San Luis Obispo County named least affordable in California
Even though the flurry of foreclosures in the past few months has driven home prices down and made owning a home a realistic dream, recent data suggests that one county’s buyers are still looking at a very unaffordable market. According to findings from the California Association of Realtors, San Luis Obispo County was the least Read More →
Memo to California GOP: Don
Mayor Richard Riordan built the modern Los Angeles. Supervisor Brooks Firestone kept Santa Barbara County from splitting. Gov. Ronald Reagan created the economic foundation for the Silicon Valley boom. What ever happened to achievement-driven Republicans? If you ask state Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, the GOP in the Golden State is locked in a battle Read More →
Watkins, Hamilton to leave UCSB for CLU
[Editor’s Note: Click here to read an update of this story.] California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks has landed the most prominent team of economic forecasters in the Tri-Counties, the school said Feb. 24. Bill Watkins, Dan Hamilton and Kirk Lesh – who form the core of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Economic Forecast Read More →
Exports of region
With a population of 1.3 billion, China is undoubtedly the world’s manufacturing powerhouse. But as Chinese families rise to the middle class at unprecedented rates, the country is starting to be viewed as something different: a relatively untapped market for wine and other “Western” goods. According to export experts, serious wine sales to China have Read More →
Half-baked Apple store takes shape behind walls on State St.
Ask anyone what the worst-kept secret in town is, and they’ll tell you: the new Apple building in downtown Santa Barbara, which is undergoing an extensive renovation. The computer giant is spending a small fortune – and making a large racket – demolishing and rebuilding the 9,594-square-foot retail space at 928 State St., which housed Read More →
SLO pays a hefty price for curbing free enterprise
The toll of bankruptcy, foreclosure and financial mayhem in San Luis Obispo County is adding up to more than $120 million. That’s a tremendous amount of money for a county of just 250,000 residents, and the total seems destined to climb higher before things turn around. Reporting by staff writer Stephen Nellis in the current Read More →
Mr. Maldonado goes to Sacramento
[Editor’s note: Just as the Business Times was coming off the presses, state legislators approved a budget compromise. Click here to read more about the deal.] State Sen. Abel Maldonado is taking plenty of heat from the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere for standing his ground on the budget issue. But we think the former Read More →
