The woman who designed many of Balboa Park’s gardens was nine or 10 years old when the head of Bay Park Elementary decided the trajectory of her life. “I would draw little downtowns, and one day the principal came by and said, ‘Let me see that,’” recalls Vicki Estrada, founder of Estrada Land Planni

Nestled in Montecito’s historic Hedgerow neighborhood, one of architect Mary McLaughlin Craig’s [1889-1964] finest homes, just hit the market. Craig, a transplant from South Dakota, was married to James Osborne Craig, the Scottish emigre architect who designed Santa Barbara’s El Paseo—an early model

Back then, it was the haircut of Flock of Seagulls’ frontman as a mall—angular, wild to look at, confusing to old people. It was even perplexing to young people, who loved every single thing about malls. It was a real-life recreation of M.C. Escher’s painting, Relativity, with stairs that went every