I'm just starting my sixth year at UCSB (undergrad + MS), and I never knew about this, but apparently there is an MSR office inside of UCSB's campus! http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/stationq/
That said, I wasn't sure if your comment was saying they were just confused at to where Santa Barbara is located, or if there was only labs in Santa Clara, not in Santa Barbara. That said, I find it very strange to close the SV MSR office. Lot's of California-only folks who don't want to move to the tourist-city of SB/don't fit into the MSR-StationQ at UCSB now are off the market.
That said, I wasn't sure if your comment was saying they were just confused at to where Santa Barbara is located, or if there was only labs in Santa Clara, not in Santa Barbara. That said, I find it very strange to close the SV MSR office. Lot's of California-only folks who don't want to move to the tourist-city of SB/don't fit into the MSR-StationQ at UCSB now are off the market.