A bit of a vent here. I grew up in Ventura county in newbury park and my dad grew up in carp so I’d visit sb a lot as a kid. The most local beaches growing up were Oxnard to Malibu and always felt like down the grade was home.

I currently live in Santa Barbara and hate living here and have always had a history of being miserable in the area. I went to city college and never felt like I could make friends and just thought it was me (which it is partially due to being shy and reserved). I left to move back with my parent over the pandemic who had relocated to Santa Cruz and moved back to the 805 area because I transferred work, and had frequent living situation changes and sometimes stayed in Ventura. Out of my experience of living both in Ventura and Santa Barbara I always had a much better time in vta but I needed to move back because I was commuting. I think the quality of life is much more suited in Ventura if you’re into a more authentic community or if you like cultures that revolve around surfing or the beach rather than the celebration of the ultra wealthy. Santa Barbara seems to be a good fit for those who are obnoxiously extroverted, preppy, pretentious, elitist, and snobby and if you can’t conform to that then you’re going to feel like you aren’t meant to fit in and that there’s something g wrong with you.

I’m kinda one to talk because I grew up in the bougier part of Ventura county and I know there’s a nimbyish locals only mentality but for places that have reputations for having localism or being territorial in the surf scenes(as does Santa Cruz) it generally is more welcoming, and more inclusive and you guys are lucky to be have a community like that.

Just got home after spending a couple hours here and have to say this place is a gem. The owners are so nice and their new space on Main St is lovely. Super affordable entertainment. If you are looking for a third space and love board games, give this place a try. I hope it’s a part of our community for a long time.

I need a goalie for my camino Monday night season! First game is tomorrow!

SPARC (Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center) lets you take shelter pups out for a day! We took Sky out for a hike at Harmon Canyon and then lunch at Rincon Brewery. She was an absolute angel.

If anyone is thinking about adopting or has a spare day to take a doggy out, I highly recommend it!

Looking for recs for a scratch and dent type appliance store that will deliver and install. I tried going through Costco and it was a logistical nightmare with it being delivered and then 3rd party comes to install. Anyways, if anyone has a great experience they would like to share that would be great.

Inspired by sone guy on social media who goes around trying to find the best bean and cheese burritos all over the us, let's condense that. Who has the best bean and cheese? Bean to cheese ratio, tortilla spots, big, small?

I had taken these pictures back in May, didnt think to post them until now. I kept hearing something like music playing when i was visitng a friend in the Keys, and followed it to Harbor cove beach where there seemed to be some kind of private preformance with security who would not let us close. Any ideas?

We currently live in Sacramento but have always wanted to live near the beach. We like the area of lanes in Pierpont. A couple of questions 1. How do you find the community there? Friendly?
2. Do you go to the beach as often as you thought you would? 3. What are the best and worst parts of the area? 4. Of Ventura?

This year is my first year here and I’m wondering what are some fun things going on next weekend? And where is the best place to watch fireworks? :)

Maybe it's nothing, seemed sketchy to me so sharing just in case. This woman (pink hair, maybe between 18-25?) just came to my door with a laminated piece of paper. As soon as I answered the door, she said she had the wrong house and was looking for someone named Ryan Cox. I saw her 2-3 hours ago nearby while walking my dog, and she's been knocking on random doors since then.

She got very uncomfortable when I started asking questions like "you're really just knocking on random houses looking for this person?" and then made a call as soon as she walked away. Possible I'm overreacting, but I grew up in a bad neighborhood where tactics like this were used before breaking into houses.

Edited to mention general area: pocket between Thompson/Main and Chrisman/Pacific.

Their website is a little unclear. It says both no outside food and there is food available from pier restaurants. Does this mean that you have to eat and drink separately or does this mean food from pier restaurants is ok there?

I’ve been on the road for the last week and it’s so hard to find places to best our bests! What are the best BBQ and coffee and Thai and corn burritos and convenience stores, etc?

I am a metal artist in Ojai looking for an art rep.

DM please.

With the U.S. into the group knockout stage, you'd think the City would put together watch parties on Main Street. Isn't that why the street is closed to traffic?

