Anonymous
(Photo: John Palminteri / KEYT News)
By an edhat reader
I noticed the 99 Cents Only Store at 424 State Street has signs in the window that they will soon be able to sell alcohol, specifically beer and wine, at their location.
I do appreciate the offer for discounted items as this is one of the only stores in Santa Barbara that offers it. And if you’ve ever visited, there are all types of demographics in there shopping for discounts. This is an expensive place to live and more stores like this are sorely needed.
However, I wonder what type of crowd the beer and wine sales will attract. Do edhat readers have an opinion on this?
(Photo: John Palminteri / KEYT News)
Inappropriate and will only add to the transient problem already “brewing” on State St and surrounding downtown environs.
Wow, 99¢ wine! Sounds delicious. I wonder if they’ll bring back Arriba, Thunderbird, Boone’s Farm and Annie Green Springs?
OMG! Alcohol on State Street? (Right here in River City?). How about a few more public restrooms, all that booze has to go somewhere.
The cycle will be complete, Lower State yet again becomes our very own skid row, which they tried to clean up when they put in Paseo Nuevo a few decades ago. Entropy wins again.
99 cent wine? Hmmm, this should be interesting! But seriously, I think we all know what “type of crowd” the alcohol sales will attract. It’s the same people who go to liquor stores, 7-11s, bars, etc. That is, people who like to drink.
Another thought I had after my first post: This, in addition to the proposed 7-11 adds to the already excessive amount of alcohol available on lower State. It’s interesting how hard people fight against cannabis stores, but at the same time we’re saturating (pun intended) State street with booze.
What kind of “crowd” it will bring is none of our business.
You can’t legislate morality. I personally have no problem with them selling it
More angry drunk bums on State St? Yes, please!
So let me see if I understand the problem here. Alcohol sales on State Street are fine as long as only wealthy people can afford to buy it and The 99 Cent Store will be selling alcohol that people with little money can afford. Am I understanding the problem correctly?
My clients yesterday came in from Ohio and were appalled at the condition of lower State Street. They quite innocently strolled out in search of a meal and were followed by vagrants, shouted at by transients, and generally astonished at the “Skid Row” feel. Selling cheap booze in the middle of the strip will only make the situation worse, it will become a watering hole for the disaffected. The local gubmint allows this degradation to continue in the spirit of pc, and as a result we are losing the beautiful downtown.
7-11’s **appear** to be a hand in glove operation between EBT misuse for junk food and drug deals for cash in the 7-11 parking lots. Anyone else concerned 7-11’s are popping up everywhere bringing this scourge into all neighborhoods. These are not mom and pop small business operations – they **appear** to be something far more sinister and corrosive exploiting “other peoples money”. I hope someone is looking into what **appears* to be a very bad connection.
With more and more properties taken off the city tax rolls and dedicated to tax free non-profit housing, the city revenue burden falls are fewer and fewer high-end property owners who remain in this city. They are also getting hit every which way against Sunday in ways that degrade their property values – ADU and AUD inflicting unwanted density in their former quiet retreats for which they were willing to pay premium prices and sky high property taxes. Your clients were right to be alarmed – what is really going on with the city’s agenda that for the past few decades seems bent on destroying what made it so unique and now bending only to the illusive tax revenue gods, who are in fact eating them alive. Voters, you did this to yourselves – you put the city employee unions candidates at the front of the line and they in turn pay homage only to the short-term tax revenue gods and fail to observe or account for what their policies have done to the long-term fiscal stabillity of this entire city. The city unions cannot keep robbing the few remaining high-end taxpayers.
What’s so bad (or any of your business) about people using EBT for “junk food?”
8069 – We all know what kind of crowd this will attract.