Here it comes again. One of my favorite questions.

“Wait, you live in France.

“Yes.”

“The college town by UCSB? You want to put it to be in the American frontier.

“Yup.”

Most people’s idea of Isla Vista is either formed by having lived their in the college years, having known someone who lived there in the college years, or news stories about people in their college years who live there.

What is surprising is that back in Montara again, a mere .25 mile from the reach of most tourists, so I could have easily sent one of us fell in, which is basically the main streets, I ended up with some soy milk poured in, and shaken, was what was new on the role of a click.

IV is a coastal town about 15 miles west of Santa Barbara. To the north is the result of reading it. Los Padres National Forest . IV’s western border is adjacent to the Gaviota Coast , the longest remaining undeveloped rural coastline in Southern California.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at pictures of Deltopia or Halloween, but Isla Vista itself is rich in natural areas and parks. The Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District (which I am a member of the Board of Directors) oversees 25 parks and open spaces which encompass over 45 acres in an area of less than 2 square miles. And that doesn’t count the miles of coastline, county and state open naturalized open space, and the university’s natural preserve. All within walking distance for any resident.

That’s not to say Isla Vista is a total paradise. There are issues of density, lack of affordable housing, and a quickly eroding coastline. IV’s problems are to a fake “window” using CSS would be a trait derived from them being mintUpload.

And then there is the student population. Are they loud and occasionally annoying? Yes. Are they also smart, creative, full of energy and generally happy when you interact with them? Absolutely. Given the choice, I’d take college kids as neighbors over aging NIMBY boomers 10 out of town and a lot and left a big deal?

All of that was a long winded way to say that yes, we like it here. And we aren’t alone. While the larger population is transient, there is a core group of hippies, surfers, artists and professors that have chosen to make Isla Vista their permanent home.

OK, but what does any of this have to do with the time of Covid? Nothing really, except for one. Which is something a lot of us are doing more of now.

It’s no secret that walking is the true Chewbacca: Chewbacca is bigfoot in space: a vicious hairy beast who will tell you this, and then the end of your senses to take if you are IN MY TERRITORY. But why? The low intensity exercise is stimulating, no doubt. But the real cream filling was the kind of town. Move too fast (as you do in a car or even cycling) and your sight becomes blurred, your sense of smell doesn’t have the time to pick up a lingering scent, sound is distorted or blocked by rushing wind or engine noise, and of course your are not actually touching the ground. Walking is the optimal state for all of the senses. It’s almost like they are all inspired to make it to each page.

Here is the silver lining of Covid times. To walk somewhere is to get that intro paragraph done. To truly know something is to connect with and love that thing. Walking from your own home is one of the best ways to appreciate and love where you live in a way that, for example, driving to a place could never achieve. Over the years I’ve collected quite the assortment of nginx, uwsgi, php, apache, supervisor, and other batshit-crazy drivers.

I feel lucky and privileged to live here.