This is a story unto itself, an “outsider” researching the meaning behind the seal to help educate the locals who have no clue, not even the Historical museum. The thing about SB is, once it’s a tradition, no one asks why or where it came from, or if it should continue. Great work Erik!
Much appreciation to the library staff for their deep dive into the archives for this. Love the close up photos of the tympanum. It's stunning!
Are we suppose to feel bad for St. George? I cannot imagine anyone is upset about him finally moving on my SB, but I sure feel sorry for the valley. He is really all about himself and is already causing issues up there. Adios to him!
Hey, Ed, Don't let the door hit ya........ Maybe now you can devote your time to cleaning up the mess at what used to be Anderson's in Buellton.
Yes, I did. Thank you for the correction.
I actually own 123 and 125 E Carrillo Street, there has been no talks with the city to buy our building
(Did you mean to write “fix downtown withOUT adding in housing” ?)
My husband and I think Equinox would be a no-brainer in SB and are perplexed as to why Swell seems to be the only larger "health club" facility in town. There are many boutiques and small gyms and I mean no disrespect to anybody operating in the market...
whole foods saved the circuit city building, lol
The Institution Ale beer garden is the coolest hangout space in all of downtown. Let’s get these apartments and condo permitted without gouging the developers on permits and fees
Trying to wrap my head around having a furniture store close by to avoid car trips.
I do, but I was thinking more about a solution that caters to all these residents without adding any car trips. I think the options for furniture in Santa Barbara are laughable, and while I think Alessia is incredible, it's a bit too pricey to do day-to-day bakery shopping (at least for me). There is going to be a huge amount of residents added to the Paseo, so more options for everyday shopping will be sorely needed. And the more we can keep these folks downtown, the quicker we are going to bring back some life there.
I 100% agree with you regarding a nice grocery (not Ralphs) and butcher would add a lot to downtown SB. That said, downtown already has good mom and pop options for: hardware store (home improvement center), dog daycare (camp K9), fantastic bakery (Alessia), bike store (several), furniture store (several new and thrift options), and gyms (can't speak to the quality). Do you frequent any of these? If not, please start and you will be part of the solution :)
According to Mailchimp, the service I use to send out the emails, you unsubscribed in December. It was on the same day that a sponsored email went out, so I'm guessing you were hoping to stop receiving just those. If you unsubscribe from a marketing email, however, you'll also stop receiving the newsletter. (I need to make money from this somehow!) I tried manually adding your email back, but Mailchimp won't allow it—you have to do it yourself. After entering your email address, you will be sent a confirmation email with a link you must click—if you don't, you won't get any emails. So please try again, and if that doesn't work, let me know.
I used to get Siteline sent to my email. Now I don't see it anymore. I've checked my trash, spam and resubscribed a couple of times and still nothing. Is it no longer offered?
With all the housing that is planned, it would be cool to have businesses that cater to residents in addition to tourists. I would love to see mom and pop stores make a comeback: a grocery store, a butcher, a baker, a hardware store, a gym, an (affordable) furniture store, a bike store, a day care center, a doggy day care, etc. With the crazy lease prices, these small businesses could share space and save money. A beer garden could bring additional life downtown. I would also love to see an up-scale flea market on State Street. Anything that would make downtown attractive for locals again!
I was reading on the Nextdoor app couple days before deltpoia and they said someone stole this big red shoe she believes some college kids did it but really doesn’t know what happen. Last update 4/7/25
I remember when everyone thought WHOLE FOODS would save Santa Barbara
Awesome news about Nordstrom. We’re never going to fix downtown with adding in housing. Let’s keep our urban core vibrant. I’d rather see us build out downtown than develop open space, etc.
The addition of housing in the old Nordstrom is the kind of thing that will attract the businesses mentioned (grocery store, gym, etc.). I applaud this direction and hope Paseo Nuevo will be the site of even more housing.
Separate note: Interesting that Arrediamo Home Decor is opening a second location, as I see that the Big Yellow House building has been listed for a while ($6,195,000).
An Erewhon would be a great fit!
Step one in bringing locals back downtown: reopen State St.
State street could really use some broadly useful, premium, businesses that boost foot traffic in the area. A good grocery would be my top pick. Ideally TriCounty could set-up, but something like WholeFoods would also work.
An Equinox gym could also be good, or alternatively SBAC/Swell would want to see-up an additional location there?
Absolutely Not!
Keep this building “For business offices Only!”
Use the building for City business offices, including law offices.
