State Street should be Santa Barbara’s front porch: welcoming, beautiful, and full of reasons to return. A place to open a business, meet a friend, enjoy a performance, and build a life nearby.
My plan: help businesses open, make each block work, and deliver improvements with a clear budget and public results.
On September 1, Council voted to introduce the ordinance adopting the State Street Master Plan. The City’s recap also identifies engineering and grant work, a capital investment strategy for the FY2028 budget, and annual monitoring beginning in spring 2027.
Read the City’s September 3 recap. This describes the reported Council action; ordinance introduction is distinct from final adoption and legal effectiveness.
My proposals build on that work with a clearer path for businesses, practical arrangements for each block, and public reporting on costs, delays, and results.
The plan
Three commitments. Clear responsibilities.
01 · Open
Help businesses open and stay open.
Give a prospective business a coordinated explanation of requirements, estimated fees, and next steps before it makes a major commitment. Help existing businesses navigate construction and changing access.
Actions, cost, and accountability
What I would propose
A 15-business-day target for an initial assessment after a complete submission, with assumptions and unresolved questions stated. Provide a route to resolve missed deadlines and make useful building records easier to search.
Who carries it out
Community Development, working with Fire, Public Works, and other reviewers. Council sets policy and considers funding.
Resources and timing
Seek a costed service proposal in 2027. Check staff workload, record quality, digitization costs, and additional capacity before adopting the target.
What residents can measure
Days to initial assessment, unresolved cases, changes to early guidance, and the time from a complete application to opening. An initial assessment is not a permit or guarantee of final approval.
02 · Operate
Make each block work.
Agree on access, loading, cleaning, lighting, events, and the businesses that could complement each block. Name a responsible contact and publish the next actions.
Actions, cost, and accountability
What I would propose
Written operating plans developed with businesses, residents, disability advocates, and the business district. Coordinate voluntary recruitment and opening hours. Use clusters of long-dark storefronts to trigger a review of barriers.
Who carries it out
The City Administrator coordinates departments and partners. Property owners and businesses make their own lease and operating decisions.
Resources and timing
Begin with priority blocks in 2027, subject to resources. Identify existing services, gaps, contract responsibilities, and annual operating costs.
What residents can measure
Active frontage, openings and closures, access problems, pedestrian activity, and completed service requests. A storefront review commits the City to action, not a guaranteed tenant.
03 · Deliver
Fund improvements the City can sustain.
Sequence construction around practical needs and available funding. Publish what each phase costs, how businesses will remain accessible, and who maintains the finished street.
Actions, cost, and accountability
What I would propose
Build on the City’s reporting with a public list of major milestones, funding status, delay reasons, and the next decision. Seek quarterly updates on priority actions alongside the City-directed annual monitoring.
Who carries it out
City Administration, Finance, and Public Works, with Council approval of budgets and contracts.
Resources and timing
Use the FY2028 capital strategy to identify engineering, utilities, construction, contingency, and ongoing maintenance. Treat grants as funding only when awarded and available for the work.
What residents can measure
Funded and unfunded phases, spending against approved budgets, changes to schedules, and construction-access disruptions.
My hybrid approach
One street. Different needs. A clear plan.
I support a hybrid State Street that welcomes people throughout the day and adapts to downtown life: comfortable walking space, safe bicycle travel, accessible transportation and drop-offs, dependable deliveries, and emergency access at all times.
My starting point is pedestrian priority, with managed access for the people and services that need to reach the street. Publish the rules, assign responsibility, and measure whether they work.
Broader private-car access would require a separate public decision. Any proposal should identify the access problem it would solve and present evidence about safety, accessibility, business needs, and effects on surrounding streets. It is not an automatic next phase.
Emergency access is required in every arrangement. These illustrations explain proposed uses. They do not set final dimensions, schedules, or permissions.
Everyday downtown
People walk, ride, reach shops and services, and spend time together. Accessible transportation and necessary drop-offs fit within a managed access plan.
Walking and bicycle travel
The illustration shows walking space beside storefronts, bicycle movement in the center, and an accessible arrival from a cross street. Specific transport services and drop-off locations remain to be selected.
Measure accessible trips completed, pedestrian and bicycle conflicts, and whether entrances and crossings stay clear.
Deliveries and servicing
Businesses receive supplies through predictable loading arrangements. Use nearby loading areas where practical and controlled direct access for needs that cannot reasonably be served another way.
Controlled loading
A service vehicle enters through a controlled route. Goods move to a storefront while the walking areas stay open. Vehicle movement and bicycle travel need operating rules for the delivery period.
Measure successful deliveries, loading time, obstruction, noise, and the needs that require exceptions. Heavy-vehicle restrictions still need separate review.
