••• “After three years of meetings, the [State Street Advisory] group was still divided and unable to reach a consensus on the issues facing State Street,” reports Noozhawk. Perhaps it’s time to stop trying to please everyone. “City staff plans to summarize the work of the committee”—such as it apparently is—”and then take the issue to the City Council at the end of August. […] City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said it would take six to 12 months to draft the State Street Master Plan, and then it would go to the City Council for a final vote.”
••• “Crews continue to successfully work on surrounding the Lake Fire burning north of the Santa Ynez Valley as the weather forecast for the coming days calls for ‘dangerously hot conditions.’ As of Wednesday, the Lake Fire has blackened 38,663 acres with firefighters reporting 42% containment.” —Noozhawk
••• “The Lake Fire burned through some forest recreation areas, but popular spots such as the Figueroa and Davy Brown campgrounds had relatively minor damage.” —Noozhawk
••• Goleta city councilmember Stuart Kasdin wrote an update on efforts being made by the cities of Santa Barbara (home to Santa Barbara Airport) and Goleta (which bears the brunt of airport noise) to “collaborate on solutions to noise issues.” —Independent
••• “Old Spanish Days, the nonprofit organization that runs the five-day extravaganza, nixed the carnival this year, citing costs.” —Noozhawk
••• The folks getting pushback about the house they hope to build along the Hot Springs Trail describe the 20-year process of trying to get a land-use permit. —Independent
••• In Old Town Goleta, the north side of Hollister Avenue is now back-in angled parking, like by East Beach. And the city made a video for anyone who has trouble with the concept. (“First, you need to find an available parking space….”) Maybe it can do one on roundabouts next. —KEYT
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I’ve said this before: it’s not a promenade, it’s a street. The now-closed street is hardly used by pedestrians and almost exclusively used by bicycles. Despite this, it’s not quite the “bicycle thoroughfare” that some might imagine.
Instead, it appears to be a hodgepodge of temporary seating and dining areas intermingled with inconsistent bicycle lanes and unattractive street markings.
If we want a true promenade, that’s fine. Develop a plan, secure funding, and execute the plan. Until then, let’s stop pretending that the street is an enjoyable place for people to stroll on a leisurely walk. I move to reopen the street until the formal plan is made, approved, and budgeted.
If we want to make room for restaurants to provide additional seating on the sidewalk, do what the rest of the world does and use the sidewalk. Not enough room? Reduce some of the planters and other features that are taking up space.
I’m really struggling to understand why this is so difficult.
I totally agree. I want to say something more vulgar but instead I’ll say, “fish, or cut bait.” State Street looks like utter crap in its current incarnation. Shabby, stinky, random. Unfinished feeling. Choose a direction and commit to it. At this point we’re going to waste more tax dollars paying endless consultants for 52 years to perpetually kick the proverbial can versus just committing to something and getting it done.
Open the street. It’s a Main Street of what was a charming town. New restaurants will fill vacant spots. Look at Carp it has open street, great restaurants, no urine smell. Same with Montecito. New development. SB is a tragic story while all other towns are booming.
You are spot on!!! Why those making the decisions can’t figure this out is very very concerning.
You nailed! Open it back up and then come up with a plan. I’ve emailed our entire council and mayor twice regarding this.
Exactly. It was never a promenade no matter how many times people kept calling it that. Just an ugly closed down street
If there was ever an example of our city failing, it’s with these headlines. They have completely forgotten their duty is to serve the citizens of SB. Not themselves.
State St and the demise of Fiesta carnival are two awful examples of SB city employees and officials showing they’re totally incapable of the most basic managerial duties and responsibilities. There is no reason that we should keep any of these people in office, let alone their support staff and the underlings. The entire city government needs a complete and total refresh.
This council and their puppeteers / benefactors (the city employees) are incapable of making decisions. They are incapable of managing their duties. Incapable of meeting a budget. Incapable of doing anything other than kicking the can and padding their own bank accounts. Unbelievable incompetence.
