Lompoc

Known as “the city of arts and flowers” East Lompoc is filled with bright blooms and colorful murals in a prime location that offers city-style amenities in reach of sprawling natural spaces. “We’re right on the ocean and it’s a small town but it has everything you could need,” says Amy Guzowski, a library assistant at Lompoc Public Library. “As you’re driving to the beach, there’s the smell of fresh flowers. But it isn’t a beachy boardwalk sort of area. It’s more like protected land with dunes we can only visit 6 months out of the year because of the endangered migrating birds in the area.” The Lompoc Flower Fields stand between the town and the nearest beach, offering a popular spot for photos with the long stretches of flowers surrounded by mountain and ocean views. Beattie Park is about 50 acres and is also known for its excellent views. At Lookout Point, the park’s highest spot complete with a gazebo, visitors can see the Pacific Ocean. Additional park amenities include everything from a playground and horseshoe pits to a fitness trail and disc golf course. Johns-Manville Park is a smaller option at just 6.5 acres with two baseball fields and a basketball court. Pioneer Park is about 5 acres and has a tot lot and both turf and baseball fields used by local youth sports programs. Homes in East Lompoc sit in rows on small lots connected by sidewalks lined with modestly sized trees. Stucco homes are common and ranch-style, Spanish-revival and more modern homes are easy to find. Many homes are paired with two-car garages and have large windows to let in the California sunshine and provide access to the mountain views. Lots are typically landscaped to match the surrounding area with limited grass and plenty of cacti, stonework and bright flowers. Prices range from $50,000 to $700,000 depending on the size of the home and the quality of its views. There are a few condo and townhouse options as well that typically sell for around $325,000. There are about 4,100 total homes in the neighborhood and the average number of days on the market for East Lompoc is roughly equal to the national average. Homes can be anywhere from 800 to 2,600 square feet in size and some date back to the early 1950s, with newer construction from the early 2000s available as well. Lot sizes range from 6,500 to 10,000 square feet. Locals start their day at South Side Coffee for a hot cup of drip coffee, tea or a seasonal specialty drink. For something heartier, they have oatmeal bowls, pesto sourdough toast and cookies to end the meal on a sweet note. Old Town Kitchen and Bar is a family-owned restaurant that prides itself on quality steaks. Locals also love the roasted chicken and garlic fries. Eye on I is an eatery known for its creative chef and fresh, eclectic approach. The open kitchen concept lets visitors watch their food being prepared while surrounded by funky decor. The wood-burning pizza oven is a popular feature that pairs well with pizza flour the restaurant imports from Italy to create authentic artisanal pizzas. Locals can pick up their groceries from Grocery Outlet Bargain Market or Albertsons. Students in East Lompoc can attend Leonora Fillmore Elementary School which received a C rating from Niche and serves about 500 students with a student-teacher ratio of 22-to-1. Lompoc Valley Middle School is another option that received a C-plus rating from Niche and serves about 850 students with a student-teacher ratio of 21-to-1. Lompoc High School received a B rating from Niche and serves about 1,700 students with a student-teacher ratio of 20-to-1. The school is known for being busy with over 20 interscholastic teams and a large student population. The neighborhood is home to the Lompoc Water Treatment Facility and residents have convenient access to bus stops along with Cabrillo Highway and Highway 246. Santa Barbara is about 50 miles, or an hour's drive, southeast.

Beyond Lompoc's fields of colorful lilies and sweet peas that bloom vibrantly each spring, people gather in the coastal valley's rocky hills outside the city to watch rocket ship launches that could lead us to plant seeds on other planets one day. West Lompoc spans approximately half of Lompoc, a small city of about 44,000 people in California's Central Coast region in Santa Barbara County. Similar to East Lompoc, the city's west end is arranged in a traditional, dense urban grid with modest midcentury and modern traditional single-family homes on sidewalk-lined streets with lettered names. Known as "The City of Arts and Flowers," Lompoc champions local artisans and farmers who paint the community's character. Outside the city, commercial flower fields and hillside vineyards invite visitors to experience fragrant aromas and bold flavors before they're packaged, bottled and shipped throughout the country. "I love all the wine-tasting rooms and events around wine and food," says Michael Kennedy, a local Keller Williams real estate agent born and raised in Lompoc. "I also love living here because it has the lowest cost of living for the region." While agriculture is a significant component of the city's economy, the other major contributor is the nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base, a sprawling military compound created in the 1940s. Today, the airbase employs thousands of local workers and routinely tests rockets for civil and commercial entities, such as NASA, SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace. With an average home value of $526,000, West Lompoc's housing costs are considerably less expensive than Santa Barbara. At the market's entry point, prospective homebuyers can find a small loft condo or a well-maintained manufactured home from the 1980s for around $250,000 to $400,000. Typically built with an attached garage and driveway, single-level ranchers and modern traditional homes inspired by Spanish architecture span around 1,500 square feet and sell for between $400,000 and $550,000. Prices top out at around $750,000 for homes larger than 2,000 square feet. Students in the community can attend Miguelito Elementary, Clarence Ruth Elementary or La Canada Elementary in the Lompoc Unified School District. Niche gives each elementary school in the West Lompoc area a C-plus rating or better. From there, students can advance to Lompoc Valley Middle School and Lompoc High School. Niche gives the secondary schools a C-plus and B rating, respectively. Lompoc is the busiest of the district's two high schools. With around 1,700 students, the school has a student-teacher ratio of 20 to 1. Students participate in the 21 athletic programs and numerous clubs and activities supported by parent booster programs and other community groups, such as the School Site Council and English Learners Advisory Committee. Around Ocean Avenue and Cypress Avenue, two parallel thoroughfares lined with businesses and stores in the heart of the city, street art murals pay homage to the region's indigenous origins and include depictions of the city's famous flower farms and wineries. Certain Sparks Music, a local business in the area, has been vital in developing the local music scene. In addition to selling instruments and music lessons, the local shop includes a digital recording studio. One of the community's most popular gathering places, South Side Coffee, brews drinks and serves breakfast in a casual atmosphere where guests feel welcome to hang out with friends or dial into a productive workday. The corridor also includes restaurants serving classic diner and pub staples and cuisines from Mexico, Japan and other parts of the globe. Around here and along Cabrillo Highway, the city's north-south commercial roadway, folks shop for groceries at supermarkets such as Aldi and Grocery Outlet. Nestled in a picturesque valley, locals can hike, ride horses or mountain bike on hillside trails outside the city. East of town, La Purisima Mission State Historic Park features a significant trail network surrounding an 18th-century Spanish mission. In the city, small municipal parks with basketball courts, baseball fields and playgrounds provide a place for kids and adults to play and relax outside. About 50 miles from Santa Barbara, many folks in the community take Route 1 to get there. "Lompoc is definitely still a bedroom community, as many people commute to Santa Barbara, even more so now that the prices in Santa Barbara have become so crazy," Kennedy says. For those who work at the air base or a local business, the COLT bus system in town features six local routes to help people get around.

