The Isla Vista subdivisions are the earliest urban subdivisions performed in the Goleta Valley in the 20th century . The narrow streets of Isla Vista are characteristic of 1920s land planning . Plans for water , electricity , road building , and sewage were not made in the 1920s ; the subdivision was speculative . Some of the speculation was related to ocean-front real estate , but an equally important motive was the likelihood of oil reserves ' being accessible from Isla Vista property . To aid speculation , the lots in the subdivision were narrow , and mineral rights were pooled among blocks of lots . Some oil was found , but the wells did not sustain oil production , unlike the very productive Ellwood Oil Field just to the west of Isla Vista . Royalties from the Ellwood field paid for a large portion of the costs of construction of Santa Barbara County 's famed courthouse . An oil deposit about one mile ( 1.6 km ) south of Isla Vista under the Santa Barbara Channel , known as the South Ellwood field , was eventually found , but has never been fully developed , due to local political opposition after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill . The South Ellwood field contains upward of of oil , and attempts by ARCO ( in the 1980s ) and by Mobil ( in the 1990s ) to develop the field have been rebuffed by local opposition
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
Isla Vista, California