Let me begin by saying thank you to the Santa Barbara Independent for the recent coverage of the tent city situation in the Isla Vista parks. While informative, it missed a few aspects that should be brought up.
The biggest question to ask is why has this come to be in I.V.? As a 33-year resident of Isla Vista, I may have some views that others outside the community don’t see.
I ride my bike to work quite regularly, usually leaving around 9 a.m., on a route that takes me up Embarcadero Del Mar to El Colegio. That’s when I see the budding tent city residents marching down the street toward Anisq Oyo Park with their belongings, ready to stake a claim. Where are they coming from? I get my answer when I get to the bus stop on El Colegio, I see them, two or three at a time, stepping off the MTD bus from Santa Barbara.