AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County
Announcing Community Meetings to Address Housing and Homelessness
Share Your Voice as Santa Barbara County Develops a New Plan to Address Housing and Homelessness
You are invited to participate in a planning meeting to seek stakeholder and community input in developing strategies and creating an Action Plan to address housing and homelessness in Santa Barbara County. We encourage you to attend one or more meetings being held in north and south county. The first two are scheduled as follows:
9 – 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 14
City of Goleta Council Chambers, 130 Cremona Dr. #B, Goleta
2 – 4 p.m. Wednesday, November 14
Maramonte Community Center, 620 Sunrise Dr., Santa Maria
Learn more about the following crucial topics, hear from other Santa Barbara stakeholders about resources and programs that are working well in Santa Barbara County, and share your thoughts on how best to incorporate these ideas into Santa Barbara’s homeless response systems over the coming years.
For additional information, please contact Joni Kelly, County of Santa Barbara Housing and Community Development, jkelly@co.santa-barbara.ca.us.
2000 shelter beds? No way that number is right. 200 maybe.
The comments are written like this due to the conservative nature of the people commenting. They already have theirs and don’t care about anyone else. They would be glad if the townsfolk reverted back to vigilantism and running people out of town to become someone else’s problem.
What about all the homeless on the Southbound lane of Freeway 101 between Los Carneros and Fairview there seems to be a big homestead there! And now watch out when you ride bike on bike path to Gometa beach tents are popping up almost everyday . What can be done about that?
$3500 a month rent for a 1 bedroom is affordable? Sure to the 1%
i have been here since 1982, and the rental costs are out of control. how do people make it? you hear of 10 people in a 2 bedroom? that’s how.
funny that a 1 bedroom here, downtown, in a rundown sh*thole goes for 3500 a month, same thing, downtown ventura, and remodeled goes for 1975.
there is a serious problem with housing and rental rates in this city
Call it a “combined dual income” that becomes sufficient to live in this area if you don’t like “marrying well”. . There are still plenty of double-wide coaches that remain affordable in this area, if someone is really serious about making this work, instead of demanding a 3 BR 2B home with a yard to be handed to them just because they concluded they have a right to live here.
Supply voucher bus and train tickets to Florida.
Does this mean the last plan – the 10 Year Plan to End Homeless, and the millions of dollars already spent on this very topic was a total failure? Former Mayor Helene Schneider, we want our money back.
When perfectly good houses are getting torn down in Detroit and West Dayton, and any number of other MidWest towns and cities, there is no “homeless” problem – only a misallocation of existing housing supplies. The very liberal Ninth District circuit court recently created an unfunded mandate requiring all communities to supply housing for every single person who simply shows up “homeless” and does not have a place to sleep. Are you ready for this – rethink who you are voting for if you are not.
The problem is, there are homeless people there too. Because someone owns that land, or those homes. They aren’t willing to let people live in them for free. The homeless issue isn’t necessarily caused by misallocation of people vs. homes. It’s caused by people not being able to afford rent. Or not mentally capable of earning money or living a stable life. (Among many other things that cause homelessness, like addiction.)
Let’s start the conversation by using proper language first-
“Homeless” refers to a very small population, who, for the most part are assisted in numerous and effective programs…
The real problem lies with the “Vagrants”… Those that refuse services, prefer to do drugs and alcohol by choice, not interested in becoming a WORKING segment of society and are nothing but opportunists who have been labelled by the politically correct as “homeless…”
Life’s circumstances aren’t the same for everyone. Just because you worked hard and had a strategy that worked, doesn’t mean others can do the same. What if you were straddled with extra costs for taking care of other relatives or dependents? Or what if you had your own unusual medical costs? Or other unavoidable expenses. In this country, people go broke and become destitute because we choose not to have the same health care as other industrial nations. All I’m saying is bravo to you, but don’t assume everyone’s on equal footing . No need to potentially rub your success into other’s faces because you know nothing about other posters here.
To be clear, are supporting an unfunded mandate that anyone choosing to come to a high priced area which is beyond their own income and resources to afford, has the right to demand the community supply them with free housing? We already supply over 2000 shelter beds at last count.
All housing in this area is already affordable. Otherwise it would not be selling or getting rented. When you have low inventory and low vacancy, the sweet spot of willing selling meeting willing buyer has been accomplished. Willing buyers do not get to set the terms unilaterally, which is what we are hearing now from those who endlessly complain there is no “affordable” housing here. Sorry but 100% of it is already affordable.
