The city of Santa Barbara requires all new buildings adhere to a certain architectural style:

Santa Barbara Architecture

The “Santa Barbara” architectural style is famous around the world. Although distinctly influenced by the architecture of Spain, it’s actually a blend of genres, including Spanish, Mediterranean and Moorish/Islamic. Its key features are gleaming white stucco surfaces, the famous red tile roofs, courtyards, and the wrought iron used to ornament windows, light fixtures, staircases, and other accent elements.

This aesthetic is largely the work of engineer Bernhard Hoffman. He founded the City Planning Commission and worked with other organizing bodies to enforce building codes and architectural standards at the advent of the 20th century, demanding that all new construction conform to modern safety guidelines. The new style which emerged was a tribute to Santa Barbara’s Spanish heritage and the predecessor of the “look” we know today.

In 1927, Pearl Chase became chair of the Plans and Planting Committee (in which capacity she served until her retirement in the 1970s) and further helped establish and enforce many of the standards that have kept Santa Barbara, in her words, “…a beautiful city, with an architecture in harmony with its historic background and adapted to its distinctive topography, its climate and its delightful location.”

I don’t hear a whole lot of people complaining.