Lompoc, Santa Maria, Goleta, Buellton and surrounding area

[Branden Smith]

Hey everyone I may be relocating to Vandenberg. I am hoping to hear something in the next couple weeks. I do not plan on buying anything at the moment just looking for some info on the cities of Lompoc, Santa Maria, Goleta, Buellton and any other areas around Vandenberg AFB. I am looking for the good/bad of the areas. Overall my plan is to buy and hold properties. I will be renting my first house here shortly in California. I am going to start researching some out of state cities because I do not plan on buying another rental in the CA market. 

Thank you!

[Eric Black]

Hi Branden,

Welcome, potentially, to California! I live in Santa Maria so I can give you some feedback.

Lompoc: A relatively small community that is a heavy agricultural area. People either love living there because it's a small town, or they hate living there. It's often windy and/or foggy but it can have plenty of beautiful weather as well. 15 minutes from Vandenberg, 30 minutes from Santa Maria, 45 minutes from Santa Barbara. Not a whole lot exciting going on in Lompoc. More affordable than most of the other places.

Santa Maria: About 100,000 people and many more amenities than Lompoc. Lompoc has WalMart, Home Depot and a bunch of smaller stores. Santa Maria has those plus Costco, Target, and pretty much most everything else you're looking for. Also a heavy ag area. It is often windy and foggy as well but primarily in the spring. More affordable than most of the other places but also not a lot going on. 15-20 minutes to Vandenberg, 30 minutes to Lompoc, 1 hour to Santa Barbara, 20 minutes to Pismo Beach.

Buellton: Also a smaller community but centrally located between Santa Maria, Lompoc and Santa Barbara. It will cost a bit more to live here but it's a nice community. The smallest of the areas you mentioned so most people from this area have to travel to either Santa Maria or Santa Barbara to do their major shopping (Costco, Home Depot, etc.) Great weather, a little hotter in the summer as it is more inland. 30 minutes to Santa Maria, 30 minutes to Santa Barbara, 25 minutes to Lompoc, haven't driven direct to Vandenberg so not sure but it's a little out of the way.

Goleta: Goleta is nice, close to Santa Barbara, far from Vandenberg, and extremely expensive. The people who can no longer afford Santa Barbara have been moving north to Goleta and pushing up the prices there. Near the beach, 45 minutes to Santa Maria, probably 35-40 minutes to Vandenberg, 25 minutes to Buellton.

Hope at least some of this helps.

Eric