SBSC Chamber
By Kristen Miller
The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce announces its vision for the near future of State Street, which could be implemented now. The Chamber has been closely watching the economic vitality of State Street and Santa Barbara’s downtown, working diligently alongside the City, business stakeholders, and community partners to shape the future of this economic center.
While the State Street Advisory Committee continues work to design a 20-year master plan, the Chamber is championing a vision that could be implemented immediately. Programs and decisions enacted now, can offer certainty and leadership needed to improve the local economy while the important planning for the future continues.
How We Got Here
State Street and downtown have faced several challenges over the years, but it is important to remember that things were at their lowest point right before and at the very beginning of the pandemic. The best thing that ever happened to our downtown was the creation of expanded outdoor dining and outdoor business facilities which reinvigorated people’s interest in frequenting downtown. However, over the years that foot traffic and economic vitality has declined while our community has grappled with the decision whether to re-open the street or keep it closed to vehicular traffic, creating a lack of certainty which made a commitment to the betterment of downtown in either direction difficult.
The Chamber proposes the following vision so that these specific ideas can be considered as part of a plan that could be implemented immediately.
Our Vision
Create a dynamic pedestrian downtown that celebrates the spirit of Santa Barbara through diverse experiences and activities, fostering a sense of belonging and engagement for all, while allowing some blocks to re-open to vehicular traffic. We are committed to enhancing the quality of life in Santa Barbara by creating a space that is not only a destination but also a reflection of our community’s values. State Street should be a place where memories are made, connections are formed, locals are proud to frequent, and the vibrant culture of Santa Barbara is celebrated every day.
Create a Grand Paseo
700-800 Blocks (Grand Paseo): Transformed into a Grand Paseo -a vibrant, car-free oasis in the heart of State Street, where community and culture converge.
- This area would be dedicated exclusively to pedestrians. A narrow lane will be available for walking your bike, ensuring a safe and serene environment free from cars and bikes.
- A visually appealing entrance will mark the beginning of the area, inviting passersby to explore and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere.
- At the heart of the Grand Paseo, we want a portable set of risers and stage (a mini amphitheater) enabled to host a variety of performances and events, bringing arts and entertainment to the community. We recommend adding a pop-up kitchen demonstration structure and area that would serve as a hub for culinary experiences and food and beverage related gatherings. We envision a booth where nonprofits in the region rotate regularly, providing organizations with a platform to promote their events and initiatives, enriching the community’s connection to local causes.
- The two-block area has ample space for other key activations would like to see: an area for a dog park, a playground or youth recreation area and intentional space for outdoor dining. Picnic tables would create a space for patrons to enjoy takeout from local eateries. The goal is to have a lively and engaging space for local families, friends, and guests to gather.
Celebrate Lower State
500-Block: Currently the most activated and frequented block of State Street and should remain closed to cars with the current fire lane and bike lanes and continue to accommodate vibrant parklets.
600-Block: Reopen to cars, allowing for vehicular traffic between Ortega and Cota. If the block were to remain closed, we recommend a strategy to intensely activate the block by creating a kid zone or heavily incentivizing increased outdoor business facilities.
Arts District Promenade
These three blocks are redesigned like a boulevard, with planters and trees down the center with bikes and vehicles moving through in a slow, meandering pattern. Businesses in this area will be encouraged to utilize the sidewalks and streets and much of the current landscaping will be moved to the street.
1200 Block: Open to one-way traffic, while preserving opportunities for outdoor business facilities by creating a meandering bike lane if needed.
1100 Block: Open to one-way traffic, while preserving opportunities for outdoor business facilities by creating a meandering bike lane if needed.
1000 Block: Closed to vehicular traffic. Encouraging outdoor business facilities, particularly outdoor dining. Adding plants and other décor to the street to enhance the promenade feel.
900 Block: Open to two-way vehicular traffic, exploring the possibility of one-side parking,
Support Local Business
Leasing Strategy: A strategic leasing and incentive plan will attract top businesses, enhancing the area’s economic vitality and ensuring a balanced and thriving commercial landscape. The retail landscape is changing and there should be a focus on the following areas:
- Diversified Food and Beverage
- Services and Personal Care
- Experiential and Hospitality
- Innovative Retail & Vertically Integrated Entrepreneurs
- Office and Trade.
Existing businesses will be offered streamlined support to remain and expand if they are in one of the preferred categories above. New businesses will be offered incentives to open quickly in vacant spaces.
An emergency ordinance, or downtown recovery plan will be implemented for any block that falls below a certain vacancy percentage. This plan will be immediately implemented on the 900-block. An economic development team will utilize streamlined permitting and financial incentives to attract businesses in the preferred categories to that block for the storefronts that are empty on the block.
Together, let’s walk, gather, and celebrate State Street, the heartbeat of Santa Barbara.
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Kristen Miller is the President and CEO of the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce.
Single isolated blocks (600, 900) open to cars are pointless and dumb. “A narrow lane will be available for walking your bike” would be awkward and not obeyed. Leave the planning to experienced and knowledgeable planners.
Oh yeah, they’re totally on top of it – leave it to them. Oh wait, then why are they still asking everyone else for their input including expensive studies and consultants, and can’t make a decision? It’s been years of this and State is dying. Weird huh?