Markets and community events
Create space for markets, performances, and community traditions. Plan setup, accessible routes, bicycle arrangements, and emergency clearance before the event.
Gathering space with a clear route
Stalls occupy the sides of the street while the center remains clear for emergency access. Bicycle riding and other movement would be adjusted for the event.
Keep emergency access available. Event layout and crowd size determine where riding, loading, and other movement can safely occur.
Emergency access
Emergency services need reliable entry and a clear route at any hour. Design and test access with the agencies that will use it, including during events and power or equipment failures.
Response at any hour
The center is cleared for an emergency vehicle. This access requirement applies during everyday use, deliveries, and events, with tested entry controls and backup procedures.
Test entry and travel times, turning movements, clearances, and backup access. Faster response is an outcome to verify, not an assumed benefit.
Concept diagrams, not to scale. The same viewpoint is used throughout: storefronts on both sides, cross streets at the top and bottom. Final routes, separation, clearances, and controls require accessibility and engineering review.
How access would work in practice
Accessible trips: assess routes with people with disabilities. Provide suitable drop-off points and controlled exceptions where nearby alternatives cannot reasonably serve a destination.
Deliveries: use predictable windows, cross-street loading where practical, and scheduled exceptions for essential servicing or large items. Review heavy-vehicle restrictions separately.
Emergency response: test entry systems, clear routes, and backup operation with Fire, Police, and ambulance providers. Measure performance during events and equipment failures before claiming faster response.
Events: plan accessible routes, emergency clearance, loading, setup, and cleanup together. Adjust bicycle movement when crowd conditions require it.
These are proposed operating priorities. Current access permissions remain governed by City rules. The final Master Plan describes both existing arrangements and future concepts; they should be read separately.
Block by block
Build on each block’s strengths.
A cultural destination, a fitness center, and a restaurant district bring people at different times for different reasons. Work with owners and businesses to add useful neighbors, clear access, and more reasons to make a second stop.
Sola
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Gutierrez
Corridor guide, north to south. Block lengths are schematic.
1300 · Victoria to Sola
1300 block: culture and everyday neighbors
The opportunity
Build on cultural destinations with galleries, useful services, and activity that supports nearby residents.
The next action
Meet with venues and neighboring businesses to coordinate event access and complementary activity.
Track event-related activity, accessible arrivals, and active frontage.
1200 · Anapamu to Victoria
1200 block: culture throughout the day
The opportunity
Connect cultural visits with a broader mix of daytime shopping and services.
The next action
Identify gaps in opening hours and everyday needs, then support voluntary recruitment as space becomes available.
Track daytime activity, business variety, and opening hours.
1100 · Figueroa to Anapamu
1100 block: shopping and cultural visits
The opportunity
Strengthen the connection between cultural destinations and surrounding shops.
The next action
Work with businesses on clear walking routes, useful wayfinding, and complementary offerings.
Track active frontage, visitor movement, and access issues.
1000 · Carrillo to Figueroa
1000 block: connected shopping
The opportunity
Make the retail walk comfortable, continuous, and worth extending.
The next action
Identify frontage gaps, entrance barriers, and opportunities for useful shops and services.
Track active frontage, completed access improvements, and additional stops.
900 · Canon Perdido to Carrillo
900 block: music, families, and shopping
The opportunity
Help cultural activity support nearby shopping and appropriate dining opportunities.
The next action
Confirm venue schedules and business needs, then coordinate voluntary opening hours and accessible arrivals.
Track activity at different times, additional stops, and customer-access needs.
800 · De la Guerra to Canon Perdido
800 block: everyday shopping and fitness
The opportunity
Complement recurring fitness trips with shopping, useful services, and places to stop before or after a visit.
The next action
Confirm project timing and business needs, then facilitate introductions and voluntary coordination of opening hours.
Track operating hours, storefront activity, and whether visitors make additional stops.
700 · Ortega to De la Guerra
700 block: work, housing, and daily errands
The opportunity
Prepare for the everyday needs of workers and residents as nearby projects progress.
The next action
Verify project milestones and identify gaps in errands, food, services, and pedestrian connections.
Track project delivery separately from occupancy, daytime activity, and business openings.
600 · Cota to Ortega
600 block: makers and adaptable spaces
The opportunity
Explore spaces that can serve smaller businesses, makers, shopping, or other suitable activity.
The next action
Work with willing owners to assess subdivision and reuse options, with costs and approval requirements identified early.
Track feasibility assessments, applications, openings, and space remaining inactive.
500 · Haley to Cota
500 block: dining and more reasons to visit
The opportunity
Support successful dining while broadening daytime reasons to visit.
The next action
Identify complementary shopping and services as opportunities arise, with businesses choosing their own mix.
Track daytime and evening activity, business variety, and loading conflicts.
