Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
The Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a committee to oversee a master plan for State Street’s future.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the council took measures to assess Downtown Santa Barbara by hiring an outside agency to provide economic revitalization recommendations, performing a Land Development Audit, and creating the Economic Development Manager position.
When the pandemic shuttered the majority of businesses on State Street, emergency actions allowed the expansion of business operations onto sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. Lower State Street was closed to vehicle traffic creating the “State Street Promenade” for bicycle and foot traffic. This is currently planned to stay in place until March 2022.
A small State Street subcommittee was formed in June with councilmembers Kristen Sneddon, Meagan Harmon, and Oscar Gutierrez. From June 2020 to February 2021 this subcommittee reached out to the public, businesses, and other committees to form a Master Plan to redesign Downtown State Street and the surrounding area.
Now, the council has voted to expand the subcommittee to a 17-member Advisory Committee to include members of the public. This new committee will include three councilmembers, one representative from the Planning Commission, one from the Historic Landmarks Commission, three representatives of downtown business and property owners, seven members of the public, and two alternative seats.
“There’s so much energy for our downtown. There’s such a love for it and a passion for it, and it’s thrilling to me to hear so many people who are so engaged in this conversation and who want to be a part of the master planning conversation as we move forward,” said Harmon.
The Master Plan aims to include, streetscape design and amenities, transportation and circulation, housing and redevelopment influences, economic development, historic resources, equity and accessibility, homeless engagement, public art, operation and maintenance, and a funding strategy.
During their discussion councilmembers addressed the former Macy’s and Nordstrom buildings that now sit empty, revitalizing De La Guerra Plaza, opportunities for increased downtown housing, and revenue growth.
The council will vote on committee recommendations and permanently closing State Street to vehicles at a later date.
I loved seeing all the classic cars cruising state st. Can’t wait for that again
If the city council is making a committee to plan the future of state street, that’s the final nail in the coffin for state street. Carpinteria has a lovely downtown, as does ventura. Solvang is also a great place to go shopping and dine out. These other growing and thriving downtowns are the future, and they are safe, clean, and family friendly. State street in SB is becoming little more than a skid row and the more the city council gets involved with it the worse it will get.
Let’s form a committee to decide who gets to be on the committee! Yippee
CHIP: I used to enjoy downtown, grabbing dinner, drinks and a movie each Friday night. I haven’t done that in many years. One of the last times I enjoyed downtown was the happy hour at Enterprise, which is now gone. Even then, you’d have to tip-toe down the urine-soaked stairs if you wanted to walk from Enterprise to REI, SB Roasting Company, or the farmers market, dodging bums along the way. State St. just became too disgusting for me, and in recent years the numerous shuttered businesses made the visit even less appealing. I haven’t been downtown since the start of COVID, around a year ago, and even the new promenade setup isn’t enough to get me down there to have another look. I do hope they can make State St. clean and charming again. If they do, I’d probably return.
I think the name should be changed to “Stateless Street”.
A committee that ends up doing zero….
We need to add high density housing downtown so the people living, working, shopping and Milling about downtown FAR EXCEED the number of homeless/vagrants milling about.
Everyone will feel safer, locals and tourists.
Good idea, Jimbo. In cities worldwide people of all sorts live in apartments above shops on downtown streets. We could have more of that here, as long as the costs are comparable to other housing. I do not want to see a slew of luxury condos though, that are primarily second homes for out-of-town rich people.
Seabird, I think the way the upper and lower sections are different atmospheres are great. 500 – 700 blocks are great for the bars, LA day-trippers and more of the younger party scene while the 1000 – 1200 blocks have multiple theaters, finer dinning options, and a little more elbow room catering to a more refined (older but young at heart) crowd looking to relax and enjoy the finer things in life over tequila shots and loud music. There is a demand for both.
those days are clearly over forever…sadly
Downtown Santa Barbara used to be the jewel of Santa Barbara. Cruise ships used to want to stop in Santa Barbara just so their passengers could see this beautiful city downtown. Now? Are you kidding me?!! It’s disgusting! Our downtown merchants begged the cruise lines to come back & they said no, just way too disgusting, panhandlers everywhere, drug users blatantly using drugs & selling drugs, the stench of urine, vomit & feces all over State Street. If I have guests visiting Santa Barbara, I take them to Goleta! I used to take my kids to the Metro or Fiesta theatre’s, but after having to walk down either of those corridors & seeing drug deals going on, & a couple having sex in the bushes, & people urinating, all in front of my kids, I will never go back. I’m all for helping out the elderly homeless or the mentally ill, but these homeless people are choosing to lead this lifestyle and y’all know the people I’m talking about. Have you seen the homeless camps that our City allows?! It’s disgusting. Have you ever seen the Mayor address this situation? Have you ever seen her hold a press conference regarding our dire situation of these camps or our disgusting State Street? Our City is the way it is because of our leaders, which have no clue on how to run a City! Who approved the carnival look on State Street right now? The sickening bright green paint??!! I would assume the City Counsel & the Mayor? The City Council all need to go and the ABR (architectural board). I am excited to see that Randy Rouse will be running for Mayor, hopefully if he gets elected he can get a new City Council crew & ABR and clean up this disgusting City.