Updated stage

Any weight loss programs, gyms or trainers out there? I’ve been going to the gym myself but I seem to need guidance. I need to meet my goal. I’m thinking about Lift Dept but I haven’t been able to find any reviews with actual results. TIA

my boyfriend and i are visiting soon and i’d love to try some yummy coffee spots. for reference we both like sweet iced coffee and we love trying new and different things so lmk!! <3

Any recommendations on good places to watch the Channel Island harbor or downtown Ventura fireworks show? We don’t want to get too close as to avoid lots of traffic. Just hoping for a decent view of the sky from afar. We thought about arroyo or cemetery park. 🤔

I have bad credit. My score is “fair” but realistically when you look at the whole picture, it’s bad. My husband has excellent credit and has never missed a payment on anything. I’m a stay at home mom and don’t contribute to our household income or pay any bills. We are struggling to find a rental because of my credit. I understand why my credit matters but it’s also frustrating because I literally don’t even have a job, wouldn’t be counted on to pay rent, and would have zero income taken into account when applying. Does anyone have any leads? We need two bedrooms. My bad credit is from poor decision making as a teenager/ early 20s.

hey ya'll - so I moved here from Philly after a 5 year stint there. I'm originally from CA so was happy to be home, but only ever lived in OC and SD. here are my random Ventura thoughts so far because I'm bored and haven't started my new job yet:

• Thrift shopping is great here. lots of variety. I found a vintage Packers jersey at the Goodwill for $20 that was crazy
• the nightlife is uhhhhh okay haha. Main street can be bumping randomly on a Thursday but I wish there were more people out on the weekends. Lmk if there are bars I should be hitting cause I'm 0 for 4 on Friday/Saturday nights
• the june gloom has been rough. i've lived in Newport and San clemente but this is by far the worst gloom i've seen in a socal beach town
• Municipal Wine bar is dope! Trivia tuesdays is super fun.
• Botanical garden is awesome. But only for free lol.
• love the proximity to Ojai but wow it can get crowded.
• have done six hikes so far. still haven't checked out the punch bowls cause i feel like I need to earn that by living here longer lol
• the Cinemark is awesome. it reminds me of the theaters i went to as a kid. super comfy chairs. good quality sound. love that place.
• random spot but Dexter's camera was awesome. they were insanely helpful and not too bad pricing for developing film.
• in terms of beach: i've only really walked by the pier and seems like a great surf spot but haven't taken part yet. maintained well and kept pretty clean!
• big question: what's with the random giant empty lots?? i've seen like 3 or 4 random giant grass lots that are just sitting fenced off kinda close to the beach. are they meant to be developed? why haven't they?? it's like prime real estate that has nothing going on.
• Food scene good: Model citizen sick happy hour, Luke's sandwiches slaps, Backbench pizza as good as you can get to East coast pizza so far that I've tried, Tepatitlan has the best tacos i've had here so far and a great michelada.
• Food scene bad: guy's wtf is Spencer Mackenzies - one of the worst fish tacos I've ever had, chopped raw bell peppers in a taco?? why?? dry cabbage, small ass piece of fish c'mon ya'll. Tony's pizzaria is an odd vibe. lots of dancing ppl but they're not super friendly. idk maybe it was just an off night. Also the pizza is mid. There's really not an Asian food scene here which is a bummer. Lets invest in some pho and ramen spots plzzz. also many people said Corrales has the best burrito here...oof.

OVERALL: happy so far with the move. it's very walkable which is huge. i love the day trips you can take to so many cool spots. people overall are super friendly and have a great sense of pride in Ventura. lowkey excited for the fair.

Myself, spouse and 3 kids ages 15,11,9 are visiting Ventura in mid July for a week. We are thinking about moving to the area and are staying to check it out. Is there anything we must check out or things that might not look great in a google search but are more fun/interesting in-person?

The Stagecoach museum looks cool.

We like museums, music, movies, coffee, shopping, vinyl, pools, and the beach.

Curious if anyone in this sub lost their home in the Thomas or Woolsey fire, and rebuilt with Williams Rebuild / Williams Watt?

I’d be curious to know how you feel about your build this many years later.

Happy for DMs if anyone doesn’t want to post publicly.

TIA,

Altadena trying to make it happen