I live near a couple of the segments of streets mentioned for improvement and they absolutely need assessment. There are crashes every few months. It’s obscene. I’ve previously written to my city councilperson about it because it’s so frequent. I’m really glad these are up for review.
Local attorney Luis Esparza in on the ballot with Judge Adams
El Smurfo. As Ben Kenobi said, "That's a name I have not heard in a long time." Gosh, what was my handle on the orange site. . . I think it was Lower Westie. The years are blurry now but from 2006 to 2012, Ed had the best, by far, local news site in SB history. And yes, this site comes closer than most others. Whatever happened to SB8ball?
Taking criticism from losers is price of not being one
One of the best travel articles I’ve ever read. The narrative and the pics made me feel that I was there. Thanks ever so much
Missed that reddit post, but I would say on the whole pretty positive. Obviously Montecito real estate postings are not going to be super popular with someone chasing roaches off their computer in some Dario Pini crap hole, but I get a lot of breaking news here that I used to get at other orange tinted local blogs that have lost their way.
If you liked Angkor, then you need to visit Borobudur. And there’s even an Aman! AmanJiwo. One of our best trips.
Shop keepers closes two stores. Why are all you experts not analyzing this? Could it be that the greed of landlord's has now reached the Funk Zone at $10/sqft ? If the business owners can’t make any money, then there will be empty building until the end of time.
Perfect summary of Angkor. You captured it well. My first visit was over 30 years ago before the disney-esque entrance. On the back of a motorbike with a gun-toting guide and frequent landmine areas. Sad to see it become an insta-destination.
Ummmmm....CVR is definitely thriving!!! Ask the retailers. There are more tourists willing to spend money (there are many affordable shopping options). Locals have been stopping into shop the strip more frequently then 2 years ago. There are so many small local businesses on CVR. I can't say the same for State Street. The CVR Association is doing an incredible job with monthly advertising for the shops as well as organizing special events like the art walk. Restaurants are fully booked most of the time. Seems like you haven't been there in a while. You should check it out again. You might be surprised.
I’ve bought many great items from A Royal Suite home furnishings! Looking forward to them being on State street so we don’t have to drive to Oxnard.
bici centro, at the entrance on olive
Re: the new stoplight at Hermasillo. The northbound exit at Carillo was already closed on Friday, which resulted in a major backup at the new stoplight of both eastbound and westbound trafiic on CVR during the Friday afternoon rush hour. Commerce on C VR is indeed now thriving [look for an empty storefront; if you find one, it will soon have a new tenant], but it will take a hit when locals start limiting their visits there to avoid the traffic. A simple way to move more cars/hour past that light would be to eliminate the time when all other trafiic is stopped to allow the occasional southbound car on Hermasillo to turn onto CVR. Blocking southbound traffic from Hermasillo at CVR is the most practical solution; cars departing from that block of Hermasillo would exit at the other end, onto Hot Springs Road. Since the 101-Cabrillo interchange is scheduled to be completed in 2028, this "temporary" stoplight will likely be there for one to two years.
I agree that Sea Change is a fabulous album, but I agree with Erik, funky Beck is the best Beck. That said, I am counting down the days to September 22nd - nothing is better than a Beck show!
It's curious to me that you all think Coast Village Road is thriving. Is it because the goods on the street are more expensive? I would say CVR is moderately healthy, but not great as a retail corridor — and certainly never say it's "thriving". Is it easier to pop in and grab something? Yes. Is there a strong desire to eat at Local, repeatedly shop Wunderkind or Faherty or buy a knick knack at Heritage Goods? Absolutely not.
Truth is — people thinking CVR is the example of success that State Street should follow is woefully short-sighted.
The only one upset here is you.
You seem to have severe comprehension issues and are insistent on relying on straw man arguments, and arguing in bad faith.
Have a great day!
Amazing. You get upset at someone using the word immigrant to describe a portion of the population, then get upset that the data that shows that 20% of the pop are in fact, immigrants.
Life must make you very upset. All those words being used by random people constantly hurting your feelings. You poor thing.
/
Nobody disputed the data. Poverty is real, housing costs are crushing, and median incomes are a joke relative to what it costs to live here. But look at what you did: you listed "20% foreign-born" alongside poverty and unemployment figures as if it belongs there. That's the tell. Being foreign-born isn't a socioeconomic indicator, and dropping it into that list reveals exactly the assumption that got called out in the first place. As for "stop worrying about labels" — that's not what's happening here. Bad framing produces bad diagnoses, and bad diagnoses produce bad solutions. If you misidentify who's causing the problem, you'll never fix it. And the Trump point is genuinely ironic: the rhetorical move in your original post, treating demographic composition as the explanation for community decline rather than policy failures, is the exact playbook that got him elected. You're illustrating the problem while complaining about people who point it out.
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/santa-barbara-ca/
According to the 2020 census, the city of SB has a poverty level of 14%. 20% of the population were foreign born. Median incomes are at least 1/3 of that needed to purchase a median home ($107k for $1.57mm mortgage) . 42k people out of 89k are employed. etc. etc. etc.
The data is not very pretty.
We'd all be better served if people spent less time worrying about the use of a particular word and more time trying to reconcile the facts and figures. Being more offended at a label than a cause, is a big reason why our society is failing and the main reason aholes like Trump are in office.
Ugh. This comment sounds like it was prompted by a boomer and written by AI. I agree with some parts of it, and disagree with other parts, but the tone and approach is selfish and entitled.
There's a legitimate grievance about Santa Barbara's economic policy buried in here, but it's fatally undermined by bigotry. Calling the city's problems a result of "low income immigrants" and "multigenerational mediocrity" isn't market analysis, it's scapegoating: blaming residents for conditions created by policy failures and capital flight, while framing national origin and working-class status as civic liabilities. The cruel irony is that the author's own preferred solution, a rising tide that lifts all boats, would benefit precisely the people he just dismissed. You can't argue for inclusive economic growth in one breath and dehumanize the majority of your neighbors in the next. The real problems here are zoning, over-reliance on tourism, and lack of pathways for young professionals to stay, and those deserve serious conversation, not a demographic witch hunt.
Thanks VinceGPT
Woah. “Santa Barbara is a city full of low income immigrants, low income students and multi generational mediocrity” That’s not just a sentence that’s some sentimentality.
Dude, don’t bite the hands that feed you.
Not just support workers. Where are the future DDS's, MD's and nurses going to live? Some may take over Mom or Dad's practices, but the the medical personnel Santa Barbara needs?
There’s no shortage of thoughtful perspectives on what State Street should become—and that’s a good thing. We’re clearly still in a period of recovery and reinvention, and none of us can say with certainty what downtown will look like in a year, let alone five. But that’s exactly why moments like this matter.
A Royal Suite Home Furnishings isn’t just another storefront—it’s a family-owned California business choosing to invest in State Street right now. That kind of decision doesn’t happen by accident. It reflects real confidence in the market, in the community, and in the direction things are heading.
So yes, we can debate the bigger picture—and we should. But we can also acknowledge progress when we see it. This is a win. Let’s welcome them, support them if it resonates, and keep building momentum one step at a time.