They killed off one of the best parts of Fiesta! Why? Because the city itself cannot manage their own internal issues or people, they cannot balance their budget and certainly cannot make hard choices. Like firing people to reduce costs. So we lose out on the carnival while the inept get their paychecks, their pensions, their guaranteed pay increases and their 4 day, 30 hour work weeks…
The entire SB city government needs to be replaced and rebuilt from the ground up. Remember, the city has over a billion dollar pension liability (that’s debt for those who dont know), and no plan on paying it down, let alone dealing with the current budget shortfall that they claim requires a giant tax increase. A regressive tax on top of it all. Gee how Progressive!
Folks, we’ve been fleeced. Our city is failing and the very people who are responsible are stealing your kids piggy bank and future in broad daylight, while they slide into a cushy retirement and receive a pension unavailable to 99% of citizens and tax payers.
Viva la Fiesta? Not any longer. Today it’s “Viva La Ciudad de Santa Barbara employees” the rest of you can eat sand.
I agree with much of what you said. In a nutshell, decision-making seems to be a challenge. On the surface, it appears that “avoidance” is the name of the game these days and the concepts of responsibility and accountability are no longer valued. Now, what should we do about it?
I’m a bit concerned that change will only happen when an extreme point of view will step in and swing us into a whole new set of concerns (similar to what we see at the national level).
Very well said!!
I would summarize this city government and all its departments’ performance as follows: No accountability, no oversight and no leadership.
I’ve watched every live meeting of the SSAC this year, except the June meeting since it was plagued by technical difficulties. A few days later I watched most of it on You Tube. What struck me the most about this current meeting was Roger Durling stating the obvious. Peter Lewis followed him with similar comments, while later on my favorite SSAC member, Ed Lenvik pretty much dropped the hammer. These 17 well intentioned people should be thanked for their service and the committee should be dissolved. The list of straw votes they took this week could have been done months ago, or years ago. Also, sorry Kristen Sneddon but the Fred Sweeny drawings are only his ideas. There are nine members of the Historic Landmarks Committee and those folks are the ones that I want to hear from. (Cass Ensberg)
One of the proposals calls for something called, “Flat & Flexible.” I’ve been in enough rain storms on State street to know that eliminating the curbs is a huge mistake. Most of State is an incline, downstream, and water speeds up as it flows down. Another popular opinion is for more trees. I can visualize a downpour that sends leaves and branches down the street, the drains get clogged and the front doors of the businesses get flooded. I watched this happen some months ago one street over at La Paloma Cafe. There was a huge storm, the drains on Anacapa got clogged and water backed up to the front door of the bar. And there aren’t that many trees on Anacapa!
Oh, and you can look at the Funk Zone as an example of the dangers of “Flat & Flexible.” The FZ floods in every storm of significance. Instead of the SSAC adopting Flat & Flexible, they should rename it, Flat & Flooded.
Always overlooked in the presented concepts is that State St. is the storm water channel for downtown. Any proposal that shows the street and sidewalk at the same level means a very large storm water drainage pipe (i.e. 5-10′ in diameter) would need to be buried beneath it, a very expensive and disruptive endeavor.
The problem with all of these comments is that they use common sense. And the City is allergic to common sense. So we have an allergy problem that needs to be treated. :/
And yes, by all means, open the street back to cars until a new plan is adopted. Heck, it will make the street safer.
State street, as it has been for far too long now, is so embarrassing and destitute. I agree with others who have commented here. Our City Council is a joke, they have wrecked the lifeblood of the downtown economy. All of the wonderful parades, festivals and businesses that we used to be able to have in our prominent downtown area on State are long gone. It is so shameful. I wish the city council would have to pay out of their own pockets for all of the lost revenue to the city and to all of the great businesses that used to be on State that have had to shutter. I never go down to State anymore. What a joke and an embarrassment. So much greed and ineptitude in our city and city council. It’s almost time to just pull up stakes and go to another small town on our beautiful coast. It is awful here. Please get it together and bring back State Street!!
