The new commuter rail service between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties will launch May 4. It has been six years since Amtrak ran trains between the two counties at common commute times, even though ...

As the Santa Barbara Film Festival wraps up its 41st edition, the jury has selected this year’s winning films. During a ceremony Saturday at El Encanto, SBIFF announced the winners of the 2026 ...

Playa Del Verano, operating as Summerland Beach Cafe, was hit with an employment discrimination lawsuit on Jan. 22 in California Superior Court for Santa Barbara County. The action, brought by Hutkin ...

As an avid traveler, I spend a lot of time exploring new destinations, and I rarely reach for the word “perfect.” Still, Santa Barbara may be the closest I’ve come to finding a place that truly ...

This is Welcome to Isla Vista. I’m Christina McDermott. I cover housing for the Santa Barbara Independent. As a housing reporter, I write a lot about Isla Vista. There is, simply, a lot to write about ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. State lawmakers inserted language into a budget bill to require environmental review of a controversial ...

After a week of heavy rainstorms and high winds around Southern California, very few communities were impacted more than Isla Vista, California. UC Santa Barbara’s iconic Del Playa Drive was washed ...

Hines dropped $428.1M on Runway, a retail and residential property in the master-planned Westside neighborhood of Playa Vista, Bloomberg reported. The property holds 420 multifamily units and 630K SF ...

A man was critically injured after falling around 40 feet down a cliff in Isla Vista on Saturday night, according to Santa Barbara County Fire spokesperson Captain Scott Safechuck. The incident ...

A man suffered critical injuries in a fall from a cliff in Isla Vista on Saturday night. It happened at about 10:50 p.m. in the 6500 block of Del Playa. According to the Santa Barbara County Fire ...

When you live in a town where the ocean is just around the corner, it feels almost wrong to spend a sunny day anywhere but the beach. As a lifelong Santa Barbara resident, my favorite way to savor ...