Personally I think the Macys replacement project is a huge improvement over what’s currently there. I’m not a fan of huge (usually empty) parking lots so filling that space with housing is a win. The parking for this development is mostly underground or hidden away so it’s not a barrier to people accessing from State St. It appears to be a development giving priority to people over cars, which I know is revolutionary in SoCal, but it’s gotta happen sometime!
Maybe some people will have the temerity to walk around this new neighborhood? There are many services within a short walk so getting in the car to do everything might not be necessary. As far as traffic on State Street is concerned, I’m a firm believer that one of the measures of a success for a neighborhood is NOT how quickly cars can drive through it.
The Shake Shack burger is much closer to the burger you get at Third Window - in fact Shake Shack really kick started this crispy/smashed burger craze across the country, and likely had some inspiration in the Third Window version. Having had both - I actually think Third Window's version is better, and I like that Third Window has traditional fries whereas Shake Shake has waffle cut fries. But, you can get a proper malted vanilla milkshake at Shake Shack, and that's my jam. In the ideal world, you'd pick up a shake from Shake Shack and then have the burger and fries at Third Window. I'm sure the Shake Shake location will be overwhelmingly successful though, and good on them.
Great visuals today, Eric.... you really captured the spirit of the FZ as well as a good synopsis of what's there and what's to come.
what makes their burgers different Sam? Never been to a Shake Shack- just had my first Five Guys, which I found better than I expected.....though Priedite still trumps anything I've tried
Wonderful photo essay. Areas like the Funk zone thrive because of all the small but distinctive elements of art, shadow, incongruity, layering, etc. This is what developers miss when new projects are built. Even when developers try, they miss the organic buildup of vistas that acccumulate over time.
I wonder what are the unidentified areas of this map? Why isn’t parking being planned below the building? Or at the very least along the out edges of the development, preserving an interior a sense of community that aligns with thoughtful urban design.
The proposed apartment building behind the mission is an outrage! What is wrong with the county that they could not meet the housing plan deadline to prevent this from happening! They should all be fired. Mission Canyon is a high fire area and a development of this size would make evacuation nearly impossible! Please don’t ruin this historic neighborhood and endanger everyone who lives there!
I've tried to read this three times. This is a photo dump, not a story with a coherent point to make. Please, what are you precisely trying to say?
The photo of the sad little building on Helena Street with the boarded up window and black car in the foreground used to be one (and arguably the most lively) of the four gay/lesbian bars in Santa Barbara, long before the term ‘funk zone’ existed - The Pub. The long stoplights to cross the freeway back then was worth it to get to this place. It was Wildcat before Wildcat, and crazy dancing fun.
The view looks like its from El Encanto?
Shake Shack will be the busiest restaurant in the area, for good reason. Their burgers are phenomenal.
The indoor wall of McConnell’s ice cream near the funk zone
If you go to their website, and go down to the "Enhanced Parking etc" PDF, you'll see there's a planned 845 residential and 105 retail parking spaces planned, looks like the bulk of that is subterranean.
Just swung by the mall on some errands - there's literally hundreds of parking spaces in that "pit" by the Macy's lower level entrance. There was something like four cars parked there on a Saturday afternoon. Not to mention the parking on the Hope Ave side of the mall, which is typically almost as empty, and far far larger than the "pit." . Literally the only place in that entire mall where there's any sort of parking "scarcity" (putting that in quotes, because I've never not found a spot) is the section around the west side of Macy's, Lure, Starbucks over to Panda Express etc. If you go anywhere else in that mall, you'd swear it's abandoned, because of course it half way is. To say nothing of the area on the south side where the Sears used to be. There's literally thousands of unused parking spaces that are going unused right now.
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Well, Alex, great people have been surprising small people for many generations. Best for all if you stay in the Spearmint Rhino.
Excellent read. I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. He actually bought me lunch since I found it for him! Thus let me rephrase: Thanks for lunch!
I live not far from Macy's, but was unable to go to the meeting last night. My concerns are the low number of affordable units, parking and traffic mitigation. The affordability part is well-discussed and obvious, but nobody talks about parking. One assigned spot per bedroom is what they need, plus visitors spots. The city hates this because they think people will just ride bikes and take the bus, but I can guarantee anybody who can afford $2750/mo for a one bedroom is gonna have a car. And if the city doesn't make them put in enough, people will park over by Lure and Islands and customers will be angry. Same with traffic mitigation; that section of State St is already a mess, and this project will generate a lot more car trips than Macy's ever did.
Honestly, most of those developments seem like a better use of the land than how they're currently used. I do agree that it would be preferable if they could be part of an overall development plan, but I'm glad that in the absence of that from the city/county, we're getting what look to be well-designed projects that'll add vibrancy to our community. It can't all be NIMBYism in SB.
I hope that the Dracaena dracos (Dragon Trees) at the Monastery site are saved or rescued. These trees probably date back to the original owner and are considered vulnerable to becoming endangered.
Do you mean Shake Shack? Where did you hear that?
Last year I watched the folks from Visit Santa Barbara give a presentation to the city council. They did a survey of tourists, asking what are the top things to do. The top two were the FZ and State street with the FZ at 49% and State st at 48%. I found that very interesting since the FZ gets no help from the city, no $250k during Covid, no $800k study to chart it's future, no $55k for painted bike lanes. . . I personally like the funk of sidewalks that are sometimes dirt, or Gray ave with no sidewalks or curbs. Yes the funk is disappearing with new projects but that's life. As far as why some lots are still empty it might have to do with the city using the area as a dump. Who knows what's under the surface of those lots, it will be interesting to see when the developers break ground.
I think the purpose of the pedestrian gates at the railroad crossing is to let pedestrians get off the tracks if they're on them when the train approaches. The barrier that comes down has a small part that blocks the sidewalk, and then the pedestrian gates are set up to open outward, so if you're between the barriers when they start coming down, you move to the side and go out the gate.
Of course, it's silly, because you can still just open the gate from the outside and go through. There's nothing stopping you (except a feeble "do not enter" sign). But I think what I described is the intent.
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I support the Quality Inn conversion. We live just off State and our property is backed by transitional housing, and low-income regular working families. We have had ZERO issues living among these apartments, and it hasn't brought down the value of our home.
This is a great use of this property: walkable to groceries, medical services, a park, public transportation, etc.
