak station, the Carpinteria Garden Park has raised beds that can be leased by locals to grow their own produce and flowers. Throughout Old Town, eucalyptus, palm trees and native shrubbery add a little greenery to the otherwise open streetscapes. Single-family homes are mostly found on Old Town's north side, walking distance from the shops and restaurants on Linden Avenue. Set close together and built between 1900 and 1930, most of these homes have tiny yards and are either two- to three-bedroom minimal traditional houses that range from $600,000 to $1 million, or well-maintained Craftsman bungalows that range from $1.6 million to $2 million. Northwest of the public beaches, five-bedroom secluded beachfront estates are separated into several small gated communities; these properties vary in style, size and age, though many were built in the 1980s on multi-acre lots with Contemporary architectural elements like floor-to-ceiling windows, flat rooflines and a mixture of wood, stone and other materials. Prices also range widely, mostly dependent on lot size, from $2 million to over $20 million, but most range from $3 million to $5 million. Low-rise condo complexes and townhouse communities built between 1960 and 1990 are set close to the shoreline; most of these one- and two-bedroom units range from $500,000 to $1 million, but units set right on the beach range up to $2 million. On the neighborhood's west side, a few mobile home communities have two-bedroom manufactured homes that range from $600,000 to $900,000. Carpinteria residents often gather for events along Linden Street. The 3-day California Avocado Festival is held annually on the first weekend of October, drawing guacamole and music lovers with food vendors, artisanal products, and multiple stages' worth of live reggae, blues, and rock bands. Holiday parades held in December and on the Fourth of July bring out the whole town to see floats sponsored by local organizations. “Whenever there’s a parade, 50 percent of the town is in it, and 50 percent is in the crowd watching,” says Terra Furuta, an employee at the Carpinteria Community Library. The Fourth of July celebration is accompanied by the Rods & Roses Car Show, which features both classic and muscle cars, and donates its proceeds to local charities. Organizations like the Carpinteria Community Library and Carpinteria Arts Center enhance Old Town's close-knit and neighborly vibe; both put together programming for local kids and families, including summer camps and workshops. Other gathering spots include the Carpinteria Valley Baptist Church, established in 1969 in a small Victorian-inspired cathedral. Linden Avenue is Carpinteria's main shopping and dining corridor, lined with palm trees and low, sun-bleached storefronts that house antique stores and local haunts like Murphy’s Vinyl Shack. The casual Esau’s Café serves all-day breakfast and lunch, as well as ethically sourced coffee from El Salvador. Teddy’s by the Sea offers specialty cocktails, fresh seafood lots of outdoor seating, and Island Brewing Company is one of several spots selling craft selections like the Tee Time Pilsner. The Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market is held every Thursday afternoon. Locals can also get groceries at the nearby Smart & Final Extra. Local students can start school at Aliso Elementary, then advance to Carpinteria Middle, both of which are rated B-minus by Niche. At the B-plus-rated Carpinteria High, there are athletic teams for water polo, tennis and volleyball; the football program, though, holds the Southern California record for most consecutive league wins, and has won six championships in their section (go, Warriors!). U.S. Route 101 borders Old Town on the north, leading 12 miles north along the coast to Santa Barbara and 85 miles south to Los Angeles; the neighborhood's location makes it popular with commuters from these cities. “Carpinteria tends to be a little more affordable than Santa Barbara and is a great location if you still need to access LAX or other parts of Los Angeles,” says Ruth Ann Bowe, associate broker with Village Properties. Locals can easily get around Carpinteria on foot or by bike using pedestrian-friendly streets and bike lanes. Old Town Carpinteria is bisected by train tracks, and a small Amtrak station on Linden Avenue serves the Pacific Surfliner, which travels the California Coast from San Diego to San Luis Obispo; trains can be heard in the neighborhood throughout the day. Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District’s Route 20 bus line stops on Carpinteria Avenue before circling back to downtown Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is the closest major medical center, about 13 miles away. About 20 miles away, Santa Barbara Airport offers regional flights, while Los Angeles International, 86 miles away, has a broader selection.

