FORMER SANTA BARBARA Mayor Sheila Lodge — still at 95 a member of the city’s Planning Commission — has played a major role in protecting the architectural and environmental qualities that have made Santa Barbara “an uncommonplace American town.” An illustrated talk by Thomas R. Reynolds.
EARLIER: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SHEILA LODGE
THE LATEST PLANS
An overview of the most recent plans for State Street. [PDF]
GRAND PASEO DESIGN CONCEPT ADVANCES
Planning team outlines a vision for transforming State Street into a pedestrian-friendly hub from the 500 block to the 1200 block. [Edhat]
COUNCIL FINDS CONSENSUS ON PEDESTRIAN-FIRST PLAN
The long-range plan focuses on existing paseos to connect areas and create new plaza-like spaces to revitalize State Street into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood. [Independent]
CITY LEADERS OPPOSE RETURNING CARS TO STATE STREET
The city council swerved away from reopening part of State Street to vehicles and instead shifted to regulating bicycles and making the street safer for pedestrians. [Noozhawk]
Excerpted from “California Editor” by Thomas M. Storke, past postmaster and longtime editor and publisher of the Santa Barbara News-Press.
The Santa Barbara Post Office apparently had been built [in 1914 at State and Anapamu, with Storke as its first postmaster] without taking into account possible future growth in population and the needs of its postal service. During the two decades between 1914 and 1934, Santa Barbara had more than tripled in population. The volume of mail had quadrupled. To move the normal daily volume of business it became necessary to lease outside space, until the situation became untenable. Something had to be done about it, and very soon.
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STATE STREET PLANNING GETS MORE SPECIFIC
There was a palpable feeling of consensus developing at the latest meeting of the panel planning the future of State Street.
RESTAURANTS STILL SUPPORT THE PROMENADE
“Opal Restaurant & Bar and our neighbor, Carlitos Café y Cantina, have recently lost our parklets. However, we have begun a process to rebuild,” say the owners. “Maintaining the State Street promenade is the best thing for our city.” [Noozhawk]
EX-MAYOR HAL CONKLIN LIVES ON
“Santa Barbara’s downtown should invoke a sense of place, a sense of history and a sense of celebration.”
The late mayor’s exhortation was cited as the touchstone for the planning process, now nearing its final stages.
CAR-FREE STREETS ARE HERE TO STAY
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cities around the world closed down streets to cars and opened them up for people. Some of these experiments were so popular that they are here to stay. Here are four car-free streets that are still going strong or just getting started. [Blue Zones]
JFK PROMENADE IN SAN FRANCISCO TOPS OPEN SPACE LIST
Since its closure to vehicular traffic in April of 2020, the JFK Promenade in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park has seen 12.6 million visits, establishing it as San Francisco’s most frequented open space. Once on the city’s high injury network, the street has transformed into a vibrant hub for interactive art, cycling, walking, dancing and rolling. The pedestrian-friendly oasis has been enhanced with dozens of accessibility upgrades, as well as a free shuttle, public pianos, seating areas, lawn games and live music. [From the SF Rec and Park Department]
THE DECLINE OF SANTA MONICA’S THIRD STREET PROMENADE
“The promenade went through a period where there were many, many mom-and-pop [businesses],” says Andrew Thomas, the CEO of the nonprofit Downtown Santa Monica. “And then as it grew in popularity and became more and more desirable, the national [chains] came in and pushed out a lot of those mom-and-pops.” The displacement of small businesses telegraphed a major problem that continues to vex the Third Street Promenade today: staggeringly high rental prices. [SFGate]
IS THIS NECESSARY on a pedestrian promenade?
STATE STREET CLOSED TO CARS ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND 2020
