Our Isla Vista Page
We no longer live in Isla Vista. BOO HOO!
There are approximately 1.5 bands per block, and there are several famous bands that once lived and rehearsed here. Ugly Kid Joe emerged from IV. Toad the Wet Sprocket and Spencer the Gardner are local Santa Barbarians, and SNOT is another Santa Barbara group bound for notoriety. Bill Paine of Little Feat once lived here. I heard that Aldous Huxley once lived here or liked visiting here. Can anyone verify this? There used to be a cooperative garden and a tipi village in Isla Vista, but after the efforts of the local religious right, it was shut down.
Isla Vista is one square mile of land adjoining the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. There are approximately 18,000 students at UCSB, about 2,600 of them living on campus but most of them living in Isla Vista. Also living in IV are some faculty and staff, average people, a large Latino population, most of whom are at or below the poverty level, a small senior citizen population and an undetermined number of homeless people.
There are about 70 business establishments -- many short lived -- 17 of which sell alcoholic beverages. There is no gas station, no post office, no bank (having been burned down asa protest against the Viet Nam war ). There are a number of coffee houses, some fast food places, small eateries specializing in pizza, two food markets, two bike shops, the Isla Vista Food Coop, a Credit Union, four churches, one medical clinic which offers a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. There is no community newspaper, but the student newspaper, the Daily Nexus is read by students and non-students. It is an apartment village, where most of the population is under 30. Every Spring, there is a Jugglers Festival in the park. A Peace Monument is planned in Perfect Park. Four police departments have jurisdiction over the town although law and order is primarily maintained by the IV Foot Patrol. The town is unincorporated and the local Parks and Recreation District is the most important political body.
The best and our favorite place in Isla Vista has been the Isla Vista Food Coop. We will miss this the most. It is a hub of the community, where one can always find a friendly face, great and wholesome food, and it is only a walk away from anywhere in Isla Vista.
Another ex-resident of Isla Vista, Carmen Lodice, has put up a great site with lots of info, pictures and sounds from the history of Isla Vista, with a special focus on the 70's, the historic burning of the Bank of America, the student protests. Check it out here
At the suggestion of a once resident, we have a few more pictures of Isla Vista. If you have the latest shockwave player (the download should be rather painless) check out our PhotoJam of Isla Vista.
Interesting Isla Vista links. We're collecting these.
Anyone wanting to comment, correct, or contribute anything to this page, please e-mail us
