Westside

With the coming of the railroad, Santa Barbara’s isolation ended and its reputation as a health resort began to grow. The Potter Hotel, located near the ocean in the 1920s, was once a playground for the rich and famous. 

The Westside remains today as the most affordable neighborhood in town attracting young and old alike who wish to make Santa Barbara their home.

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Homes for Sale in THE Westside

The Westside Story: History of Westside

The 1860s brought new white settlers to Santa Barbara resulting in Westside becoming the first Anglo neighborhood in the area.

Major land owners made their marks. Judge Albert Packard built a large mansion for himself on West Canon Perdido and in 1861 constructed the largest adobe in California to house a winery. Producing more than 80,000 gallons per year, he marketed his wines all over the world.

The most glamorous phase of Westside history would be from 1910 to 1921 when Santa Barbara was the movie making capital of the world. Westerns were shot around town beginning in 1910. In 1913 ground was broken on The Flying-A, the largest movie studio in the world at Mission and Chapala. Only a small dressing room/rehearsal hall at the corner of Mission and Chapala remains of Santa Barbara’s “golden age of movies” although there is one reminder of the silent screen era – the 2000-seat Fox Arlington Theater built in 1928, the year before “talkies” took over the big screen.

Activities

Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival
For over 40 years, the Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival has been held over the Fourth of July holiday in the Westside. Since 1933, this sports festival has incorporated hundreds of events offered free of charge to the millions of people who have enjoyed it over the years.

Hang Gliding at Elings Park: One of the Few Non-Profit Parks in the U.S.
Looking for a place to hang glide? Then visit Elings Park, one of the few non-profit parks in the United States. The section of the park where hang gliding and paragliding lifts off has been called the “Jesuit Property” because the Jesuits owned the land for many years. Foot launched flight has thrived here since the early ‘70s.

PARKS AND PLACES OF INTEREST

Fernald Mansion / Trussell-Winchester Adobe
The two “can’t miss” places to see in Westside are two historical structures, the Fernald Mansion and its neighbor next door, the Trussel-Winchester Adobe.

The Fernald Manion is a 14-room Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion built in 1862. And the Trussel-Winchester Adobe is a typical adobe from 1854. It was built by Maine sea Captain Horatio Gates Trussell in 1854 from adobe bricks and timbers salvaged from the steamship, Winfield Scott, which wrecked on a nearby coast in December 1853.

Elings Park: One of the Largest Sports Parks in the U.S.
On the Westside is one of the largest sports parks in the United States. Eling’s Park is located on the site of the old municipal dump and has over 220 acres dedicated to sporting events. The park consists of two levels of fields in the center of the park area and is a hub for youth sports and paragliding.

Visit the Ever-Popular Oak Park
Since the time of the Spanish settlement in this area, Oak Park has been a popular picnic and recreation spot. It happens to be one of the most visited parks in the city. Featuring stately oak and sycamore trees, two public tennis courts, two playgrounds, an outdoor raised wood dance floor, horseshoe pits, and reservable picnic and barbeque sites, Oak Park is indeed a popular place.

It is also the site of many of the cultural festivals that are enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. Throughout the summer you will find different events hosted each weekend including ethnic festivals celebrating such diverse cultures as French, Chinese, Greek, Irish and many others. Visit these festivals to try their unique foods and exciting traditional entertainment.

Pershing Park
With two softball fields and a baseball field adjacent to eight lighted tennis courts, Pershing Park is home to the Santa Barbara City College tennis team. The courts are available to the public on weekends and after 5pm on weekdays. What’s more, there is lighted play on four courts until 9pm during weekdays.

Bohnett Neighborhood Park
A neighborhood park that has been re-landscaped and redesigned with large shady willow and sycamore trees as well as a playground and picnic areas, Bohnett Neighborhood Park was the first project in a long-term effort to restore and revitalize creeks throughout the city of Santa  Barbara. The restoration included revitalizing native plants and creeks.

Parque de los Ninos  & Children’s Orchard
This tiny gem of a park for residents of Santa Barbara’s lower Westside was built in 1996. It features hand-painted tiles by local children, a playground, a children’s orchard and vegetable garden as well as grassy lawn areas.

Paseo Nuevo
The Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center is a redevelopment project covering two city blocks. Anchored by Nordstrom’s and Macy’s, it has underground parking. You’ll see gorgeous lines and curves in this beautiful shopping area!

LOCAL ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Don’t Take a Siesta, Enjoy the Old Spanish Days Fiesta 
To celebrate its Spanish history, the Santa Barbara area has held its Old Spanish Days Fiesta every summer since 1924.