400 · Gutierrez to Haley
400 block: a welcoming downtown gateway
The opportunity
Connect downtown visits with creative businesses, public activity, and nearby neighborhoods.
The next action
Test interest in programming and maker activity, then develop access and operating arrangements with businesses and residents.
Track attendance, additional visits, accessible routes, and operating costs.
Campaign planning ideas, not City policy, company commitments, verified vacancy counts, or redevelopment approvals. Confirm current conditions with each block’s businesses and residents.
Housing + State Street + Safety
More neighbors. More everyday life.
500
Downtown homes at different stages by 2031
This is the same goal shown on the Housing page. Report completed homes first, with construction and issued permits shown separately. Count each home once at its latest stage.
A permit does not add a resident. Occupancy is what brings new households into downtown life. The goal is not a forecast of sales or tax revenue.
A complete downtown neighborhood
Support suitable housing, useful shops and services, welcoming public spaces, and buildings that respect Santa Barbara’s character.
Connect that work with lighting, cleaning, accessible routes, and effective crisis response. Track housing stability and homelessness prevention through the same programs described in Housing and Safety.
Coordinate responsibilities and budgets so that the same work is counted once.
Start with a clear account of existing staff, contracts, and funded work. Price additional services and construction phases before committing to them. Include the cost of keeping the finished street clean, accessible, and in good repair.
2027
Establish the starting point.
Seek a costed business-opening proposal, priority block plans, and current access and parking information. Build on the City-directed spring monitoring report.
FY2028
Match phases to funding.
Use the City’s capital strategy to identify funded work, remaining gaps, and construction-access arrangements. Publish what must happen before each phase proceeds.
2031
Review delivered results.
Assess business-opening times, active storefronts, access, completed improvements, and the 500-home goal by stage. Explain missed milestones and the next corrective action.
These are proposed priorities and review points. Construction dates depend on design, approvals, contracts, and secured funding. Council acts collectively; City staff and partners carry out approved work.
What the funding plan must include
Opening assistance and building records
Existing staff capacity, added workload, data quality, digitization, and any outside support.
Daily street operations
City and business-district responsibilities, cleaning and lighting standards, event support, access management, and recurring costs.
Employee parking pilot
Test a lower-cost permit in suitable parts of parking structures after checking current use and parking-fund effects. Publish permits sold, utilization, customer access, enforcement costs, and net revenue.
Capital construction
Engineering, utility work, accessibility, contingency, funding restrictions, maintenance, and replacement costs. Show committed funding separately from applications and possible future sources.
Keep businesses accessible during construction
Publish work windows, delivery arrangements, accessible entrances, customer wayfinding, and a contact who can resolve disruptions. Coordinate with businesses before work begins and report material schedule changes.
Track blocked access, complaint response times, and days of disruption. Any proposed financial assistance for businesses would need its own eligibility rules and identified funding.
Public results
Show what improves, what slips, and why.
Businesses and storefronts
Opening times, business openings and closures, and active frontage. Keep available-for-lease spaces separate from storefronts that appear dark.
Access and public life
Accessible trips, delivery reliability, pedestrian and bicycle activity, conflicts, and emergency-access tests. Review effects on neighboring streets too.
Money and delivery
Approved costs, spending, funding gaps, completed work, and changes to schedules. Compare economic trends using consistent areas and time periods.
More visits do not automatically mean more purchases. Fewer vacant storefronts do not establish stronger sales. Publish the measures separately, with dates, definitions, and sources.
Evidence and scope
A plan that can learn from results.
State Street’s earlier retail decline, changes since the closure, and the needs of individual businesses all matter. No single traffic rule explains the whole economy. Access decisions should address a specific problem and be evaluated against safety and business outcomes.
What informs the access approach
The City’s final Master Plan describes existing delivery arrangements and future access concepts, alongside pedestrian, bicycle, and emergency needs. My proposal prioritizes everyday pedestrian use with managed access for specific needs. It does not commit to general private-car windows.
New York’s Broadway evaluation found pedestrian-safety improvements after a package of street and intersection changes. York’s pedestrian streets illustrate controlled access for disabled visitors and essential services. Research on American pandemic pedestrian streets found an uncertain, approximately negligible average business-revenue effect, with experiences varying across businesses. These inform the questions to test locally; they do not predict Santa Barbara’s results.
Prepared September 7, 2026. The 15-day assessment target, block proposals, parking pilot, and 2031 housing goal are campaign proposals. They are not adopted City service guarantees or independently validated forecasts. Project designs and operating arrangements remain subject to the applicable review and funding decisions.
A welcoming street. A practical path forward.
Help businesses open. Make each block work. Invest with a clear budget and public results. That is the State Street I want to help deliver.