Santa Barbara County StoryMap
A collection of mapped data potentially relevant to identifying communities of interest in Santa Barbara County
Census Areas & Data
Census Geographies
The US Census Bureau divides each county in California into different levels of geographies from which they collect population data. Click on the buttons below to examine each of these data layers.
These are the largest census areas in the county, of which there are seven: Carpinteria, Cuyama, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Solvang-Santa Ynez.
Each Census county subdivision is divided into several Census tracts.
Each Census tract is divided into several Census block groups, which are themselves composed of several Census blocks.
Census Places
The Census Bureau delineates a number of places where there are denser concentrations of people. These areas are shown in gray. Redistricting law requires keeping each of these places intact, to the extent practicable.
There are eight incorporated cities in the county, shown in red: Buellton, Carpinteria, Goleta, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Solvang. The remaining places are called Census-designated places (CDPs), which are unincorporated towns or villages.
A city may have a sphere of influence (SOI) which extends beyond its limits, indicating where city services might expand in the future. These areas are shown in a lighter shade of red.
The Census also identifies American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian (AIANNH) Areas. The only AIANNH Area in Santa Barbara County is Santa Ynez Reservation, home to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas
The Census Bureau also recognizes ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs). These are generalized area representations of the United States Postal Service (USPS) ZIP code service areas, but may not exactly match the latter.
Citizen Voting Age Population by Race/Ethnicity
Click below to see the percentage of the citizen voting age population in each Census block that belongs to a certain race or ethnicity.
The legend above shows the value ranges for the coloring on the map to the right. You can select individual blocks to get more detailed values.
Other Demographics of Interest
Click below to see the percentage in each Census block group that belongs to a certain demographic category.
The legend above shows the value ranges for the coloring on the map to the right. You can select individual blocks or tracts to get more detailed values.
Local Districts & Areas
Special Districts
Santa Barbara County contains a number of special districts that provide a variety of services to their residents. Many of these may constitute communities of interest in themselves.
Other Functional Areas
While not special districts per se, some areas of the county have a particular function or concern that may constitute potential communities of interest.
Emergency Response Areas
Emergency response is a crucial component of government services, and there may be some communities that have a special interest in how these services are carried out. One such community of interest could be the jurisdiction of a law enforcement or fire protection agency, as all the people in such an area have a vested interest in one particular agency.
There are seven law enforcement agencies in the county, four of which are city police departments. The County Sheriff has jurisdiction over the other cities and unincorporated areas, except for UCSB (UCPD) and Vandenberg AFB (DAF Police).
There are eight fire protection agencies in the county, four of which are city fire departments. The County Fire Department has jurisdiction over the other cities and unincorporated areas, except for Carpinteria-Summerland and Montecito (have their own fire protection districts) and Vandenberg AFB (has its own fire department). Fire hazard zone classification is available in the legend at the bottom left corner of the map.
There are ten flood zones to coordinate emergency response in the event of a flood disaster.
There are five airports in the county, plus Vandenberg AFB. Airport safety zone and noise level (in decibels) classification are available in the legend at the bottom left corner of the map.
School Districts
A school district--and/or a school attendance area within one--may itself constitute a community of interest. Residents of such an area have a vested interest in the management and instruction of one particular district and/or school, and so could very well benefit from being kept together in the redistricting process.
Those in yellow include both elementary and middle schools, while those in red only have elementary schools.
These districts only include high schools.
Those in white include elementary, middle, and high schools, while the purple district (CJUSD) only has an elementary school and a high school. SBUSD's elementary schools are limited to just the City of Santa Barbara and Mission Canyon.
School Attendance Areas
Attendance areas are colored according to the school district into which they fall.
