Page 52 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2021 REDISCOVERING CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST

The Funk Zone
Almost every city has wrestled with the fate
of obsolete and sometimes abandoned indus-
trial or warehouse zones. Some razed the old
and built modern mixed-use developments that
gentrify this urban no-man's-land into retreats
for the hip and well heeled.
Santa Barbara’s industrial area, crammed be-
tween Stern’s Wharf on the Pacific Ocean and
Highway 101, had a storied past. The Lockheed
Corporation was founded here, where it built
early passenger planes. It also was home to
Barbara’s first grain mills and feed stores, and
the area’s fishing industry. Left to rust and ruin,
city fathers ignored it until the early 1990s
when they saw the potential for an enclave of
artists, craftspeople and other creatives there.
As the story goes, the word funky kept com-
ing up in planning discussions, inspiring a se-
nior city official, Don Olson, to propose “The
Funk Zone” as the new name for the revitalized
neighborhood. Today the lively, walkable Zone
is home to artisanal restaurants, wine-tasting
rooms, craft breweries, distilleries and art gal-
leries. It’s also the epicenter of the Urban Wine
Trail — a self-guided trail of nearly two-dozen
tasting rooms around town that pour local
wines. It’s like wine country without the coun-
try. And for us it was an exciting, eclectic and
energizing part of our stay.

52 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2021