Stop Neglecting the Working Class

When people imagine Santa Barbara, they usually picture a beautiful, urban beach town where celebrities come to relax. It is no wonder it has been dubbed as “a playground for the rich and famous” in travel brochures. People often fantasize about lying on the sand with a mimosa in hand. But what about the waiters who brought you that mimosa? How is this paradise treating them? When you peel back the veil of glamour, you will see the wealth disparities and the prevalence of homelessness in Santa Barbara.

The people who work in Santa Barbara often cannot afford to live here. The demographic data illustrates how Santa Barbara is a paradise for the wealthy, but puts a constant strain on the less affluent. From my own experiences, many people make do by cramming apartments with as many roommates as possible, or having multiple generations living together. KEYT reported that this results in mass commutes everyday, approximately 30,000 trips into Santa Barbara from less expensive areas of the county everyday. Unsurprisingly, this leads to heavy traffic congestion on the 101. Sitting in an hour or more in traffic every work day puts a large amount of stress on people and can negatively affect their health. It is no secret that long commute times increase a person’s risk for physical and mental health issues. From my own experience, moving farther away to find cheaper housing did not solve the problem. Whatever I saved by moving to Ventura, I spent on gas getting to my job in Santa Barbara.

Another byproduct is approximately 1,223 homeless individuals living on the streets. By the city’s own account, there are not enough shelter beds or supportive housing units available to support this large homeless population. This situation gave rise to the Safe Parking Program where people are allowed to park in designated lots and live and sleep in their cars. Many of the people in the program are employed in the city but cannot afford housing in Santa Barbara or the cost of commuting from out of town. Although these programs were developed with good intentions, they are inherently flawed. Any city with as much wealth as Santa Barbara should not have working citizens having no other option but to live in a car.