Chapter 8 - Appalachia and the Ozarks

The Appalachians and Santa Barbara don't really have much in common. The Appalachians topography made it difficult to be used in farming and settlement. However, Appalachia became significantly known for its mining, most notably coal. However, it had a big negative impact on Appalachia's physical geography making it undesirable to live. Poverty rates in the Appalachia's is significant, mostly in Southern Appalachia cultures.

Santa Barbara, in comparison, has had some issues with its physical geography and farming; the county being hilly and including lots of forest. However, Santa Barbara county has found ways to to go around this and has hundreds of successful wineries. The Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara is the largest oil seep in the world. It hasn't adversely affected the area as much as the Appalachia's farming did, but the oil seep does produce tar balls that wash up on the beach. Also, the oil seep is a natural occurring process whereas the people in the Appalachia's farmed and created the problems. On the topic of poverty, in the 2000, the census data report stated that 13.4% of Santa Barbara's residents were below the poverty line. The per capita income for Santa Barbara then was $26,466. This compared to the actual cost of living shows that the number of people below the poverty line is quite high.

Satellite map of petroleum seep.

[Sources]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara,_California