The city should hire Rick Caruso to get his team to design and renovate State Street. He will take a measured approach to retaining the history and beauty of the architecture and mature landscaping, while designing the most appropriate looking and functioning infrastructure. It will be perfect.
Rick Caruso ? Do we want a Tuscan Disney Land now ?
Nooooooooooooo Caruso cheese.
Keep LA in LA!
It seems pretty clear to me that our city council except Randy Rowse, can’t fiqure it out, I say put it before the voters and let’s take a vote on what is best for our beautiful city, if the population votes open State Street OPEN IT, if they vote to keep it closed keep it closed, that will solve the problem, I personally want it OPEN ! City council please get out of your chairs and get off your as… and take a walk up State Street once a week and you will see the Blight that is going on !
I just returned from a trip to Spain. Streets were lined with native trees that were beautifully maintained. And things were clean, no homeless hanging around, no speeding bikes or other wheeled vehicles competing with pedestrians. But it was definitely the trees that made it special. Quieter, inviting, cleaner spaces. And each business kept their sidewalks cleaned up! We need to make this inviting for all with lovely shops and restaurants.
The bigger difference is that many European countries take strong pride in maintaining their cities and towns, and enforcing the laws that keep them beautiful and user friendly.
I moved to the lower Riviera 7 years ago and one perk was to be walking distance to downtown. I really enjoyed that until 4 years ago when everything changed. Nowadays I rarely go downtown any more. I’ve had too many close calls with bikes side swiping me and honestly very few options left for shopping and merely so-so restaurants…I can support ones that are easier to access that aren’t on state. I’ve lived in SB for 22 years and fully agree with opening State Street up like before. When I wasn’t so close, it was so nice to cruise it and see what looked good then find parking and dine and shop and spend time just enjoying our town. I miss those days.
Im encouraged by all your State St comments and the simple logic! I work downtown and if we walk to Paseo Nuevo for lunch I am always struck by how desolate it is! Its embarrassing and depressing! Time for some logical ACTION!
I agree with the criticism of the SSAC and City Council for the utter lack of progress in this endeavor. Someone should have figured out a long time ago that you will never please everybody, so just pick a direction and get going.
However, I have decided that I am done listening to people who “never go to State Street anymore.” As far as I’m concerned, you’re part of the problem. Restaurants not as good as they used to be? Aw, let me get out my tiny violin. Scared of bicycles? Gee, remember that thing you used to walk on back in the Glory Days when cars drove in the street, called the “sidewalk?” Yeah, it’s still there.
Could State Street be “better” somehow? Of course! But life’s too short to sit around and whine about it. Go grab a beer, or some pizza, or some cargo shorts, and do your part to help the hardworking merchants downtown who work every day for this community.
By the way, don’t look now, but I think there’s a kid walking on your lawn.
Okay, I got it, you won’t listen to me when I say State street has no appeal to me. And I’ve lived here long enough to remember State & A, and Carlito’s having the only outdoor seating on the street. Guess what, it’s still a street.
Closed to cars, open to cars, flat & flexible, or some other plan. . . enjoy your time there. I’ll stick with the Funk Zone, the Waterfront, the ease of driving to Goleta and shopping there. And I buy more things on Milpas and upper State than downtown State street.
PS, I’m a gardener of 35 years here and I don’t have a lawn.
Perhaps I should have been more clear. It doesn’t bother me in the least that you (and others) don’t like going to State Street. To each his own. By the way, I, too, love the Funk Zone, the Waterfront, Milpas (currently hooked on the breakfast burrito at Bajio), and everything else this town has to offer.
My issue is with people who endlessly whine about the good ol’ days when State Street was some magical land of milk and honey (ooh, Milk & Honey, another one of my favorites right off State). Telling everyone that State Street is some sort of hell-hole will only keep people away from State Street, furthering its decline. Try to see the good. We can all continue to advocate for improvements, while still enjoying what it has to offer today.