Editing Santa Barbara, California (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Santabarbarastreetscene.jpg|thumb|left|Looking north from a Santa Barbara street toward "the Riviera" and the Santa Ynez Mountains beyond]]

Santa Barbara is located about {{convert|90|mi|0}} west-northwest of [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]], along the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] coast. This stretch of coast along southern [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara County]] is sometimes referred to as "The American Riviera",<ref>[http://www.santabarbaraca.com/visitor-info/ Santa Barbara tourism website, showing "The American Riviera" trademark] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212014138/http://www.santabarbaraca.com/visitor-info/ |date=February 12, 2014 }} (accessed February 2014)</ref> presumably because its geography and climate are similar to that of areas along the northern [[Mediterranean Sea]] coast (especially in southern France) known as the [[Riviera]]. The [[Santa Ynez Mountains]], an east–west trending range, rise dramatically behind the city, with several peaks exceeding {{convert|4000|ft|sigfig=2}}. Covered with [[chaparral]], oaks and [[sandstone]] [[outcrop]]s, they make a scenic backdrop to the town. Sometimes, perhaps once every three years, snow falls on the mountains, but it rarely stays for more than a few days. Nearer to town, directly east and adjacent to [[Mission Santa Barbara]], is an east–west ridge known locally as "the Riviera", traversed by a road called "Alameda Padre Serra" (shortened APS, which translates to "Father Serra's pathway").

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|42.0|sqmi|1}}, of which {{convert|19.5|sqmi}} of it is land and {{convert|22.5|sqmi}} of it, or 53.61%, is water. The high official figures for water is due to the extension of the city limit into the ocean, including a strip of city reaching out into the sea and inland again to keep the Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) within the city boundary.