I was born and raised in Santa Barbara/Goleta. I left town in 2018 at the age of 80 years, but have kept up with the information on the area politics. I am a registered Independent.
Does anyone really think any landlord will upgrade his or her property if they cannot raise the rent enough to recoup the cost of the upgrades in a reasonable time frame? The answer is probably not. So you are likely to eventually end up with almost rental slums.
Further, on the Coast of California, there is no housing that is truly affordable and never will be in an area like Santa Barbara and the South Coast due to the geography of the area.