Isla Vista, California
Overview
Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

  in Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 23,096. The majority of residents are college students at nearby University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...

 (located to the East of the community) or at Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara City College is a two-year community college founded in 1909. It is located on a campus right over the beach in the city of Santa Barbara, California, USA. SBCC offers associate degrees in English, Social Sciences, Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, and occupational and...

. The beach-side community lies on a flat plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

 about 30 feet (9 m) in elevation, separated from the beach by a bluff
Bluff
Bluff may refer to:* a type of deception* an empty boast-Geography:* a very steep and broad hill or small cliff, frequently next to a river or ocean*feeder bluffAustralia* Bluff, Queensland, a town in QueenslandCanada...

. Many paths connect the town to the beach.

Isla Vista enjoys a Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

 and often has slightly less precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

 than either Santa Barbara or the adjacent community of Goleta.
 
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