Isla Vista grows by thousands in one week, and the economy rebounds

ISLA VISTA, Calif. - After two summer months with quiet streets, Isla Vista has come alive again.

The school year begins Thursday at UC Santa Barbara, and the college community is filling up with students living in homes and apartments.

One student, Alondra Franco is going into her senior year. "It's just noisier you hear a lot more people on the streets yelling, you see a lot more bodies everywhere and you can expect to wait in line when you are going places. "

Elise Keller was walking down Pardall Road, getting set for her classes, and saw the change right away.
"I was here a couple of weeks ago and just in the past couple of weeks everything is far more busy. Restaurants are opening and they were closed for summer and housing is much harder to find. It completely changes.  "

For business owners, they welcome the return, especially bike shops. They are tuning up use bikes and selling new ones.

For those with cars, "since people came home, there's no parking," said Maxine Borders. She has also noticed other impacts. "There's a lot of trash," she said pointing to a pile of trash next to an over flowing trash can.

Alex Granados and a friend agreed. "We were both here the entire summer. it was really quiet street parking all around.  Now it is just packed it is nice to see everyone out and about. "

Seniors especially can compare the past years here with the current look and says it's less frenzied.
Nadine Kurzke said, "I honestly prefer the summer by a lot. It is way more quiet and  peaceful  and I enjoyed it a lot,  not as many people  not as busy.  But I am also excited to see people come back."