In addition to providing an education of the history, customs and traditions of the American Indian, Spanish, Mexican and early American settlers that make up the rich cultural heritage of the Santa Barbara area, the fun-filled event (that lasts almost a week) includes mercados, flamenco dancing, music, stock horse shows and parades and draws thousands of people from all over the area. What’s more, the Fiesta Parade on Friday afternoon is the largest equestrian parade in the U.S.

A Second Spanish Festival: El Mercado del Norte
Join area residents at a second festival of arts, crafts, food and entertainment in MacKenzie Park (State and Los Positas). The whole family will enjoy food, music and fun with daily entertainment during this enjoyable festival.

For Everything French There’s the French Festival
When the air is filled with music, laughter and the tempting aromas of French cuisine, you know it’s time for the Annual French Festival in Santa Barbara.

Coinciding with France’s Bastille Day Weekend, the festival is always a great weekend for fabulous food, dancing and a celebration of everything French including French beer, champagne and wine. With free admission, you can enjoy over 40 entertainers on three separate stages.

Celebrate France with entertainment that includes the cancan, cabaret, Poodle Parade, Femmes Fatales Drag Review, belly dancing and folkdance that the likes of everyone from Napoleon to Maurice Chevalier and Edith Piaf have found entertaining. “This is where America celebrates France!”

It’s All Greek to Me: Greek Festival
The annual Greek Festival is “the place” to enjoy Greek food and entertainment. You can watch wonderful performers entertain the crowd on the Parthenon stage.

Explore Jewish Culture at the Jewish Festival
Every spring – near Israel’s Independence Day – Santa Barbara hosts the biggest annual Jewish event in town at Oak Park. It’s a day filled with Jewish music, art, food and dance with over 3,000 attendees. Come and experience the rich traditions and culture of the Jewish people with traditional food, dance, arts, crafts and information celebrating this ancient culture.

“Ya Mon” It’s the Annual Caribbean Festival
If you love the Caribbean, then you can’t miss our very own Caribbean Festival held at Oak Park. With plenty of Caribbean food, music, art and festivities, you’ll quickly acclimate into the lively and festive Caribbean culture.

Discover Your Gaelic Roots at the Irish Festival
Celebrating Irish culture in an annual event that draws thousands to Santa Barbara is the Irish Festival held at Oak Park. Come and enjoy Irish food, music, dancing and anything else Irish you can think of at our annual Irish Festival.

Multi Cultural Dance & Music Festival is for Everyone!
The Santa Barbara Dance Alliance brings together the area’s ethnic communities in this unique event. With over 40 groups performing on two stages, festival attendees can celebrate our amazingly diverse culture with the dancers and musicians. And for those of you that need a little help getting into the spirit, you can take a dance lesson, get involved in the international arts and crafts and, of course, enjoy the unique food.

SCHOOLS AND SERVICES

Harding Elementary
Since 1927, Harding Elementary School has been holding its students to a higher standard of academic excellence. Nestled in the foothills of the Mesa, Harding serves over 500 pre-school through sixth-grade students. As one of the oldest schools in the Santa Barbara School Districts, Harding has a long tradition of academic achievement.

La Cumbre Junior High School
As Santa Barbara’s oldest intermediate school, La Cumbre Junior High School was designed in 1926 and opened in 1928 as a junior high school serving grades seven through nine. In September 1993, La Cumbre became the Santa Barbara High School District’s only middle school that serves students in grades six through eight. However, in September 2002 La Cumbre opened as a two-year middle school, which serves only students in grades seven and eight.
It continues to be a school with high expectations for all students. The learning environment encourages self-disciplined, self-directed and responsible academic and social behavior.

Cottage Hospital: The Only Level II Trauma Center on the Central Coast of California
Founded in 1888, Cottage Hospital has been an acute care teaching hospital and the largest of its kind between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. A training institution with resident physicians in internal medicine, surgery and radiology, it is the only Level II trauma center on the central coast of California.

A group of 50 women began raising funds for a hospital in the area in 1888. From these funds Cottage Hospital was built. More than 100 years of steady growth has seen the hospital expand to take up an entire block. With 495 rooms, it rivals the most modern in the state.

In 1920 Dr. William Sansum was the first physician to isolate insulin and use it to treat diabetes. This made Santa Barbara the worldwide destination for diabetes treatment until commercial insulin became available in 1923. In fact, medical facilities comprise the most important economic contribution to the Westside.

America’s Best-Kept Secret