I agree with everything you've written, Erik.
I'm dismayed to see these plans as we know they will cost the local taxpayer and they won't pay off. I have no interest in putting lipstick on the pig to the tune of millions and millions of dollars.
We need to seriously reconsider the core "civic district" as it seems to be the most troubled by far, and declining by the year. We never go there because... why would you? Paseo Nuevo needs a major rethink and should be redeveloped completely with a strong housing or hotel element. I get that everyone (myself included) is tired of even more hotels going in, but we need to get people back into these areas. The anchors of Macy's and Nordstrom need to be torn down and reimagined, as messy as that is going to be. No one wants a giant windowless tomb in 2023. It's difficult enough to rent the spaces on State Street which are larger than most tenants want or need these days. And this is just a start. There are a million other issues I don't see us fixing unless we get more people in the area to start outweighing the blight that has set in. If the state is intent on forcing us to build housing and our elected officials want to do nothing about fighting it, why not put it where we need it and already have physical density (which is downtown), rather than clog other already congested areas or develop open spaces.
Lincoln Road was a great concept that has fallen into decline. Mostly tacky tourist restaurants and shops and sketchy behavior. I hope that SB can do better than Miami Beach.
Has anyone been to Lincoln Road on South Beach Miami? They had the same challenges years ago and made it into the most wonderful experience for all age groups with restaurants, galleries, retail, bars, offices…all mixed together without having a certain theme destination for the blocks. There’s residential mixed in between which creates sense of place. I lived there and had the best time walking every night, doing chores, going to dinner or just meeting friends at a favorite spot. There are NO cars and No bikes to dodge. They have their own streets. There’s gardens in the middle with some water features mixed with restaurant tables. It’s the best place to people watch also! All the restaurant kitchens are within the storefronts with indoor dining. The “sidewalks” on each side are still there to keep the pedestrian traffic close to the store fronts. Easy way to look at menus or just window shop.
Check out images of south Beach promenade. It’s like no other place. Let use a similar model to move State Street forward.
Thinking landlords can write off empty space is simply wrong. They get the depreciation write off on the building whether there is a rent paying tenant in the space or not, so they'd always prefer to be receiving income. But you are right, this is definitely a cart before the horse situation and there has been zero regard to the cost, how the city would cover that cost, is it the best use of their funds, and the enormous amount of disruption to existing businesses this massive multi-year construction project would create. Imagine the 101 widening project on State St.
Retail is absouteltly not dead. It has shifted with online shopping for most basic goods, and many retailers are still adjusting to this shift, but in-person retail is still very strong.
Completely agree with your assessment. Not only does the design seem misaligned, it's bringing the cart before the horse. I just found out Banana Republic isn't renewing their lease and there's a rumor about Marshall's. There's nowhere to shop in this town. Plus there's no incentive for landlords to get commercial tenants in when they can write off the empty space.
Your last paragraph for the win. We must fix the bureaucracy
State street woes happened long before it became pedestrian only and its problems are echoed in towns everywhere. The demise of retail is everywhere. SB is a tourist town and lower state st has lost a chunk of business to the funk zone in the last 5 years. Personally I love the outdoor seating and keeping the street pedestrian only. I really only go to the “arts” section and public market (which seems to be thriving these days). Better restaurants and calmer atmosphere.
To your point…The health of the businesses on State street, and the value of enhancing State street are linked. One is not going to be effective without the other.
I’d appreciate seeing equal effort and focus (or communication) about plans to make it easier for business owners to open and run successful businesses on State street, and in Santa Barbara as a whole. Especially because this planned State Street investment won’t work without the right businesses in place.
“… groups of Adirondack chairs…”, lol, seriously? SB has become an absurd suburb for some of the most excessively clownish transplants. If people wanted promenades and Adirondack chairs, they’d travel to Italy or Vermont, or whatever. This is Santa Barbara, she’s always been special - which is why people used to come here, and spend their money. Some powerful clown, or 2, has moved in and imposed their clownish designs on our beautiful city. Despite the nearly universal objections of Santa Barbara’s actual long time residents/natives. If you don’t like our, “ fake Spanish veneer”, or the, “shodden with red tile and botox” of our architecture, then you’re in the wrong place. Because that IS Santa Barbara. Go to Ventura or Fresno, if you want to build that hideous box of a building, please, and leave our Santa Barbara alone.
Your next to the last paragraph is ????????????.
If you speak to local businesses on State Street, the permanent closure has been a death sentence. The workings of City Hall towards business and property owners must be fixed first, every other conversation is secondary. Paseo Nuevo is at the heart of our City and also needs immediate attention. If we don’t get our act together soon, one of the nations most beautiful streets will be unfixable. Thank you for highlighting this.
State Street needs to get back to it's old self. Forget about parklets.
It's not bestucco'd and dripping with fake Spanish veneer, you're right about that! I love it.
Haters Back Off! This is a beautiful example of public-private partnership, commitment to ending homelessness, humanizing our unhoused neighbors, and it looks good too. You don't have to be shodden with red tile and botox to be beautiful, Barbarinos.
Who knew Jewish delis were like London buses, you wait forever and then two show up at once.
Nick the Greek is a great addition also and a huge upgrade from Natural Cafe, i.e. food with actual flavor.
It has the feeling of a prison.
The whole Pueblo Pollo saga is pretty hilarious. It of course used to be a Pollo Loco, but they somehow got kicked out of the franchise for running afoul of standards. What you need to do to get kicked out of an El Pollo Loco franchise? I can only imagine. The posters on the wall had simply been taped over wherever the El Pollo Loco logo and branding appeared. I ate there once out of pure curiosity, and all I can say about it was that I was hungry before I ate their burrito, and not hungry after. That's the nicest thing I can say about that.
Welcome to the new Santa Barbara where city officials just don't get it. This is not my Santa Barbara.
I agree, one of the very ugliest "new" buildings I've seen in quite a while.
Another month, another few million flushed down the State St. gutter. Why so many continue to try and crack an uncrackable nut and open a restaurant on State St is a mystery. The street is littered with the corpses of broken dreams and lost savings. Reminds me of the old joke "How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant business? Start with a large fortune."
The Vera Cruz Village building is just awful. Why is the City allowing this type of architecture in our beautiful city!
It's a housing development called the Santa Barbara Polo Villas: https://www.sitelinesb.com/santa-ynez-general-has-more-than-doubled-in-size/
That is a bold claim. Care to substantiate it?
Do you happen to know what’s going on at the polo field? Lots of construction and it looks like they knocked down some of the older house on the property
Gentrification at its finest.
