Aug 28 2006
Evictions, Gentrification in Santa Barbara County
GUEST: Joel Rodriguez Flores, Isla Vista Tenants Union, Cynthia Frias, resident of Cedarwood
This month in Isla Vista, residents at Cedarwood Apartments received a thirty day eviction notice in what may be the largest mass eviction in the area in recent years. Cedarwood Apartments is home to more than fifty families who are mostly low-income and Latino. Some suspect that the August eviction is due to the ever increasing enrollment of students at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the pressure they put on the housing market. Furthermore, the Cedarwood evictions come at a time of increasing gentrification in Santa Barbara. In July, the Santa Barbara City Council denied an appeal against the proposed condominium conversions of affordable rental units. In Santa Maria, plans are in place to demolish a mobile home park in favor of a golf course. With the help of the Santa Barbara Legal Foundation and the Isla Vista Tenets Union Cedarwood families are preparing to legally challenge their eviction.
For more information, contact ivtenantsunion@gmail.com, or call 805-968-6704.
One Response to “Evictions, Gentrification in Santa Barbara County”
When you live in an appartment you really have no rights at all beyond your lease. It’s worse for the mobile home owners because they own their homes and will lose their investment. We need a national law giving mobile home owners first right to co-op purchase their park with government guaranteed loans. It costs the government nothing to guarantee a loan. Of course safeguards must be in place so a fair price is paid, etc.