The City of Santa Barbara has hired Santa Fe’s Planning and Land Use director and former food blogger Elias Isaacson to take over as City Hall’s community development director, a high-level managerial leadership position whose occupants are forever on the hot seat when it comes to issues of zoning, land use permits, growth, development, housing, and the economic vitality of downtown.
Like Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a big little city with a reputation for fussiness when it comes to protecting its historic ambience and cultural amenities. Also like Santa Barbara, Santa Fe relies heavily upon its tourist economy.
Isaacson, who is 41 years old and an architect and land-use consultant by profession, served as land use director only since 2019 and has worked for the City of Santa Fe since 2018.