Next time you visit family get them to rent a house in Santa Barbara. Technically it's "central" California but it's only 90 minutes from LA and it's probably the coolest and most livable place in the whole state.
The change of landscape from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara always gives me prehistoric or jurassic vibes for some reason.
Flying into LA from Europe and seeing slabs of reflecting concrete and buildings strech out for miles into the horizon from the desert really does give you the feeling that you are seeing the future of the climate apocalpyse in the present. As Gibson says, the future is already here it's just unevenly distributed.
And then you drive north and you run into vegetation that wouldn't be out of place in a dinosaur movie.
In that sense, Santa Barbara is nice but what exactly is "cool" sbout it? Americans awkward relationship with class is kind of in full view there frankly. There is almost no normal social interaction between the residents and the Latino blue collar community that prop up everyone's gardens and landscapes.
Have you ever taken a bus around town in Santa Barbara? It's like, "Oh, so this is where the real people are." Don't get me wrong, there's lots of interesting and nice people that live in Santa Barbara but the lack of cross-over is a little depressing. In Europe, you can be living in an nice expensive place in the city and run into the guy that cuts your hair at the corner barbershop at a music festival and hang out together with their friends the rest of the day.
Also with the exception of downtown Santa Barbara, like most of the US, it's incredibly anti-pedestrian. Make the mistake of google mapping a spot 20 min walk away and you'll find yourself on the highway walking for half an hour cause all the residents take short cuts through private property.
I lived in Santa Barbara for 10 years. There's a thriving counterculture and a vibrant art and music community. The richie riches have their Montecito/Hope Ranch/etc supermansions, but the spirit of the place is bohemian.
As for transit, I can tell you from personal experience that it's a biking city. Busses have front and back bike racks and since the whole city is on a slope you can coast from uptown to downtown easily with the expectation that you'll be able to ride a bus back up.
The vibe is uber rich bohemian, sure. Everything is relative -- to most outsiders SB proper is itself richie riches, it is literally 20-30 min walk fron SB coastal road to Montecito. I don't mind taking advantage of the nice "bohemenian" shops when I'm there but have you noticed how many emptied out shops there were on state street the past year? It definately gives me "Let me open my dream antique/clothing store using my family/partner's money and ride it out as far as our budget allows" vibes.
Also, compared to Europe the ocean is objectively garbage for swimming (no shade for the surfing or what not). But there is little alternative in the entire US I guess so there's that.
