A beautiful coastal enclave in California, struggling with a homelessness crisis and rising rents, has been named the worst small town in America.
Located less than 15 miles outside of Santa Barbara, Isla Vista is home to UC Santa Barbara, with nearly 25,000 students.
Despite the university’s equality, the town of just 14,000 residents ranked last out of 1,318 cities in the world. a recent study from WalletHub.
The California city scored extremely low in affordability and economic health, with high reported poverty rates.
Despite the fact that 47.4 percent of Isla Vista residents rent their homes, the community has seen monthly rental prices rise in recent years, with many locals feeling expensive, according to statistics from Best neighborhood.
Located less than 15 miles outside of Santa Barbara, Isla Vista is home to UC Santa Barbara, which educates nearly 25,000 students
The California city scores low in affordability, economic health and has high poverty rates
The average rent for an apartment – including one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments – was $3,384 in July 2024, according to Rent a café.
This is more than twice the national average, and even higher than notoriously expensive San Francisco, where the average rent is $3,323.
In 2022, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was a whopping $5,750, which is $300 more expensive than Montecito, the hometown of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and the highest of all the communities around Isla Vista.
Those looking to buy in the area face even scarier prices.
According to Realtor.com, the median home price in Isla Vista was $3.1 million as of September 2024.
The high costs particularly affect cash-strapped students, who struggle to find affordable accommodation – with a limited number of units available on campus and an intense housing market in the capital, according to Daily Nexus.
“There’s just not enough housing and the timeline is very difficult,” Isla Vista Tenants Union SBCC Relations President Matthew Mucha told Daily Nexus.
Another pressure on the city is its homeless population, which the county has poured millions of dollars into trying to solve.
In June 2021, Santa Barbara County spent $6.3 million to purchase a former college dorm, right on the border of Isla Vista and neighboring Goleta, with the goal of turning it into a homeless shelter.
In the fall of 2023, a Super 8 motel was also converted into a permanent homeless shelter for 60 people.
“Historically, County IV has been used as a dumping ground for projects that no one else wants,” local UC Santa Barbara professor Peter Neushal wrote in an op-ed for The Santa Barbara Independent about the area that is overdeveloped.
“There are limits to using Isla Vista to alleviate the province’s social shortcomings,” he added in his piece.
Your browser does not support iframes.
In the fall of 2023, a Super 8 motel was converted into a permanent homeless shelter for 60 people
Isla Vista, California, just north of Santa Barbara, was ranked the worst small town in America
In June 2021, Santa Barbara County spent $6.3 million to purchase a former college dorm, right on the border of Isla Vista and neighboring Goleta, and turn it into a homeless shelter.
In addition to expensive shelters, an earlier attempt to provide the homeless population with small homes raised concerns about the safety of residents.
After construction in December 2020, the small houses, which can accommodate up to 20 people, attracted even more homeless people to the area.
“Some people who close at night are afraid to close at night,” local Luis Mejia Ojeda, who worked at Amazon, said across the street from the small houses. The canals in March 2021.
His colleague Emily Stegeil, who also attended UC Santa Barbara, echoed Ojeda’s concerns, saying safety in the area overall has “got significantly worse.”
While overall crime in Isla Vista decreased from 2022 to 2023, the number of violent crime incidents decreased from 35 in 2022 to 37 in 2023, an increase of about 5.7 percent, the report said. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition, the number of serious assaults went from 20 in 2022 to 26 in 2023.
“Historically, County IV has been used as a dumping ground for projects no one else wants,” wrote local UC Santa Barbara professor Peter Neushal
Other efforts to curb homelessness have met local resistance.
A 2021 initiative to close a homeless camp in the middle of Isla Vista’s People’s Park drew protesters instead of support.
Those living in the park were given ten days’ notice to vacate, angering some locals.
There are also increasing concerns about parking in the city.
Developers in Isla Vista have proposed building eight- and three-story buildings downtown in recent years, but none will have parking.
Parking in the city, which is already 6 percent above capacity, is also expected to get worse if the Metro is forced to implement the state’s new crosswalk requirement, the outlet reported.
The new law prohibits motorists from parking within six meters of the crosswalk, further limiting the number of parking spaces in the city.
Isla Vista had one of the worst affordability and economic health scores, with a high percentage of the population in poverty, and has one of the lowest homeownership rates
After construction in December 2020, Isla Vista’s tiny houses, which house up to 20 people, attracted even more homeless people to the area
Isla Vista wasn’t the only California city to rank first on the worst cities list; Wasco, northeast of Bakersfield, ranked third worst in the country.
The Metro was listed as cheaper than Isla Vista, but fared worse in safety and quality of life.