Lompoc Real Estate & Community Guide

The story

Life in Lompoc

Lompoc lies in the Lompoc Valley along Highway 1 and Highway 246, about 50 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, with the Santa Ynez River running near the valley floor and the Santa Ynez Mountains and Purisima Hills framing the surroundings. Cool coastal fog gives the valley a mild climate well suited to flower seed production, which once earned it the nickname "Valley of Flowers," celebrated with an annual Flower Festival.

The city is immediately adjacent to Vandenberg Space Force Base, a major rocket launch site, which has shaped Lompoc's economy and population since the base (originally Camp Cooke) was established in 1941. Lompoc is also known for murals in its downtown and for La Purísima Mission State Historic Park just outside the city.

Jalama Beach, a remote county park on the coast southwest of the city, and the surrounding agricultural flatlands growing flower seed and vegetable crops round out Lompoc's character as both a working town and a gateway to outdoor recreation.

The history

Where it began

Chumash people lived in the Lompoc Valley for nearly 10,000 years before European contact; the Chumash name for the area, lumpo'o̥, means "lagoon" in the Purisimeño dialect. Mission La Purísima Concepción was founded in 1787, the eleventh mission in the California chain; the original mission site was destroyed by an 1812 earthquake, and the mission was rebuilt beginning in 1813 at its current location, now La Purísima Mission State Historic Park.

In 1874, the Lompoc Valley Land Company was formed to purchase nearly 43,000 acres and establish Lompoc as a temperance colony, with deeds barring the sale or manufacture of liquor. The City of Lompoc was incorporated on August 13, 1888.

The coastal railroad's completion in 1901 spurred valley agriculture, including the flower-seed industry, and diatomaceous earth mining began in the southern hills. In 1941, Camp Cooke was established as an Army training base; it was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1958 and became the first U.S. Air Force missile base, later a Space Shuttle program site, and today is Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The benefits

Walkability

Walkability varies by neighborhood. See current Walk Score®, Transit Score® and Bike Score® ratings.

View scores

Things to Do

La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, the most fully restored mission in the California mission system, originally founded in 1787 and restored in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Jalama Beach County Park, a remote surf and camping beach southwest of the city
Lompoc Valley Historical Society Museum and the city's outdoor mural program downtown
Annual Lompoc Flower Festival, celebrating the valley's flower-seed farming heritage
Surf Beach near the Lompoc-Surf Amtrak station, a Snowy Plover nesting area

Eat & Drink

Local wine tasting rooms tied to the Santa Rita Hills AVA, which lies partly within the Lompoc Valley and is well documented for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production

Shopping

Downtown Lompoc's H Street and Ocean Avenue commercial corridor

Groceries

Vons and Albertsons supermarket locations serving the city of Lompoc

Schools

Lompoc Unified School District, serving Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, Mission Hills, and Vandenberg Space Force Base
Cabrillo High School and Lompoc High School are the district's two comprehensive high schools
Allan Hancock College's Lompoc Valley Center, at One Hancock Drive, Lompoc

Hospitals

Lompoc Valley Medical Center, the city's hospital and a major local employer

Transportation

State Route 1 and State Route 246 are the main highways serving Lompoc
City of Lompoc Transit (COLT), operating fixed bus routes plus on-demand COLT RIDE service within Lompoc, Mission Hills, and Vandenberg Village
Lompoc-Surf Amtrak station, served by the Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight, located on Vandenberg property near Surf Beach
Regional connections via the Clean Air Express commuter bus

Lompoc