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Moneke: Where is your partner working exactly? The 'LA area' is very big so it makes a difference - downtown LA is 100 miles from SB but Ventura, which could be considered the furthest edge of the 'LA area' is only 30 miles from SB. Places like the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley etc are in between. Carpinteria is a very nice, small beach town. The problem is, it is only 10 miles closer to LA and it is not any cheaper than SB. One advantage is that you will be able to ride SB public transportation (if you are into that) all the way from Carp to UCSB on a single bus, for free with no parking charges. Ventura/Oxnard is another story. The area is much more suburban and anonymous. You definitely start to feel like you're in LA down there. Ventura itself still has some semblance of being a nice coastal community, but go a few miles east and you're in sprawlville. However, as a corollary, the cost of living definitely goes down. The downside would be the commute (for you). Due to the high cost of living in SB there has been a mass exodus of SB employees to the Oxnard area. Combined with this, between Carpinteria and SB the freeway goes down to two lanes. As a result, the freeway is now backed up for most daylight hours on weekdays and the drive takes over an hour. You will put a lot of wear and tear on your car and have to pay exorbitant parking charges at UCSB. There isn't really a viable mass transit alternative as of yet. Hope that helps.