Santa Barbara's main thoroughfare, State Street, which divides the city of Santa Barbara between East and West, begins at Stearn's Wharf and continues for miles throughout the city. State Street itself is a microcosm of the entire city: filled with architectural beauty, performing arts and cultural centers (including the stately Arlington and Granada Theaters and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art), numerous fine restaurants and cafes, and world class shopping from chic boutiques to modern malls (including the historic El Paseo, California's first shopping center built in the 1920's).



Housing in the downtown area includes apartment buildings, luxury condominium complexes and smaller single family residences, predominately cottages dating back to the 1940's & 1950's. Residents love the convenience of living within blocks of downtown's numerous movie theaters, restaurants and stores of every kind. There are also many of Santa Barbara's finest parks downtown, including the magnificent Alice Keck Park Gardens, with its lush specimen plantings and koi and turtle filled pond.