What It’s Like to Live in a Windowless Dorm

••• Noozhawk found four students who lived in Munger Graduate Residences at the University of Michigan, which donor Charlie Munger and UCSB hold up as a successful example of Munger’s architectural philosophy. Their experiences are worth reading about. (Bear in mind that the Michigan dorm housed 630 graduate students in a 380,000-square-foot building, a ratio of 603 square feet peer person. UCSB’s proposal, rendered above, would house 4,500 students in a 1.68-million-square-foot building, a ratio of 373 square feet per person.)

••• “Santa Barbara County’s Citizen’s Independent Redistricting Commission is nearing its deadline to choose a new boundary map for the five supervisorial districts. Last week, commissioners picked five “focus maps” that they will discuss again during meetings this week. Voters in each district elect one member of the five-member county Board of Supervsiors.” —Noozhawk

••• “In one of her last actions as Santa Barbara mayor, Cathy Murillo―alongside her colleague Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez―is proposing a citywide 2 percent cap on annual rent increases, a reduction from the current 5 percent cap imposed by California in 2019 to address the state’s housing crisis. Murillo and Gutierrez, who plan to bring the discussion before the council at its December 7 meeting.” Seems like the kind of thing you do before an election…. —Independent

••• The 33-unit apartment complex proposed for 425 Garden Street (next to OfficeMax) got a chilly reception from the city’s Architectural Board of Review. —Noozhawk

••• “Stakeholder meetings will begin as Caltrans studies a wildlife corridor to pass under the 101 in the Gaviota region.” —Independent

••• From a city press release on Edhat: “Downtown Santa Barbara staff and nonprofit board of directors have decided not to host the Holiday Parade in 2021. […] In lieu of a single event this year, and with community health and safety in mind, staff has planned a plethora of smaller holiday offerings! The Downtown Santa Barbara 2021 Magical Holiday Happenings […] kicks off with Small Business Saturday in November and includes a Christmas tree lighting event, Chanukah menorah lighting event, outdoor markets, concerts, and even community performances throughout the month of December.”

••• The tree of the month is the Windmill Palm: “It is drought-hardy, surviving during our periods of sparse rainfall with little or no additional irrigation. It is the most cold hardy of cultivated palms, able to grow in British Columbia, in England, and in parts of Northern Europe, where it has survived temperatures of minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit!” —Edhat

••• The recent sellers of a Hope Ranch house for $8.974 million were TV producer Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl”) and Jill Stonerock Schwartz. —Dirt

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