••• The county has installed rainbow curb cuts at Pardall Road and Embarcadero Del Norte to “celebrate the Isla Vista community’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
••• And the Isla Vista outpost of cannabis retailer Farmacy has opened at 6555 Pardall Road.
••• The ShineUP shop in the Funk Zone is closing. From the announcement by owner Dina Murillo:
It’s time for me to move on from ShineUP on Helena ave. I have been evicted from my space. I haven’t found a new space in the Funk Zone yet. So I will take a pause and do all the things you can’t do when you own your own business.
In the last 4 years I have met so many of you from all over Santa Barbara, the state and the world. You have all enriched my life and my experience and I am forever humbled and grateful!
I will keep ShineUP open until December 26. So please come in and say hello and grab the last of the Cool Shit!
••• Last weekend, I flew in and out of Santa Barbara Airport, and both times the electronic sign off Route 217 said the long-term parking lot was full and people should proceed to the economy lot. And both times, plenty of spaces were available in the long-term lot. If the sign isn’t going to be accurate, they should really get rid of it, because all it does is send people into a panic.
••• Caltrans sent out an email that signal modifications have been made at the intersection of Highway 154 and State Street:
Travelers will notice the signals at two of the three main approaches will be different in the following locations:
—Westbound State Street will have a separate right turn signal that may be red when the thru traffic is allowed with green “up arrow” indications. A right turn green arrow can also be displayed when the thru indications are red.
—Southbound Hwy. 154 approaching Hwy. 101 will have separate phases for the thru and left turn (to southbound Hwy. 101 onramp) traffic. Currently, these two movements are always simultaneously green.
••• The area around the torii gate in Shoreline Park is getting renovated; it was on the consent agenda for a recent meeting of the city’s Architectural Board of Review, with this description in the background materials: “The Torii Gate and Japanese Garden is located within Shoreline Park at the top of the Shoreline Park Steps in the Mesa neighborhood. […] The project was a collaboration with the Toba Sister City Organization as a way to recognize the contributions of the Japanese community to Santa Barbara’s history and culture, and to strengthen the relationship with Toba as Santa Barbara’s Sister City in Japan. Over the course of many years, most of the plants in the Japanese garden have died and the only remaining elements of the garden are the boulders and the black stone rockery.” And the Our Mesa Neighborhood Inc. website has this description: “The project will consist of repairing the cobblestone pattern, replanting beautiful shrubs, trees and plants, adding more boulders, adding steel borders and mulch, and fixing the broken irrigation system. The goal is to bring this important and beautiful site back to its original Asian esthetics.”
••• From a press release issued by the city:
The City of Santa Barbara has been awarded $54 million through the California Active Transportation Program for projects on Cliff Drive, Milpas Street, and within the Westside and Lower West neighborhoods. […] Design and environmental review for these projects will commence in 2023 with construction anticipated to begin around 2026.
The Cliff Drive Project includes a 3.1-mile-long separated path from Arroyo Burro County Park to Castillo Street, three new traffic signals, eight new pedestrian-activated flasher crosswalk systems, and sidewalk widening connecting Cliff Drive to Monroe and McKinley Elementary Schools. Safety enhancements are an important part of the project as Cliff Drive is the City’s highest priority Vision Zero corridor ranking first for highest number of collisions resulting in severe or fatal injuries.
••• Now open at 4441 Hollister Avenue (at Nogal Drive): Flow Yoga & Wellness, “a boutique yoga studio offering daily meditation and yoga classes with a wellness collective providing massage therapy, an infrared sauna, and a wellness-inspired retail store.”
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I love the rainbow curbs out in IV-beautifully done.
So glad you brought some attention to the SBA “Lot Full” parking glitch. Felt like I was suffering alone on this one!
They were even physically barricading the lot a while ago, when there were spots visible everywhere. Very frustrating. If it’s just the digital sign that can be ignored, I guess that’s an improvement. Just making it accurate would be cool, too. But if they have zero idea how many cars are going in vs. out, ditch the sign.
Incredible to hear that we won the funding for the Cliff Drive project. It will be a huge improvement to a major corridor that will make Cliff Drive easier to cross on foot, more attractive, and more bikeable while having no material impact on traffic flow. So many people will benefit from these changes.
Congratulations to all the City employees who worked for so long on the designs for Cliff Dr which enabled us to win this funding. There are several videos which showcase all the consideration, skill and hard work that went into their decisions.
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O163tomEcfg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXxYrocv5qM&t=36s