Summerland, California

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Summerland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The population was 1,545 at the 2000 census.

The city is famed for being home of Santa Claus Lane, named after a giant Santa Claus bust that overlooked the coastal U.S. Route 101. At the crossroads between art and crass capitalism, the bust was removed in 2003 after being in place for more than fifty years. The bust was not destroyed, but was placed in an emptied lot in the town of Oxnard, several miles south of Santa Claus Lane.

Summerland has an oil industry history dating back to the 1890s. There are photographs showing a forest of wooden oil derricks around this coastal town about 1904.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Source
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Summerland is located at 34°25′17″N, 119°35′45″W (34.421395, -119.595969)^GR1. It is on the coast directly east of the city of Santa Barbara and west-northwest of the city of Carpinteria, and is almost entirely surrounded by the unincorporated community of Montecito. Summerland has a significantly higher population density than the surrounding area. U.S. Route 101 goes through Summerland.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.3 km² (2.0 mi²). 5.2 km² (2.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.49% is water.

Summerland from the top of Ortega Hill

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,545 people, 715 households, and 368 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 295.3/km² (764.7/mi²). There were 784 housing units at an average density of 149.9/km² (388.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 91.78% White, 0.45% African American, 0.26% Native American, 2.39% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 2.27% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.44% of the population.

There were 715 households out of which 17.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.5% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.70.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 14.6% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 34.2% from 25 to 44, 32.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $53,964, and the median income for a family was $75,625. Males had a median income of $50,469 versus $41,042 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $41,668. About 4.5% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Source

Rintoul, William, "Wood Derricks and Steel Men," Drilling Through Time, (Sacramento, California: California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil and Gas, 1990), pp. 13-15.