Recent Comments

How long is the walk - can't tell if it's 15 minutes round trip or more significant. Hoping it's more like a mile or so round trip. Thanks for any additional info.

#3: Bettina?

#2: Masala Spice

Yes I agree. These things work in Europe for some reason. People are used to cars, bikes and pedestrians all on the street. Maybe we are in too much of a hurry or self-centered. Or just not used to it and time is not helping. Also, one thing people don't bring up is that State street has a fairly steep grade! When going southward toward the pier, it is very easy and natural to pick up speed. Bicycles are not want to hit the brakes, but use the downhill speed when it comes. Who can blame them. Maybe we put up speed bumps. Ha, then we get a no-speed bump lobby...

When will we finally admit that you can’t have your cake and eat it too on State Street? A pedestrian-friendly paseo does not mix with bikes—whether e-bikes or traditional bicycles. Back when State Street was open to cars, I rode my beach cruiser up and down the street all the time. The difference? Pedestrians weren’t walking in the roadway. In today’s mixed-use experiment—where pedestrians and bikes are forced to share the same space—pedestrians will never truly feel safe. And now city officials are tying themselves in knots trying to accommodate both uses in one corridor. It’s well-intentioned, but it’s not realistic. This simply won’t work long term. The city needs to make a clear choice: either ban all bikes on State Street, or move pedestrians back onto the sidewalks. Trying to do both in the same space satisfies no one—and compromises safety for everyone.

Good for Rori's.

Let's label any proposal to make Chapala and Anacapa two way streets what it would be - a really dumb idea. The current setup allows the traffic lights to be timed to facilitate traffic flow. Eliminating that will increase the time necessary to traverse those streets, thereby increasing congestion and pollution downtow, without an equivalent benefit.

As pretty as they are- Asian Pear Trees SMELL REAL BAD!!! Look it up. It’s funny they forgot to mention, ask any nurseryman, they stinky!

The Cliff May house reminded me of the Stonehouse Restaurant at S.Y.R, back in the late 1980's. The exterior was white, thick white paint covered every surface. The interior was mostly white too. . I thought the building would look better with no paint. And, it looks beautiful now. I think this house has some beautiful surfaces under all that white paint.

Everybody has an idea of how State street should work. But nothing is going to be changed because there is no money. From the city. I'll use the Saturday Farmers Market for an example. I like to get lunch at West Coast Deli on East Carrillo. I have a truck so I feel okay parking in the yellow commercial zones. So does everyone else. In fact people parking in the red zones for a few minutes is also common, I don't have a problem with it. There is a need for a lot of parking from 11am to 1pm, Monday thru Friday. Quick in and out. Then on Saturday the street is blocked for most of the day and it's a great Farmers Market. That's how State street could be. Open most of the time to bikes, busses, cars, trucks, bike commuters, tourists on bikes,. . . and those awful e-bikes. Then, a few times a week, or less, it's closed for events.

Bingo, this is typical cart before the horse. We simply don't have the population to support such a long promenade. Build another 1-2,000 housing units downtown, then it starts to become feasible.

I agree with you that it isn’t terribly inviting. It just looks like a street. Numerous case studies show people won’t use pedestrian thoroughfares that look like streets. NYC spent money in Times Square leveling the street to curb height and then people naturally gravitated toward using the open space. Also agree parklets were frankly gross and had shanty vibes. All of that said, this feels like an exceptional instance of putting the cart before the horse. State Street is not struggling because of the street. It is a combination of the macro economy, high rents, consumers shopping online, storefronts that are too large so as to be appealing to many retailers, low population density downtown, and realistically a size of city that can only support so much retail and that retail having shifted to other locations. The best fix for State Street is to increase population density downtown. We can always turn the street into a pedestrian thoroughfare later if we want. But this is an inane obsession with something that ultimately is just a random distraction at this point.