• Ojai vs Santa Barbara (Re: Off Topic: VoIP Providers)

    From Lars Poulsen@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 21:22:01
    [Note Followup-To: alt.unix.geeks, since this has nothing to do with
    Windows]

    On 1/19/26 12:43 PM, Lars Poulsen wrote:
    Santa Barbara, California

    On 2026-01-19, T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    I grew up in Ojai

    On 1/19/26 2:52 PM, Lars Poulsen wrote:
    Because of the religious community?

    On 2026-01-19, T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:
    All kind of different churches there when I grew up.
    Everyone got along. Has it changed?

    I thought the place was a bit over snobby and left
    as soon as I could. It was beautiful though.

    The Indian Theosophist Jidda Krishnamurti lived in Ojai from 1922 until
    his death in 1986 (although he traveled for extended periods of time.)
    A significant "new age" religious community surrounded him.

    But yes, Ojai is beautiful, although hot in the summer.
    I like the coast better. All sorts of churches in Santa Barbara, too.
    At one point I counted about 75 churches (and temples, synagogues etc)
    of at least 50 denominations. For example 3 Orthodox Christians of 3
    different synods: Syrian, Greek and Russian. In the Soviet age, there
    were 2 Russian Parishes: One belonging to the synod endorsed by the
    Kremlin, and one of the opposition flavor.

    I discovered Santa Barbara on a business trip in the Spring of 1980,
    and liked it a lot better than my native Copenhagen, and I have lived
    here since October 1980.

    But it suffers the curse of Paradise: Those who can afford to live
    ANYWHERE they like, like to buy a home here; that has driven the
    prices up to where a mobile home in a rent controlled senior park
    now routinely sells for $750,000. On my cul-de-sac an 1100 sqft
    home sold for $1.8M; the buyer tore it down to build a 2400 sqft
    house while retaining the old garage that had been turned into an ADU.
    City council talks nicely about wanting to build affordable housing,
    but the truth is that a reasonable 2-bedroom apartment rents for
    $3000/month (on a 12-month lease, with no pets) and it goes up from
    there pretty fast. And those modest home owners who have discovered
    that the inflated home prices have made them millionaires do
    not want that problem fixed.

    I am lucky I bought my home in 1985; no way I could do that today.
    --
    Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
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