This is the second annual meeting of the Southern California Economic Theory Conference. Our first meeting was sponsored by USC and held at Desert Hot Springs. Those who were there had a fine time and professed eagerness to meet again at UCSB. This is a great opportunity for people who do pure and applied economic theory and who live within driving distance (or at least short airplane flights) of each other to get together and form or renew personal friendships and to share in the pleasures of discussing interesting economic research.
The conference rate for the Radisson is $129 per night for a room with
one bed and $135 for a room with two beds. The conference
rate for the Motel 6 is $65.99 per night for one person and
$72 per night for two people. To make your reservations, phone
the hotels directly. To get these
rates you must book before February 3. Mention that you are with
the Southern California Economic Theory Conference to obtain the conference
rate.
For Motel 6, the conference rate is the normal rate, but you may have
trouble getting the kind of room you want if they don't find out that you
are with the conference. Ask for the "So Cal Econ."
group. ( "Southern California Economic Theory Conference" doesn't fit in
their computer.)
Harrison Cheng tells me and the manager confirms that the Santa Barbara
beach Motel 6 is the first Motel 6 ever built. It was built
in 1962. It is the best Motel 6 that I have seen. I looked at a couple
of rooms, which are nice and clean and in good repair. They
are not as large as rooms at the Radisson, but seemed very comfortable
to me. The real bonus is the location. It is on a quiet street a block
from the ocean. From some of the rooms you even get a good view of the
ocean.
The local phone number for the Radisson is (805) 963-0744.
The local phone number for the Santa Barbara Beach Motel 6 is (805)
564-1392.
It turns out that the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will be in town on that weekend (Click here for information about the festival.) Unless your spouse is an economist, he or she will probably enjoy the festival doings more than mingling with us. But the festival brings a lot of people into town and so housing will be very tight if you don't get reservations before February 3.
Click
here to find a map to the Radisson
Click
here to find a map to the Beach Motel 6
Here is a map showing how to get to the conference site, Cliff House.
The conference will be located in a UCSB conference facility right on the beach just west of the main campus. The distance is about 14 miles from your hotel and it should take you about 20-25 minutes to drive there. You should exit Highway 101 at the Glen Annie, Storke Road exit. Take a close look at the map and print out a copy to bring with you. The last wiggly bit of the road is rutted and potholed, but navigable. There is a gravelled parking lot a couple of hundred yards from Cliff House near the loop at the end of the road. There aren't any signs and you can't quite see Cliff House from the parking lot.
At the Friday night reception, and also at the conference on Saturday, I will distribute parking permits for parking at Cliff House lot.
Restaurants
Click
here to find Jon Sonstelie's notes on a few local restaurants.
Or you can check out a
slick commercial restaurant guide
to Santa Barbara.
For Saturday night, I have made
reservations for five groups of eight people at five different Santa
Barbara restaurants, all of which
appear on Sonstelie's list. These are the Bay Cafe, Brigitte's,
Chad's, the Paradise Cafe, and the Wine
Cask. Sign-ups will be available at the conference. But
feel free to set out on your own if you prefer.
Reception 
There will be a reception at the Radisson on Friday evening, running
from 8:30 pm until about 10:45.
The reception will feature light snacks and a cash bar.
Who is coming? 
Click here for a list of people who are planning to come. Please let me know if I should add your name to the list. I will be updating this list regularly.
The beach
near
your Hotel
Views of the UCSB Campus (1)(2)
Views
from our Conference Site If you move the picture from the right
edge and swing across
the sea, Cliff House is the small building that you come to 20 feet
from the bluff. Some people
have complained that when the windows are open, the sound of the surf
makes it hard to hear
the speaker.
