When you say “bike lanes that no one will use” I can only assume you yourself do not use a bike and cannot imagine that anyone else does. As an avid cyclist who lives in this neighborhood and bikes down Sola multiple times every day, I welcome the new layout and safety features that come with it. It was always daunting to have to dash across Garden, Santa Barbara and Anacapa. Now it is safe to accomplish, with the addition of the new four way stops and signal lights, especially when biking with children. I would encourage you to open your mind a bit to see that your experiences may differ from those of others.
I applaud the recent investment in bike infrastructure - let's keep it up! That said, I think this project is an example of how trying to accommodate multiple interests results in a watered-down solution that won't fully achieve its potential (see also: one-way traffic in front of the Granada).
I hope there are lots of people like Heidi who use it, but I think the answer to encouraging bike use is separated bike lanes (like State Street 101 underpass). I would have preferred the alternative plan that had bike lanes on Micheltorena, but I'll take this!
As someone who bikes this road a couple times a week, it’s great! Navigating busy Micheltorena St was nerve wracking.
Just another waste of taxpayer money on bike lanes that nobody will use.
Pretty poor implementation! Extremely confusing and doesn’t keep things simple. Thanks for digging into it though.
I’m all for bike-safe infrastructure but this just seems poorly planned. I’ve watched multiple people at the Santa Barbara street intersection just plow past the do not enter or wrong way signs. It’s confusing to look at and just odd.
And they’re taking away two blocks of parking on Castillo Street even though the city encourages people to build and not require parking where are those cars going to park? At my count it was 35 cars
Off the subject, but I heard today that the city is considering a 6 story (SIX!!) on Loma street in the lower riviera. SB city cares not for view easements, so this could be possible. Any info?
Thanks for all you do, Erik, this is certainly my favorite local website. Fun to learn about my community, see how houses come and go, learn about eating establishments -- and the drinking ones, too. You do a good job!
I agree, I long time favorite and I always loved the location for some reason.
I've considered a calendar over the years, because it's a logical extension, but updating anything daily quickly becomes a drag. And I already spend an inordinate amount of time sifting through information; the thought of also compiling an event calendar—copying, pasting, cleaning up the formatting, etc.—is just too much. (For other posts, I at least get to sprinkle a little zest here and there.....) On top of all that, there's the matter of having to decide what to include and what not to include. In my opinion, such a calendar only works if it's tightly edited—just the good stuff—but that means telling people no over and over. I already do a fair amount of that, and it takes a psychological toll.
I think this is one of those things that has to be sacrificed due to Siteline being a one-person operation. I will, however, make an effort to get events mentioned sooner.
Erik, I appreciate all your efforts to keep your readers informed. Like, Elissa so much of what you post, I would like to attend, such as events listed for the 9th but newsletter came out this A.M. (12/10.) Perhaps, a monthly calendar, updated daily.
Brilliant news about Stella Mare. It’s a great restaurant in a lovely building that deserves to stay right where it is.
It’s atop the building on the corner of Santa Barbara and Yanonali Streets in the Funk zone. Home of the old Castagnola’s fish market.
I'm certainly aware of that. I'm at the mercy of when I find out about things (often at the last minute) and the frequency with which I run relevant website posts and the email newsletter. One way to be aware of events sooner is to check this website daily; another is to follow Siteline on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and now Threads), although some of those aren't great about showing you everything.
Another possibility would be increasing the frequency of the email newsletter, but twice a week feels right to me, and I'm not sure I can make enough content to justify three newsletters a week. Or I could conceivably start a weekly email dedicated to events, but I'm not super excited about taking that on (or having to tell people that their event doesn't merit inclusion).
Always...frustrating as many events I would attend!
Hook & Press are doing raspberry cardamom sufganiyot (jelly filled doughnuts). Not sure if you have to preorder them.
Hi! There is a community menorah lighting tonight at the green space in front of Pierre Lafond. I remember seeing something about this group making challah every week- perhaps they would be a good resource for you to inquire about food?
https://www.jewishmontecito.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/6107641/jewish/Chanukah.htm
This email arrived too late (this morning) for some events that happened yesterday.
Thank you for highlighting local businesses!
Also the AbFab reference *chef's kiss*
Hello, Is the new housing in the RV storage going to be rental units or homes for sale? Thank you
It has always paid off being a "it pays to seek information" vs "take what they give you " type. Twitter is free!
I know that X post the launches, but everyone it seems that 50+ people post on Nextdoor, Facebook, Reddit.. what was the boom? Being a tourist city some have no clue and other can’t keep track of the (postponed) launches. 911 claims to receive tons of calls from unexpected residents.
Uh- or read facebook- in fact Twitter has a great system already doing that- try it!
Check out the @SpaceX hiring page- tons of great jobs at VSFB with 500 more approaching! I bet that really gets Salud Carbajals armpit sweaty- love how he’ll act like it was him that made it happen vs Elon Musk et
all!
So glad all the ecoidiots who were so happy to proclaim the demise of the monarch are now eating their words. It’s heart warming!
