Anonymous
Source: City of Santa Barbara
In late May 2020 in response to the pandemic and public health restrictions, the City closed State Street in downtown from Haley to Sola streets to vehicular traffic on a temporary basis to create a pedestrian promenade, encourage shopping and facilitate outdoor dining.
Due to the strong community interest in this new downtown environment, the City Council formed a State Street Subcommittee to oversee the visioning effort for the future of Downtown State Street. To facilitate the visioning City staff have been meeting with a number of commissions, committees and stakeholder organizations to gather their feedback and input. More importantly, the City wants to hear from residents about what they envision for the future of Downtown State Street and has released an on-line survey in both English and Spanish. The survey will be open for the month of December. The survey is available at SantaBarbaraCA.gov/StateStreet
Late 1800’s, State Street dirt road with wooden sidewalks & a horse-drawn trolley
Additionally, Downtown Ambassadors will be conducting in person surveys on State Street and recording the responses on tablets. Examples of the questions that the community will be asked include: what can be improved on State Street, what issues should Council take into consideration and what would bring people downtown. The survey also asks residents what they hope State Street and downtown will be like in ten years and what they hope doesn’t change.
“We are asking the community to tell us what they believe Downtown State Street should be like, and what experiences and activities they would like to see on State Street in the future” said Councilmember Meagan Harmon, Chair of the State Street Subcommittee. “We are excited about what State Street can be and what our residents have to say.”
The community survey will be open all of December officially closing at midnight, Sunday, January 3, 2021. Staff will present the collective feedback to the State Street Subcommittee in January 2021. The subcommittee will be asked to create a vision statement based on the collective feedback received that defines the future of Downtown State Street for Council’s consideration. The vision statement will guide the decisions for the future of State Street.
The survey is available at SantaBarbaraCA.gov/StateStreet
State Street late 1950’s pre-State Street plaza
The public is invited to participate in the State Street Subcommittee meetings in January or view past meetings or presentations, the State Street Subcommittee webpage is https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/cityhall/council/default.asp
Comments and questions can be emailed to the State Street Subcommittee at FutureStateStreet@SantaBarbaraCA.gov
OK., once again I tried to participate in this survey. I was impressed that at least this time they allowed a sort of “none of the above” answer. But my comments were rejected when I offered a view about the role that the bicycle lobby has in this. It was rejected because apparently I did not want to answer the loaded question about bicycle riders being entitled to “a safe” route somewhere. This is equivalent to the question “are you still beating your spouse.” I do not want to be counted as someone who thinks the bicycle lobby has an absolute right, above all other interests, to such access. There are others, such as pedestrians, who have conflicting interests that should be respected but they were not represented in this survey.
It’s clear the current city council and planning board is favoring the tourism industry over the needs of the local residents.
We are avoiding the place like the plague, as you say, because there’s a plague. Duh. I’ve had reason to travel, and have eaten out when on the road. But here at home I get takeout or cook at home.
Yea, local residents don’t need successful businesses…
BOO.
I want State Street to be inviting to EVERYONE in Santa Barbara.
I made a comment 6 mos. ago about this becoming the NEW version of downtown with only bikes,restaurants and tourists taking over the street.
Right again.
TMFP