Comments by cjbowdish
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Posted on September 7 at 6:12 a.m.
Sounds great. What a nice project. I hope the information eventually makes it online. It's interesting to learn about the Specify database.
Posted on June 29 at 6:07 a.m.
I think part of the problem with middle class housing is that people who make a middle class income expect the nice house with a yard not the tiny condo with shared grounds. I think that is why many of Santa Barbara's schools are mainly Mexican Americans because of the expectations of most middle class families. However, I think there are some young families who would love to have a very modest condo (at not so modest of a price) if it had nice grounds for their kids and was close to work. The trick is how to keep the not so middle class investors from buying them up and renting them.
Posted on June 29 at 5:56 a.m.
One problem with young families is that if you want to raise your kids and be home with them most of the time 1.5 or 1.25 of an income does not work too well. I think this is a problem all over. You can buy a house but you can not raise your kids there because it take two full time jobs. I did jobs where I could have my kids with me when they were young but we lived in very small places. We didn't mind that much because we were together.
Posted on June 29 at 5:49 a.m.
That is nice to hear the Casitas Village is still relatively affordable. However the commute to SB has gotten to be a bit tricky with the Summerland bottleneck. It would be nice to have something like that in SB. Small with safe playing areas for kids and close to work. UCSB has some family housing (East of Storke Ranch) that has a similar model as Casitas Village with safe grounds for kids to play in. It is scheduled to be torn down and replaced, I hope that it still will have grounds for kids.
Posted on June 26 at 6:43 a.m.
We lived in Carpinteria at Casitas Village condos (1980s) and later in Santa Barbara at Stonecreek condos (1990s), both under or around 800 square feet. This size was workable but small for a young family of four. These places were like the cars with the bumper sticker - "Don't laugh it's paid for". Don't laugh we own it. But we owned them which was better financial planning than renting.
When the boys got older we really needed a bigger spot and had more income, because I was able to work more. We were lucky that we could afford a bigger condo in Goleta at Storke Ranch. All of these places were built with the goal of affordability.
I wanted to stay in SB but could not find anything in 1999 for a bigger family of 4 in the 400 range. All of these places we've owned were set up to be affordable when first built. We could not afford our current condo at todays prices. I think the condos at Casitas Village were a great model for affordable housing for young families. But sadly what starts affordable does not stay that way.
http://casitasvillage.com/
I do not think a young family of moderate income could afford a condo at Casitas Village anymore. SB needs affordable housing for young families. How much is it a matter of will rather than a matter of profit equations?
Posted on March 4 at 6:52 a.m.
I have been enjoying the every changing community graffiti art on the "old jail house" at Devereux for the last eight years. I think it is a wonderful example of community art. However, I am saddened when I see vandalism on public or private property. Graffiti can be public community art or vandalism. I think the graffiti at Devereux is community art. The Library at UCSB has a wonderful collection of photos taken there over the years hanging on the walls. It is a wonderful photo study of what happens at the "old jail house" over time. The vitality of the art varies over time.
Here is a shot from January 2009
http://homepage.mac.com/cjbowdish/DevJan...
/pictures/picture-5.jpg
and a series of shots from Feb 2008
http://homepage.mac.com/cjbowdish/DevFeb...
I think many people enjoy looking at the evolving public canvas.
Posted on January 16 at 6:08 a.m.
Nice article Ethan. I hope to read more ones in the future. It sure has been a bad swell season so far.
Posted on November 10 at 6:47 a.m.
Yeah! I think this is important stuff and this kind of visual technology will eventually be used by young nimble minds to see wonderful patterns and insights. What a tool for exploring ideas. Math and design is moving ahead. I want to see it!
Posted on October 31 at 6:40 a.m.
The full process is important in determining how eco-friendly a product is. I understand that in some cases efficiently made plastic items made in the US are no more damaging than biodegradable items made far away and shipped in. Washing containers and using them over again still sounds like the best way.
Contamination of our waste flow is a big issue and I wonder how much on a county level people need to jump in and find solutions. Waste that can be turned into fuel or fertilizer is made useless if there is too much contaminations in it such as plastic.
On Santa Barbara’s Be Green Harvests Cattails for Packaging
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Posted on November 6 at 6:31 a.m.
It would be wonderful to have access to the mountains from Goleta.
On Goleta Trails Workshop Scheduled