I am under the understanding that the plans for teddys on state have evolved.
Can anyone confirm please. I live a few blocks down the street and we are hoping the rumors are true.
What a low ball comment Eliza, do you happen to work for "Lompoc is the armpit of Santa Barbara County" Congressmoron Salud Carbajal?- Goleta is worthy of good coffee, good conversation and good vibes.
This letter to the Independent brought up an excellent potential avenue for blocking 505 E. Los Olivos.
https://www.independent.com/2025/07/09/will-505-east-los-olivos-be-developed/
**The potential use of part of Mission Historical Park for redesigned roadway or redesigned driveway purposes, as well as possible widening of East Los Olivos Street in this area — all of which would appear to be necessary for development at 505 East Los Olivos Street — would require a vote of the people of the City of Santa Barbara.**
**Section 520 of the Charter of the City of Santa Barbara, “Disposition of Real Property or a Public Utility”, states: “No land acquired by the City for or dedicated to public park or recreation purposes … shall be sold, leased or otherwise transferred, encumbered or disposed of unless authorized by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the total membership of the City Council and by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the electors voting on such proposition at a general or special election at which such proposition is submitted.”**
This should be investigated fully!
Anthony that is what Goleta is for. Chains with low quality food and almost zero nutrition. McDonalds didn't make it on State St. That should tell you something.
The guys in black filming and shouting were also at Trader Joe's on DLV yesterday
This message is for Anthony Studebaker. What in the heck are you talking about..?? Please stop posting such negative comments about restaurants that are trying to make it here in Santa Barbara. I think it would be better if you mover to Lompoc or Oxnard. I think you’re much better off there with all their cheap food options.
R.
Those popular restaurants you mentioned will not open in Santa Barbara because the math doesn’t math. Even going to a one of the many local fast food restaurants its tough to get out the door with a meal and drink for less than $15. With the cost of CA real estate, labor laws and taxes you’re not going to get an all night diner or an all-you-can-eat buffet with prices from the past. Enjoy SB’s fast food options: Taco Bell, McDonalds, IHOP, Dennys, Subway, Jersey Mikes, In N Out, Jack in the Box, KFC, Little Caesars, Dominos, Panda Express, Chipotle, Wingstop, Wendy’s while you still can if you want to try some ‘affordable food’. If your hell bent on a Waffle House type diner try Esaus in Carpinteria, Summerland Beach Cafe, Chads, Mesa Cafe, Joes, Cajun Kitchen, Harrys, Farmer Boy, Codys Kitchen, or the many others that offer Waffle House friendly items and prices. Thanks for the great outline/post ET I was in Carpinteria today and saw that The Nugget opened on Friday and is open 7 days a week offering Carp a new casual bar/grill option.
If you voted for newsom - this is EXACTLY what you voted for.
The proposed structures near the mission are architecturally inconsistent with the area's character, yet the city will likely approve them. This follows the same pattern we've seen with the oversized developments on the east side. The Milpas corridor is already experiencing significant density increases, and once all these approved projects are completed, the impact will be substantial.
If the city intends to approve high-density development throughout Santa Barbara, this should be applied equitably across all neighborhoods. Affluent areas shouldn't receive preferential treatment while working-class communities bear the brunt of intensive development.
Though these buildings may be aesthetically problematic, the real crisis is the displacement of residents from the senior housing complex behind the Milpas Starbucks. The human cost of people losing their homes far outweighs concerns about architectural design.
The core issue remains: Santa Barbara needs consistent, equitable development policies that balance growth with community character and, most importantly, protect existing residents from displacement.
Looking forward to the new restaurants though I hope there are some that are medium priced for retirees, We like to eat out often, so I think a good restaurant would see more customers if the price was right.
You are not alone! The weird San Ysidro Rd offramp sign is beyond jarring. Like fingernails on the blackboard for anybody who cares about typography.
Actually wish Teddys on State was another Brass Bird. Thought I’d never say this but we could actually use another nice coffee shop at upper state.
Santa Barbara is a vacation and tourist hot spot, with cruise ships and people from all over the world visiting, dining, and shopping, and tourism is a significant part of the local economy. Whereas, Mountain View, not so much. Santa Barbara gets far more visitors from LA than Mountain View does from San Jose, and San Jose has similar and much better pedestrian street malls, like San Pedro Square, Post Street, and Santana Row. If Mountain View can make a pedestrian street mall work on a smaller main street, using only 3 blocks, then certainly 10 blocks would be easier and with more options.
I think it’s because the food at every one of those places sucks and is also more expensive than our many excellent low cost taquerias and local mom and pop joints.
WHOOPDEDO 32 new restaurants, but how come there is no Burger King/ Arbys/ El Pollow Loco/ Waffel House/ Home Town Buffet>>>>>and a host of popular fast food joinst that are not in SB, this is what the people want= not all these HIGH PRICED eateries. Message to all the new restaraunt enterprneurs start ups, when you see your going broke, open up a Waffel House=be advised to hre securty gauds to mannge the big lines trying to get in
Great update! The "will-they won't-they" saga of Everytable on State continues....!
The metal structures (designed to catch woody debris) could be improved. I have no idea if there are existing standards but back of the napkin/top of the keyboard "improvement" could be something on the side that, to face the upstream could look like an array of |\ but angled at about 45 degrees, constructed in the center half of the presumed "river", to elevate tree/brush elements upward and block them there, partly out of the water and allowing passage of water under and around. I could even be a bit of an arc instead of a linear block, looking from top down looking like (_ with (- and (top line). Just sayin.
SB's population is similar but Mountain View is 15 minutes outside San Jose, a million plus person city, and they only closed three blocks. We're over an hour from LA and have closed 10 blocks.
Thanks for the great newsletter. When will Randall Road debris basin be open for hiking?
Please consider taking a drive up to San Luis Obispo. Downtown reminds me of the old , thriving State St with Mom and Pop stores and cars are still allowed.
I used to live in downtown Mountain View, in the middle of Silicon Valley. They recently completed a project to transform their main street, Castro, into a pedestrian mall. They essentially did what Any suggested in these comments. It's been highly successful. I have a friend who also lived there when I did, and she recently visited Mountain View. She has exceptionally good taste and was delighted with what they did with Castro Street, saying it was wonderful. Mountain View and Santa Barbara have nearly identical population sizes. The biggest problem with Santa Barbara is that they can't agree on a design plan and then proceed, instead appearing more interested in conducting endless studies, leaving State Street to languish in the form of arrested decay.
I assumed the 3 structures were just more affordable housing because everyone deserves the right to live in the nicest areas am I right?
Your sarcasm fell flat with me as I drove through the Home Depot parking lot full of cars to Costco, where I turned around since the parking lot was full. . .
The thriving La Cumbre mall shows that retail isn't dead, you just need more cars and more parking.
If it was the shift way from retail, than upper state, the mesa, Milpas, and other areas would also be feeling the impact. In those areas sales tax revenue ha increased significantly over the past five years while downtown has been slightly negative. Pedestrian counts are also down significantly on State from prior to the closure.
Please do tell us the populations of all those pedestrian-only successful downtowns - they certainly exist but are in cities with millions of people and the street is lined with 6+ story buildings built property line to property line (something that will never be allowed in Santa Barbara). Of course, no one ever brings up the enormous cost realizing the promenade dream would entail - not only do we not have the money to fund it, if we did it would be much better spent on the creation of additional affordable housing units.
Amen Sam. Although with a 6% CA tax right, it's not that easy to declare State St. (or whatever) a tax-free, bureaucracy-free zone. But I love the vision of a bunch of housing, startups, etc etc on State St. And if it could work, no cars.