- Purple: Guadalupe Union School District
- Dark Blue: Santa Maria-Bonita School District
- Light Blue: Orcutt Union School District
- White: Blochman Union School District
- Green: Lompoc Unified School District
- Yellow: Vista del Mar Unified School District
- Dark Yellow: Buellton Union School District
- Red: Solvang School District
- Light Yellow: College School District
- Orange: Ballard School District
- Light Pink: Los Olivos School District
- Brown: Goleta Union School District
- White: Hope Elementary School District
- Dark Red: Santa Barbara Unified School District
- Yellow: Cold Spring School District
- Orange: Montecito Union School District
- Pink: Carpinteria Unified School District
- Purple: Guadalupe Union School District
- Dark Blue: Santa Maria-Bonita School District
- Light Blue: Orcutt Union School District
- Green: Lompoc Unified School District
- Dark Yellow: Buellton Union School District
- Dark Red: Santa Barbara Unified School District
- Pink: Carpinteria Unified School District
- Blue: Santa Maria Joint Union H.S. District
- Green: Lompoc Unified School District
- Orange: Cuyama Joint Unified School District
- Brown: Santa Ynez Valley Union H.S. District
- Dark Red: Santa Barbara Unified School District
- Pink: Carpinteria Unified School District
Voting Districts
The existing voting/electoral districts are products of the post-2010 Census redistricting process, and as such are based on outdated data, meaning they will soon be replaced by new districts in the post-2020 Census redistricting process. Nevertheless, it may be worthwhile to consider their boundaries and the degree to which they respect communities of interest.
The county is completely within a single congressional district, as well as a state senate district, but it is split into different districts at other levels of government.
Degree of Overlap Between Different Types of Boundaries
The map below shows the degree of overlap between boundaries of different types of areas in Santa Barbara County:
- Census tracts
- Census places (including cities, CDPs, SOIs, CSDs, and AIANs)
- Zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs)
- Special districts
- School districts
- Voting districts
The darker the color of the line, the more overlap exists at that line. For example, the darkest line has six degrees of overlap, meaning boundaries of all six types of areas overlap along that line.
The purpose of showing this degree of overlap is to highlight where there may be "natural boundaries" that should be utilized in redistricting ("natural" in the sense of "reasonable," not necessarily relating to physical features on the ground). One may argue that a line that serves as a boundary of many different types of areas (i.e. a darker-colored line on this map) is a good candidate to serve as the boundary of the new voting districts because it already separates multiple communities of interest and so would not be very likely to split apart many if any at all.
Land Use & Zoning
The manner in which land is utilized by the communities of the county can relate strongly to the the concerns and interests those communities have. For example, those who live on or near agricultural land may well have different issues that are important to them than those who live on or near an industrial complex. Likewise, residents of multiple-family housing may differ substantially from those of single-family housing.
Land Use
There is one county-wide standard for land use developed by the County's Planning and Development (P&D) Department for every parcel in the county, both those in incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The dozens of categories defined by P&D have been simplified and reduced to ten broad categories:
- Red: Commercial
- Gray: Industrial
- Brown: Residential - High Density
- Orange: Residential - Low Density
- Dark Yellow: Residential - Mobile
- Bright Yellow: Residential - Rural
- Beige: Open
- Green: Agricultural
- Purple: Institutional
- Blue: Other
Click on a button below to examine land use in a particular area of the county:
Zoning
While land use refers to how the land is actually being used, zoning refers to how it is intended to be used by a particular authority. P&D has assigned all unincorporated areas of the county into one of several zones, and all the incorporated cities have done the same with their territory.
Click on a button below to examine land use in a particular area of the county, and consult the legend by clicking the button at the bottom left corner of the map:
District by District
This final section focuses on each of the current County Board of Supervisors districts, and examines what communities of interest might exist within each of them.
District 1
This district occupies the eastern part of the county, and stretches from Cuyama Valley in the north to the South Coast.
Please consult the legend as necessary by clicking the button at the bottom left corner of the map.
District 2
This district occupies the southern part of the county, and includes a portion of the South Coast as well as the Channel Islands.
Please consult the legend as necessary by clicking the button at the bottom left corner of the map.
District 3
This district occupies the western and east-central parts of the county, and stretches from Guadalupe in the north to Santa Ynez Valley in the east, and also includes a portion of the South Coast.
District 4
This district occupies the west-central part of the county, and stretches from Santa Maria in the north to Lompoc in the south.
District 5
This district occupies the northern part of the county, and stretches from Santa Maria in the west to Cuyama Valley in the east.
Want to explore the data some more?
Click on the web application below to access all the data layers covered in this story, where you will be able to display as many at once as you would like. Please keep in mind that you may need to wait several seconds for all the data to load.
