I've lived in both NYC and Santa Barbara. My advice for someone your age would be to go for NYC. It's unlike anywhere else on earth and it's best to experience it when you're young.
Santa Barbara's been built up a lot since I lived there but it's still pretty quiet. Not a whole lot to do. It certainly is beautiful though. I tend to think of it as a nice place to retire. It's pretty pricey also.
You all might think I'm nuts but I actually found my current home partly though this website:
http://www.findyourspot.com/ I had heard of my current town and was considering it, along with about a half a dozen other cities. Then I went to that website and took the quiz. I was looking for big cities but, strangely, it popped up in my top 20 results. I took it as a sign and decided to come out and visit. Two years later, I couldn't be happier.
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