This sort of rambling list of wants is typical of committees that represent one constituency. In this case the State Street restaurateurs and wine dispensers. They imagine a “Funk Zone” dynamic which is unreachable with the long State Street run configuration. They imagine a police force constantly at hand to enforce civilized behavior. The deny that the Drunk Zone has for decades lived off of bad behavior encourage by busing in IV students and selling tourism on image and few other things to do on the boulevard. Go take a peak at Carpinteria where there is an active commercial zone with local stores and pleasant traffic. Most of the tourism there seems actually associated with families who stay at the State Park and hang out together complimenting locals. By contrast State Street encourages mostly twenty-something adult singles and teens as it has been designed to do. Consequently it is withering on the vine because it is basically sterile. Positive choices are clearly to open it up to free flow on foot and other traffic and at least reinstate trams. Encourage some practical things such as a grocery store that will serve the needs of the people supposedly attracted the “urban” life style. Discourage those who are just looking to show off and be the first to do anything. Move the trashy restaurant extensions back to their buildings and tell the proprietors that public space is for the public, not their exploitation. If restaurants that were profitable before Covid in their traditional configuration can’t make that way again the problem is almost certainly the exploitation of the rents imposed by corporate and group real estate speculators. Let the actual market place set the value and let these properties lie fallow until the cost is more reasonable.
Etc
I don’t really agree with much of your assessment of State Street, but I kinda like the idea of a good grocery store somewhere there. It would generate lots of walking traffic, but require its own parking solution, plus they have notoriously thin profit margins. Hard to see how it would work.
There is already a grocery store mere blocks from that area
Yes it is “mere blocks” from the area. Which means it is not in the area and does not contribute to the vitality of the area. What is needed it to get things mingling. A uni-culture model will continue to decline and eventually die out.
Overall, I like the the vision presented here. Specifically, the inclusion of third-spaces, where people can simply exist, with no expectation of buying something or paying to occupy the space. It’s in these spaces where community can take root and flourish.
My primary concern is with this detail in the Grand Paseo section:
>This area would be dedicated exclusively to pedestrians. A narrow lane will be available for walking your bike, ensuring a safe and serene environment free from cars and bikes.
My observation is that State Street is the safest route available for bikes to get through downtown, and I feel that enforcing a walking-only zone in the middle of it would unnecessarily break up the flow. As RHS alluded to, I think there would also be significant challenges maintaining ‘serenity’ within the Grand Paseo section, likely requiring enforcement measures.
With the growing traffic and congestion on local roads I see a real benefit in empowering people to choose alternate modes of transportation. There are also real safety issues with mixing what are essentially electric motorcycles (some e-bikes are at this level, certainly not all) with foot-traffic, skateboarders, bikes, scooters, etc.
I want to see bike/skateboard/scooter/etc infrastructure that encourages people to move at more reasonable speeds — by design — along with educational measures to get the community up to speed on etiquette and how it fits into the bigger picture.
The city planners are already employing similar measures with pedestrian-car infrastructure, building curbs out to make corners tighter, which encourages car traffic to slow down and gives pedestrians a better line of sight, better visibility to drivers, and shorter distances to negotiate when crossing streets.
While our first go at this has been challenging for pedestrian-cyclist relations, I don’t believe the best solution is to ice-out cyclists with a path to walk their bikes. I know there’s a happy medium between the suggestion of a bike path painted onto a street sized for two lanes of car traffic, and a narrow corridor that demands serenity from cyclists.
If State Street, as now configured, is the best route why do non-recreational bicyclists avoid it and travel on the much more dangerous parallel streets (like Santa Barbara in particular)?
It’s not the best route in it’s current configuration, for reasons identified in my original post (and there are plenty more, no doubt), and as evidenced by your (and my) observation of many cyclists choosing Santa Barbara Street.
What makes State Street the safest route from my perspective is that bikes share the least space with cars compared all the other options. This makes it my preferred route when traveling by bike.
I have many ideas for how this could look, but I’m curious to hear your observations, experiences and ideas.
My answer to my rhetorical question: Riders with business or purpose avoid State because it is slow, too many stop sings, distracting and somewhat unsafe with all the show off ebike riders around. This observation is more true as to why almost all bike riders use Las Positas street instead of the dedicated lanes. Also true about Hollster dedicated bike lanes being avoided. We spent millions on these projects which do seem like they are desireable as healthy planning and esthestic improvements but will not attract many commuters or shoppers or anyone else with time concerns.
Covid is over. And so should the covid ‘temporary’ rules for side walk and street dining – without compensation! Taxpayers own the street and sidewalks. Not private parties.
The City needs to first return State Street to the pre-covid planned designs. And see what happens. Then let businesses expand to vacant buildings – sideways or upwards. Let the cars go.up and down State St. With a bus run from the wharf to 5 Pts.
And end the camping without a permit. Pretend SB is a city
with higher standards than LA.
Totally.
If you think COVID is over, better hope you’ll enjoy contracting the latest variant.
It’s a corona virus cold now for almost everyone dude. We’ll live with it. I think it’s pretty clear what he meant was the mass shutting down of things including indoor dining is over. And the COVID-driven unusual situation of private businesses occupying public sidewalks and streets should be ended. But hey, you keep masking up if you’d like. Moderna and the other big pharmas love guys like you!
Yet it’s still more deadly than influenza. Talk to your doctor – they’ll set you straight.
You mean Dr. Fauci.
Any fully licensed physician should do. No need to go to the top of the expertise ladder – even a very mediocre physician would know enough to advise you properly.
I see nothing here about the 400 block. A building owner wanted to put a “Lucky Strike” bowling alley there where Dollar Store was but the city thought was too unsophisticated for SB. That classy FUN business would have revitalized the 400 block. Instead it is a block with homeless problems and defections and urinations daily.
Really? Where do these imaginary people defect to? Russia?
Haha! Plus an upvote – I guess I can see why some don’t give a crap about poop on State St. Really humorous stuff!