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
And you are assuming that the person you are replying to is not Tom Bolton from Noozhawk, lol. — el_smurfo
BANANA- I love it and am stealing it hahahaha! Sooo appropriate! — Rob
When you have an anchor store at either end of a mall then everything in between is known as "inline." — jimbooo
Well said. — Hobie
The office building on the corner of Arrellaga and Anacapa. — ABSB
Atelier Sunhouse - went by to visit your shop. Walked around the building but couldn’t figure out how to get upstairs? I’ll keep trying… — Bo
Must go to Nate's on Marsh, best and most lively restaurant in town, especially on Martini Mondays. — HD
I absolutely agree! What a great way to revitalize State Street, hopefully this serves as a good example of mixed use spaces being beneficial. — Erik (not Torkells)
you are assuming this was done without permission — Bettye Jones
In the winter months they have to moor further out and summer they are allowed to move closer to the wharf and harbor. — Don