Despite its image as an expensive enclave and sunny tourist destination, young people are still moving into the Santa Barbara area, according to Jim Carrillo, vice president of residential properties for The Towbes Group, a Santa Barbra-based real estate investment, development and property management company.

“We have more than 2,700 tenants in non-senior, market-rate apartments in the Santa Barbara area, and from a recent survey we know the ratio of under-40 renters is increasing,” Carrillo said.

More than two-thirds of new renters are younger than 40, while only 60 percent all renters under a roof for more than four years are under 40.

Renters age 60 or older make up just 6 percent of new renters, but nearly 10 percent of the total non-senior, market-rate Towbes tenant base, according to Carrillo.

Additionally, the new renters do not always fit Santa Barbara stereotypes.

“We get plenty of renters who staff line positions in local industries, be they tech, tourism or the University of California at Santa Barbara,” Carrillo said. “Many renters are pink- and blue-collar or service employees. But no matter one’s profession, no one wants a long commute to work.”

In some ways, the migration of younger people to Santa Barbara is a blessing, he said.

“You see some Midwestern ZIP codes in which populations are emptying out, and towns are dying,” Carrillo said. “Happily, we have the opposite problem here.”

But housing costs and shortages could dissuade young people from moving to Santa Barbara in the future, according to Carrillo.

“We see more ‘doubling up’ among young renters, and of course the hurdles to buying a house in Santa Barbara County are very high,” he said.

Unless more apartment housing stock is brought online, some renters will look outside the county, according to Carrillo. That will lead to longer commutes, or possibly economic stagnation in Santa Barbara.

“We will always have the beautiful weather, and we will always have to protect our natural beauty, but we should also shelter and embrace people who need to work and live here,” Carrillo said.

— Bruce Beck is a publicist representing The Towbes Group.