The Santa Barbara area has many news sources that do various things well, but none was exactly what I wanted—just the important news, along with a healthy dose of upscale lifestyle coverage (restaurants, real estate, travel, and so on). So I created Siteline.
Having grown up in Orange County and moved to New York City after college, I never thought I’d return to California. But when my husband, Adam, and I visited Santa Barbara a few years ago, I realized that the area is everything I love about the state, without all the stuff I don’t. At the start of 2019, I sold my hyperlocal website, Tribeca Citizen, and we moved here. (Before Tribeca Citizen, I was a magazine editor: Budget Travel, Fortune, Travel + Leisure, Town & Country.)
There’s no zealot like the recently converted, as the saying goes, and for a while, I’ll undoubtedly have more enthusiasm than expertise. I will get excited about things that you’ve known about for years, and I will make mistakes. Feel free to correct or contradict me; we know more collectively than any of us can on our own. If you have a vested interest in whatever you’re commenting about, however, I insist that you make the connection public.
And editorial and advertising will always be entirely separate.
Please reach out with any questions, concerns, tips, or even compliments. The best way to follow Siteline is by subscribing to the email newsletter. And if you know someone who might be interested in this site, please pass it along.
Erik Torkells
Founder
917-209-6473
[email protected]
















Recent Comments
I lived in sb long ago, constantly visited and then moved back in 2010 and Montecito has always had big estates and wealthy people and… — AFC
Watched kids leaving the middle school speeding down APS, one guy was standing on his e-bike seat at a very high speed. 13/14 years old… — AFC
There have been so many press releases about the closing that it reminded me of a furniture store going out of business for years as… — Spank13
And? She tried really hard to stay open. I think finally was a poor choice of words. — Monica
Where are all the ‘entrance fees’ for the Bellosguardo going? You can’t get near the place for under $100 per person and now they’re going… — JT
While I really like Little Mountain, every time I walk in, I miss the old PLF Bistro. — celeste
$100 "museum" tours is a joke. For comparison, it's about $35 to visit the Louvre. — CW