FOLLOW THE FUNK: As a New York City resident for 19 years, Charles Donelan witnessed a lot of neighborhood evolution before coming to The Santa Barbara Independent in 2005. “I definitely lived through incredible transformations in New York City — the Meatpacking District, all those streets on the Lower East Side that are duded up now, they were still pretty gross and sketchy,” said Donelan, but that’s not what brought him to this week’s cover story on the Funk Zone. “I like a good neighborhood story like the next guy, but the real crux of it for me is the potential development of the visual arts in this town.” Check out his report on page here.