About 25 years ago when interest rates were as high as 14% and people were struggling to save for down payments, people went in as partners to buy houses and build equity. Good luck.
I really am (or am I) shocked at these comments. I work with your children.. teach them the things you do not have time to teach them. I am 41, college educated and I share a room with someone because I do not get paid enough to have my own place in this town.
This thread of comments makes me feel like I am not welcome in YOUR town.
When the people who teach your children can’t afford to live in your town… there is a serious and actual problem with “affordable housing” here.
Christine,
I worked in the City of SB for 15 years and during that time, I commuted every day from Santa Maria. I bought a cheap house, (the mortgage was less than a rental in SB) lived in it for 3yrs, sold it to buy a nicer house in Orcutt. Fixed it up and sold it in two yrs and saved enough for a down payment for a 700sq ft house in Santa Barbara…. THAT’S HOW IT IS DONE… If you are 41 and still paying rent as a teacher, that is a personal issue.
Like many of us who are or were in your position, we did one of four things: got second jobs, changed occupations, married “well”, or moved to a place that we could afford. Snivel if you wish, but you do have options…and do NOT sell yourself short!
“Marrying ‘well'” as an option?? Really? You’re suggesting people marry for money in order to live in SB? Gross.
@718, aka Factoctum, Your. Formula. Doesn’t. Work. Anymore. I’m not “coming up now” – I am a 42 year old single mother who followed every prescription offered by my parents, grandparents, etc. The difference is, I live in the CURRENT world, not the past one. You think that just “buckling down, working hard, going to graduate school, etc.” (incurring massive student debt, by the way, such that your generation never had to contend with) guarantees some sort of golden key to success? You are sorely out of touch. You are absolutely NOT living in the current reality. These are formulas that worked when you were young, when a single income could purchase a home and support a whole family. Congratulations on seizing the American Dream when it was still around. The world is very, very different now. It would behoove you to emerge from your office every once in a while, so you can find out how different things actually are.
The “Rustbelt” has cheap, available housing and drugs, but not a lot of jobs and the same federal pay-outs as here, but you can’t hang around in parks or down-towns year-round b/c of the weather, and people tend not to feel sorry for you.
Factotum, I agree with you completely – the County and cities had a 10 year plan “to end homelessness” that cost us a LOT of tax dollars. And the result? “Homelessness” is worse now than it was when their plan was put in action. This area has had problems for decades because the land is limited and the area is attractive to many. The more of our money that we throw at it, the more we attract.
Are getting jobs a primary consideration for our current in-town vagrants? Their current social safety net checks will go a lot further where there are lower costs of living, like the mid-west. Can’t think of a single reason to premium fund at the public’s cost those who demand to only live in premium-cost Coastal California. Mobility and seeking new opportunities remain enduring strengths in this country.
People care enough to share how they got theirs. Listen to them – it is a very common theme. Live within your means, develop your best skill set for the lifestyle you want, sacrifice for the long-term, start small and build slowly. Don’t do drugs or alcohol, take advantage of low cost educational training for a dedicated goal. Thrift, prudence and don’t waste your money on depreciating assets. Stop making excuses or envying what you think others have. Stay focused on your own goals and get there. within reasonable expectations considering all of the above.
Why do you use only The Marc as your sole housing option in this town? Plenty of rentals well under that amount. Ever consider being an au pair with housing included? You self-defeat yourself right from the start. Everything is affordable to those who can afford it. That is who can afford it.
Factotum, thank you for so clearly demonstrating why it’s so important that people under 40 years old go out and VOTE. It people like you who insist that antiquated formulas still apply to current conditions. The simple steps that boomers took to achieve security, are no longer the roadmap. Those days are long over. It’s not at all appropriate for anyone of your ilk to tell younger people “how it is.” You are simply telling them how it WAS. So please, people, if you’d like to keep out of touch individuals from continuing to make decisions about your future, based on an American Dream that they refuse to recognize no longer exists, VOTE THEM OUT.
You changed context and avoided the question. If one cannot get a job, it is no help to move where there is low-cost housing. Are you wholly unaware of the gig economy? Contract employment with zero benefits? The effect of the 2008 collapse on those who were in college or within 5 years on either side? You are sorely unaware.