Recent Comments

Normally the park-and-pay app works really well for me but I have occasionally been stuck behind an out-of-towner who hasn't downloaded the app and can't get their card to work at the exit and need to be walked through it. The kids at the kiosks have a lot of time to scroll on their phones, but I'm not sure what would be a better alternative.

Thanks for posting the options on Fransceschi Park. I agree, the only one that makes sense is the first one. Preserving the memory of an old house doesn’t make any sense. Having said that, all the designs are pretty workmanlike. They’ll do, but aren’t exciting. Your comment on looking for opinions from people in the neighborhood and following comments about spending money on it while all the action is on the beach and around the Mission made me wonder, what is the objective here? Who is the park for? The neighborhood? Tourists? People who live in Santa Barbara but don’t have houses with that spectacular view? Understanding that might drive a better design.

I truly do not understand the argument to bring cars back on State. I know Randy's on that bandwagon, but it makes ZERO sense to me. We really need more CO with all of the idling vehicles? The Parklets and sidewalk dining are wonderful. They should be permanent. Sure, make 'em look a bit nicer. But being able to stroll down the middle of the road is so much more classy and makes State St. a lot more appealing. I agree completely with those here who cite data matching my memory that the vacant stores and abandoned leases were happening long before COVID and the parklets appeared. They're a function of extremely high rents, which nearly ensure a very high failure rate. The only thing I'd take issue with is that I don't believe that all of our kids are leaving town because of the cost of housing. At least not initially. They're leaving because this is a small town, and many of them want challenging, exciting jobs and to experience a big city somewhere else. They may very well return one day, but while they're here, they can live with us, save money, get educated, and prepare to fly the coop and find their own way in the world before they one day return to the nest. I love the idea of creating more interesting jobs than those that serve tourism, but we're still a small town and should never aspire to be an SF, LA, or SD. I don't think anyone wants that. Yes, we can go on and on about affordable housing and I wish we had more of that too. Perhaps building up will aid and abet that cause? Beyond affordable housing, we need affordable business spaces! Otherwise we'll just be looking at wealthy chain stores lining State and other shopping locales. The Funk Zone took off initially because it was cheaper, there was space, and that gave local shop owners more time to figure out their wares. Unique, funky, fun stores, pubs, breweries, and eateries sprung up. I just don't think that's ever going to happen on State until the corporations that own the buildings decide to opt for local, long-term tenants with unique ideas for stores. Strolling downtown SLO, one remembers what SB town used to look like in the olden days when there were stop lights on 101 and all sorts of unique and interesting shops and restaurants downtown. Affordable housing is a good goal, but affordable business leases are even better. Otherwise, all those folks in affordable housing will be working for Starbux and McDonald's.

I have been thinking this same thing for years, thanks for articulating so well Sam. Giving in to tourism destroys local culture and quality of life.

Ok everyone hit the like button here for Sam. The problem is the cost of construction, the four, five, six years to permit a project and cost of permits and fees along with current interest rates makes it nearly impossible for any project to pencil.

Is it in front of Joe’s Cafe?

Right on!

I'm well aware that downtown is not a mall (even though there's a mostly failing one inside of it) - the point I was making is that you'll often do more walking at a mall than you will going downtown, and that no one is suggesting that the solution to the death of malls that people be able to drive through the pedestrian spaces of those malls. From the recent economic summit: https://www.edhat.com/news/the-state-of-state-what-would-it-take-to-rescue-santa-barbaras-state-street/ "With a 14.86% vacancy rate from Gutierrez to Sola streets, a rate unchanged since 2019, State Street will have to evolve in order to recapture some of its former glory. It’s part of the ebb and flow of retail in Santa Barbara’s downtown." So the vacancy rate is literally unchanged from before portions of State Street were closed. So, opening up the remaining 6 blocks to vehicular traffic is going to accomplish what exactly? With the cross streets open, you're literally never more than half a block away by car from the places you're going. There's never been in recent decades an abundance of parking on State Street - it's literally the last place you'd look for parking. So if I was going downtown and the rest of State was open, the way that I'd access State Street would literally be unchanged - I'd go to the same parking lots and garages that I currently go to when I go downtown, as I suspect is the case for the vast majority of the population. I just don't see how allowing vehicle traffic on the rest of State Street changes ANYTHING about the current decline of retail, but hey I'm all ears.

There is only one path to fixing downtown Santa Barbara. Growth. Cars on State St are not the answer. Low income housing packed into downtown is not the answer. More hotels and restaurants are not the answer. Low wage, low skilled jobs are not, nor are they ever the answer. In fact, their abundance is a main cause of State Street’s and Santa Barbara’s current mess. The answer is to attract and foster high value businesses that employ high valued employees who are able to afford to build a life and a future in Santa Barbara. We need to take advantage of our gifts. In this case: The fact that we have one of the best engineering schools in the world in our backyard minting highly motivated and educated people every single year. People who DO NOT want to leave, but have no choice if they want to build a career and a future. Instead of fostering, supporting and aiding startups and working to attract highly skilled, highly paid companies and jobs, our public employees and officials continue to give tax breaks to out of town hotel owners and property developers for short term boosts in revenue but no long term viability. Tourism is a cancer and a race to the bottom. Nowhere on earth does tourism increase quality of life. It’s a necessary part of our areas economy, but should be a small part of our future. Not the entirety of our city’s hedge. Build our way out of this mess with the resources and assets we have. They’re abundant and cheap and harnessing them will create a healthy, stable community that supports all.

I'm with AFC - the only thing that will change if we re-open the rest of State Street to vehicle traffic is that we'll be able to walk and/or drive by failing retail businesses, rather than only being able to walk by them - as they fail. There's several things at play here - not just the changing nature of retail that's been happening on the national/global scale for the past few decades but also more local forces as well. State Street, as it currently exists, simply has too much square footage for the size of this town to fill it all with retail and restaurants. The center of gravity for night life has also shifted to other areas of town - most notably the Funk Zone. This is a zero sum game - there's a finite number of shopping/dining dollars, and so the shifting of the center of gravity towards the Funk Zone will not be magically made up by vehicle traffic on State Street. There's also - SO MUCH PARKING in downtown - if you just know where to look for it. If you go to any semi-functional/non-dying mall, chances are you'll do more walking at that mall than you will to visit a shop or restaurant on State Street. And yes - lots of malls are dying - but I have yet to see someone propose with a straight face that the solution to that is to allow people to drive through the pedestrian spaces of those malls. As a SB resident and voter, I will never, ever vote for any local politician who votes to reopen the rest of State Street. Never. Ever.

120 launches a year is a huge change from current state. We need to know that air quality in Santa Barbara won’t be affected by that many launches. Like the article states, these are not for defense, but primarily for SpaceX’s private Starlink product. Also sad news about Trattoria Vittoria.