Set along the north side of U.S. Route 101, Santa Monica-El Carro is a residential enclave that benefits from Carpinteria’s beachy vibes while being slightly less expensive and farther from the local shops and restaurants on Linden Avenue. Throughout the neighborhood, Single-family homes are dotted with pocket parks like Heath Ranch Park and small hotels. On the west side, Sandpiper Village offers manufactured homes; low-rise complexes like Franciscan Village feature Spanish Revival-style condos. Also on the neighborhood’s west side, the Carpinteria Cemetery District has been a resting place for locals since 1858. Small corner stores and the nearby Carpinteria High are within walking distance for many, though ample bike lanes make it easy for locals to cross the highway and explore the beach, about a mile south. Santa Monica-El Carro is entirely residential, with a mix of single-family homes, manufactured homes and condos. Single-family homes include ranch-style homes from the 1960s and ‘70s with prominent two-car garages and Spanish Revival-style properties from the same period with terra cotta barrel-tile roofs. Most homes have three or four bedrooms, selling for between $1 million and $1.5 million, while homes with extensive landscaping and private pools can range from $1.5 million to $1.8 million. Sandpiper Village, a small mobile home park on the neighborhood’s west side, offers two and three-bedroom manufactured homes for between $300,000 and $600,000. Most nearby condos are housed in low-rise Spanish Revival-style complexes, with prices for two and three-bedroom units ranging from $700,000 to $900,000. Quiet streetscapes are reflected in the neighborhood’s CAP Index Crime Score; Santa Monica-El Carro earns a 3 out of 10, compared to a national score of 4. "Everyone pretty much knows everybody here," says John Villar, real estate broker, President of John Villar and Associates, and Carpinteria local for over 35 years. "You feel the difference in the quiet streets. Plus, you're right between the beach and the mountains, so you get great views of both." Wide sidewalk-lined streets are dotted with individual eucalyptus trees, and many homeowners in the neighborhood opt for rock gardens and low-water plantings over grass lawns. Local students may start at Aliso Elementary School, rated B-minus by Niche, before moving on to the B-rated Carpinteria Middle and the B-plus-rated Carpinteria High. Carpinteria High hosts the Russell Cup, one of California's largest school track meets, every April in the state-of-the-art Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium. Carpinteria High students can also enroll in Agriculture Mechanics, Culinary Arts and Information Technology pathways. U.S. Route 101 forms the neighborhood’s south border, connecting locals to Santa Barbara 12 miles west and to Los Angeles 85 miles to the east. “People drive out to Santa Barbara when they have to,” says Terra Furuta, an employee at the Carpinteria Community Library. “But if they can spend extra money and get whatever it is here, they’ll do that instead.” Locals can easily cross the highway using the sidewalks on Santa Ynez Avenue and bike or walk to the shops on Linden Avenue, about a mile away. The Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District’s Route 20 bus stops along Via Real, taking passengers to Linden Avenue and Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is about 14 miles west. The Santa Barbara Airport is about 20 miles away, though Los Angeles International Airport offers broader flight options, about 87 miles away. Nearby pocket parks like Memorial Park and Heath Ranch Park are set among residences, offering turf fields where locals can have a picnic or play games. Heath Ranch Park was recently renovated with a new playground and is also the site of Heath’s Adobe, a historic landmark from 1858 that stands in memory of Russel Heath, one of Carpinteria Valley’s earliest European settlers. Just north of Santa Monica-El Carro, the entrance to Franklin Trail begins next to Carpinteria High before extending 20 miles into the Santa Ynez mountains along an overgrown dirt path. Carpinteria City Beach is about a mile south, within walking or biking distance for those looking to enjoy the sun. A few local stores and eateries are set along Via Real, including Kim’s Market, a locally owned corner store, and Get Hooked Seafood Market, which sells fresh, sustainably caught fish. These markets, along with the fast-casual Taqueria Rincon Alteno Mexican Restaurant, are easily accessible by foot or bike, though locals have to travel outside the community for more options. On the other side of the 101, Clementine’s Steak House is a favorite for a nice night out, decorated with cozy red curtains and fresh flowers. The nearest Albertsons grocery store is about 2 miles away. Plenty of larger Carpinteria events take place about a mile away on Linden Street, including the California Avocado Festival, one of the state's largest free music festivals. Taking place over three days in October, the festival hosts ska, reggae, funk and country artists with a guacamole contest and avocado auction. The Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center organizes smaller events, including the Festival of Books in March, where attendees can meet and speak with 20 local authors.

