Depends what your into. Santa Barbara is definitely a "party school" but the scene is more of the college life...block parties, etc. they also have cool bars and pubs if your into that. places closes at the normal 2am - don't really know if there is any underground action there. if you are into club/rave/underground scene, there is definitely more to do in SF! besides from the normal nightlife, there an abundant of freaky things to do there. i've seen sh** there that i've not seen anywhere! besides i think that there is much more culture in sf. my humble opinion, i would pick sf.