I enjoyed seeing the Independent getting an early start on April Fool’s Day chicanery with the article about a Santa Barbara version of Monopoly juxtaposed with an article about Core Spaces Inc. trying to monopolize affordable student housing in Isla Vista through “renovictions.” Recently, there was another article about how California counties were forced to make new houses for an ever-increasing population or risk the loss of state funding.
Santa Barbara by no means has a monopoly on predatory investment in the human necessity called housing. Instead of paving over farmland for cut ‘n’ paste condos to make our quota, how about putting a stop to short-term rentals that are constantly squeezing out all the cool people that make Santa Barbara worth visiting? Maybe it pencils out?
The party is over, so let the games begin.