Our community has been struggling with housing for years. There have been few plans to make this issue better. People living in Isla Vista are forced to live in tiny houses with up to 16 people. Landlords continue to raise prices without upgrading or fixing the run-down houses. This needs to stop!

Since the university was created, there have been issues with housing. There are too many people accepted and not enough space to put them. Most universities make sure to have enough on-campus housing to meet needs, but Santa Barbara decided to let private housing companies build for students, leaving us with the mess we have now. Everyone has to fight to find housing in the first quarter that school starts, creating a lot of stress, and adjusting as a freshman is really hard. Because the housing in Isla Vista is privately owned, many are extremely expensive. The landlords can keep raising the prices because when it comes down to it, students need housing and they'll find a way to pay the price. 

There have been plans to create more student housing, but due to push back it has taken almost 15 years to create extra housing facilities. This housing facility is pretty far off campus but created an extra 1,500 beds. Munger Hall was another proposed housing complex, but it was going to be a windowless building so it was thankfully vetoed in 2023 after much protest. There are some plans being made for more housing 

Together we can fight this issue! Sign this petition and get UCSB to build more housing! There are steps you can do outside of this petition as well. Going to local meetings, talking to elected officials, and being more active about the housing crisis will benefit everyone. Stopping landlords from hiking up rent prices and getting the university to build more housing is extremely important for the future and current lives of Gauchos.