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
Not to out-pedanticize you, but as someone who worked in specialty coffee for over a decade, I must point out that your pedantic paradoxical parable… — Par King
I walk past that mysterious little pied-à-terre on E. Carrillo almost daily with my dog. Happy to catch some photos of the interior and courtyard.… — Marc
Not many boutique health resorts being built for the middle class Im afraid. On the plus side lots of jobs from construction and operations.🙂 — Don
Hi Erik, listing agent for 411 E. Carrillo here. Thank you so much for the write-up. I really enjoy reading your work, and waking up… — Spencer Cole
I'm glad there is an animal crossing — HoratioP
With just a tiny bit of research, Rincon Farms is a regenerative organic farm , yay ! I’m excited to try Monte’s, and equally as… — Janie
Sounds exactly like the person you don’t want to meet at a bar… — Zeljko
Will this health resort only be accessible for the wealthy? Is this a resort that the working class can also afford? — Evie
2021? Are you stuck down there? Do you need help? We’re up here in 2026. — Jenna
Yeah, you're clearly not their target market. — Jefferson A.