Isla Vista is one square mile of land adjoining the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara. There are approximately 18,000 students at UCSB, about 2,600 of them living on campus but most of them living in Isla Vista. Also living in IV are some faculty and staff, average people, a small Latino population, most of whom are at or below the poverty level, a small senior citizen population and an small number of homeless people.
There are about 70 business establishments -- 17 of which sell alcoholic beverages. There is no gas station, no post office, no bank (having been burned down asa protest against the Viet Nam war ). There are a number of coffee houses,6 mexican restaurants,3 Asian restaurants,lots of fast food places,a bakery,4 pizza places,2 food markets, the Isla Vista Food Coop which sells natural food,
Surf Shops,Clothing Shoppes, a Credit Union, four churches, one medical clinic which offers a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
There is no community newspaper, but the student newspaper, the Daily Nexus is read by students and non-students. It is an apartment village, where most of the population is under 30. Every Spring, there is a Jugglers Festival in the park. A Peace Monument is planned in Perfect Park. Four police departments have jurisdiction over the town although law and order is primarily maintained by the IV Foot Patrol. The town is unincorporated and the local Parks and Recreation District is the most important political body.