Set between the Santa Ynez mountains and the Pacific coastline, Canalino Village is a small residential pocket on the north side of U.S. Route 101 in Carpinteria. Only a mile from the beach and Linden Street, a local shopping corridor full of local restaurants, Canalino Village is centered on Canalino Elementary School and Carpinteria Family School with several surrounding churches, including Saint Joseph Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Streetscapes feel quieter and more secluded compared to properties south of the highway, and the nearby elementary schools are a draw for young families. "Compared to Santa Barbara, Carpinteria is a much smaller town. We tend to know exactly who's in our local government, and the community is very involved," says John Villar, real estate broker, President of John Villar and Associates, and Carpinteria local for over 35 years. Canalino Village includes mostly ranch-style homes from the 1960s and 1980s with prominent two-car garages, vinyl siding and shingle-tile roofs. Most three or four-bedroom properties sell for between $1 million and $1.5 million, while ranch-style homes built since 2000, featuring covered front porches and manicured lawns, range from $1.9 million to $2.4 million. Homes are typically set close together on uniform grassy lots dotted with palm trees, though some residents opt for eclectic gardens full of native shrubbery and other tropical plants. Within walking distance of Canalino Elementary and several local churches, the neighborhood’s quiet, low-traffic streets make it easy for kids to play in neighborhood streets or bike around the block. Canalino Elementary School, rated B-minus by Niche, is located at the center of the neighborhood, within walking distance for many local families. The A-minus-rated Carpinteria Family School is a public school of choice, offering an alternative curriculum for grades K-5 on a campus adjacent to Canalino Elementary. At Carpinteria Family, students are taught in small multi-grade-level classrooms where they can learn from their peers and take on leadership roles. Students then move on to the B-rated Carpinteria Middle and the B-plus-rated Carpinteria High. The neighborhood is bounded by Foothill Road in the north and U.S. Route 101 in the south. Santa Barabara is 12 miles west on the 101, while Los Angeles is about 100 miles east. There aren’t any bus stops within the community, but the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District’s Route 20 bus stops south of the neighborhood along Carpinteria Avenue, taking passengers into Santa Barbara. Locals can easily walk or bike a mile south to Carpinteria’s main shopping and dining district on Linden Avenue, using wide sidewalks and bike lanes. The nearest major medical center, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, is about 14 miles west. Santa Barbara Airport is about 22 miles away, while Lose Angeles International Airport is 101 miles away. El Carro Park, on the north side of the neighborhood, serves as the home base for the Carpinteria Valley Little League team. The park also features a large playground, picnic areas and an alligator statue. On the west, Franklin Park has a narrow strip of turf for lounging around and a swing set. Just north of Canalino Village, the Franklin Trail runs about 20 miles into the Santa Ynez Mountains along steep dirt walkways. Locals can walk or bike a mile south to Carpinteria City Beach on pedestrian-friendly sidewalk-lined streets. Locals can cross the 101 using bike lanes and sidewalks to explore family-owned dining options on Linden Avenue. "The businesses are local, and the people are local," Villar says. The Lucky Llama Coffee House serves espresso beverages and blended acai smoothie bowls with an outdoor patio. The family-owned Worker Bee Café, recognizable by its bright yellow exterior, offers standard breakfast fare and sandwiches for lunch until 1:30 p.m. Down closer to the beach, The Spot is a local favorite for burgers, burritos and milkshakes, offering quick counter service. Nearby grocery stores include Smart & Final Extra and Albertsons. The annual California Avocado Festival takes place in October on Linden Avenue, about a mile south of Canalino Village. The three-day music festival is one of Carpinteria's biggest events, featuring a guacamole contest and a local vendor market. The Lynda Fairly Carpinteria Arts Center hosts monthly Arts and Crafts Faires from April until December, where local artists and craftsmen sell handmade goods, including jewelry, stained glass, pottery and more.