Set 5 miles north of Lompoc’s center, Mission Hills encompasses a cluster of subdivisions, including Mesa Oaks and Purisima Hills, with homes that range in price, age and size. Since the area is a degree of separation from most of Lompoc, residents here enjoy a quieter vibe, less traffic, and cool temperatures compared to the rest of California, reaching a high of 70 degrees in the summer. “We have the nicest weather here in the valley because we’re off the valley floor,” says Debbie McComb, a local real estate agent with Compass and longtime resident. Residents can enjoy the summer weather at La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, which offers walking trails and guided tours through the Spanish Mission site. The community’s peaceful vibe is exemplified by its Cap Index crime score of 2, compared to a national score of 4. Aside from a local market and family-owned Mexican restaurant, locals will need to travel a few miles to central Lompoc for most of their shopping and dining needs. The oldest homes in Mission Hills, built in the 1950s and '60s, are found the furthest north, while late 20th-century homes are more towards the middle in Mesa Oaks, and 21st-century dwellings are found in the southwest corner, in communities like Purisima Hills. Housing inventory across decades consists of ranch-style homes and bungalow properties, some of which feature Spanish Revival influences like barrel-tile roofing and terra-cotta color pallets. "The main part of Mission Hills was built in the '60s with smaller square footage," McComb says. "It's since grown into bigger lots and bigger homes, with half-acre and one-acre lots." Buyers can expect a three-bedroom midcentury ranch-style home to sell for around $450,000, while a four-bedroom multi-story New Traditional-style home from the 2000s with white gable trim and stone detailing on a one-acre lot can sell for around $900,000. Throughout the community, homes are set close together along well-maintained streets where locals can take their pets for a walk on sidewalks shaded by palm trees. The market is dealing with a lack of inventory, meaning when properties hit the market, they tend to sell quickly. Mission Hills is zoned for the Lompoc Unified School District, where local kids may attend Arthur Hapgood Elementary, which scores a C-plus from Niche. Third through sixth graders may attend Los Berros Visual and Performing Arts Academy, a B-minus-rated public school where they can choose one of five artistic disciplines taught in mixed-grade classrooms. Students at the B-plus-rated Vandenberg Middle can stay after school for activities like Dungeons and Dragons, Creative Writing or Military Kids Clubs. The B-plus-rated Cabrillo High School offers specialized programs like sports medicine and graphic design. State Route 1 passes Mission Hills on the southwest corner, running 3 miles west to Vandenberg Village and 5 miles south to the center of Lompoc. Mission Hills residents are also connected to outlying areas by the City of Lompoc Transit’s Route 4 bus. Lompoc City Airport, a small one-lane runway, is a few miles away, but locals will have to travel 49 miles to Santa Barbara Airport for more robust commercial flight options. Nearby hospitals include Lompoc Valley Medical Center, about 5 miles away. While the area is primarily residential, there is a small shopping center where locals can shop for groceries at the Mission Hills Market or stop for a meal at Taqueria La Misión, a small family-owned Mexican restaurant. Residents can visit the neighboring Vandenberg Village, 3 miles away, each Sunday for the weekly Route 1 Farmers Market, which has 13 vendors, and additional craft vendors on the second Sunday of each month. For other retail options, locals can quickly drive into Lompoc to shop at Albertsons or Walmart or swing by the original Eddie’s Grill to try a burger or sandwich. Mission Hills is home to the La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, initially established in 1787 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Visitors to the park can enjoy reenactments and take guided tours through the historic buildings to learn about what life was like for Spanish Missionaries in the 1820s. In the southwest corner of Mission Hills, the 42-acre Ken Adam Park offers purple playgrounds for kids of all ages and nature trails shaded by mature oak trees. Every year in December, locals commemorate the founding of the La Purísima Mission with church service at noon. In the evening, local musicians put on a candle-lit concert in the main church building to wrap up Founding Day celebrations.