“these homeless people are choosing to lead this lifestyle and y’all know the people I’m talking about” – Why do people have to type out “y’all” when they know they’re being hateful/ignorant/racist, etc, but they’re trying to still be polite? Is that like some southern charm thing? “Y’all know I hate lynchin’, but Imma fixin’ to do it anyways.” Weird.
@10:42, they were constructed in a desperate rush in the face of an unprecedented crisis, no not the pandemic, the State stepping in and literally shutting them down with no notice and no compensation. Pandemic’s are rare but can occur, our state governments overreaction and attempts to control us rather than support us should not have occured. The city also initially only allowed these parklets in 6 months increments, which really limits the businesses ability to invest in their construction. Give businesses time to dig themselves out of the Newsom created hole, approve the long-term or permanent pedestrian promenade and parklets, and not overburden these small businesses with endless regulations, red tape, and fees and you’ll see them invest in much more attractive parklets along the lines of what’s going on in the 1200 block with Arigato, Bouchon, and Olio.
WOW. what a hateful rant. I don’t see that stuff happening on State st. Yes, we have a homeless problem, but you cannot make a blanket statement and say they are all “choosing that lifestyle”. I assure you, they are NOT. Addiction, mental illness and poverty are the cause. Period.
AMEN to that!!!! Let’s make a committee to outlaw landlords doing this!
SBTRVLR, I think you are absolutely right. Who would want to come see our drug addicts, filthy skid row(state street), and all our drug encampments sprinkled around town. It’s not a safe or a family friendly place to visit anymore. Unfortunately, this is the future the voters of Santa Barbara want. The voters will re-elect the mayor, and she will work hard to increase crime, drug addiction, and filth within the city. Naturally, the city council will deny the existence of a drug problem and focus on creating cheap high density housing instead. If you speak up about it, you will predictably be called “hateful/ignorant/racist” for some inexplicable reason. It is what it is, the will of the voters shall be implemented. It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are many beautiful places to live and to visit nearby such as ventura, solvang, Los alamos, and carpinteria. As Santa Barbara deteriorates, these alternatives will grow and prosper.
Many of you really need to give State Street another chance. I live a few blocks away and my most recent visits were really mind changing. The parklets and promenade have really given State a new life. Personally, I think it’s great. While I have now grown out of lower State bar scene, there is so much more energy and life with the some of the new eating establishments, outdoor gardens, etc. I get most of the old timers here resist any sort of change, but this has been for the better. It reminds me of lively European city squares. I don’t even see as many homeless issues in that area as before.
I first got to know Lower State St back in the 1980’s. Plenty of street people around back then. Same kind of mix as today. Almost no actual locals. But the big difference back then was there was plenty of normal pedestrian traffic until 11pm and later. Weekdays and weekends. All year round. The business mix on Lower State St back then was not that different from most equivalent small cities of the time.
Then the Paseo Nouevo opened in 1990 and within a decade the whole business mix of most of Lower State St and surrounding blocks changed. It was now full of more upmarket businesses that shut at 6pm or 7pm. Leaving block after block completely dead by 8pm.
I remember standing at the corner of State and Anapamu, would have been about ten years ago, and thinking back to standing at exactly the same spot on the same date at the same time exactly 25 years before. When the street was still busy with lots of pedestrians, there were a bunch of drifters and skater kids laughing and smoking sitting on the bench seat, and looking up and down State St through the throngs of people looking for my friends I was suppose to meet up with. And that was a typical weekday evening back then, it was even busier at weekends.
But when I looked up and down State St less than ten years ago. Nothing. Nobody. There was one guy down by Figueroa and two street people sitting on the ground a block down. But that was it. The street was empty. At 8pm on a fairly pleasant weekday evening in October.
Given that Paseo Nouevo is pretty much dead maybe it is time to try to go back to the old mix of businesses downtown. Of course the landlords who got used to the grossly inflated rents of the last few decades will take a while to capitulate. They always do. And the simplest way to control the trouble maker street people problem is the time tested one. Enforce public vagrancy and quality of life laws. And a ticket back home for the street people who are not locals. Which is usually at least 80% plus in most cities.
When you enforce the law and forcefully encourage the badly behaved street people to move along back to their hometown the problem soon becomes manageable again. To just the usual drifters and down on their luck who are usually never much of a problem to anyone.
State Street is actually more vibrant now. Tourists I’ve engaged with relate their delight with the parklets, often commenting that SB feels less boring & predictable now. As for the druggies, not to be confused with the homeless, there are fewer than in most towns. Sadly, drug cartels hold sway. Put pressure on the big Banks to stop laundering their millions! Being hateful towards the cartels’ victims is easy, but getting to the source of the rampaging drug problem takes far more concerted effort. Anyway, State is not dangerous or filthy. I have traveled extensively , finding the quirky and creative far more enticing and fun than sterile predictability. Guessing it’s the staid old verses the flexible new. Give the new a chance & see what happens. Certainly, the old way has given us empty stores and lack of inventory velocity. Dull is kinda dumb, ostensibly.
I want to know more about the people who are commenting. I have lived in SB for 32 years and spent a majority of my time downtown and the waterfront, and have not once ever got “acosted” by the homeless. I had had homeless ask me for spare change, but nothing more. Furthermore Ive never even seen homeless “acost” people; other than other homeless.