How Santa Barbara saved Downtown State Street with outside dining and why we need to make that a permanent feature of our downtown.
In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, we all began noticing the ever-increasing number of empty storefronts on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara, the high rents, homelessness and a struggling retail economy brought on by online shopping.
Adding to this, the creative rebranding of the Funk Zone brought increased vibrancy to that neighborhood, and caused the business energy — particularly for restaurants and bars — to shift away from downtown to the newly bustling waterfront area.
This had many of us in the downtown corridor worried not only for the future of our own businesses, but for the future prospects of Santa Barbara itself, especially downtown.
In a city that consistently tops travel polls as one of the leading tourist destinations in the world, visitors arrived with high expectations that were simply not being met. Instead they found a downtown riddled with vacancies, and an increasingly battered restaurant scene in what was once a thriving center of exceptional food and beverage businesses.
A great city needs a great downtown, and a great downtown needs a critical mass of vital businesses and other energizing organizations to create the kind of vibrancy that attracts visitors and locals. Despite our best efforts, that energy was dying out and our downtown faced a dire future.
Then along came COVID-19, which sadly took too many lives and livelihoods and looked like it might result in as many as 30% to 50% of downtown restaurants closing their doors, potentially creating even more vacancies and economic blight.
But instead, an amazing thing happened. The City of Santa Barbara pivoted quickly and bravely, turning State Street into a pedestrian-friendly promenade and giving restaurants, coffee shops, bars and other retail shops the opportunity to expand their dining outside. The result was a renewed vibrancy in the downtown core that hadn’t been seen in years.
Voilà, we had just created al fresco dining, which is surely one of the first things most people think of when they think “European Riviera.” And here it was in Santa Barbara, up and down State Street!
We have always called ourselves the American Riviera, and now we actually had recreated that European outdoor dining experience in a climate that was even more suited to it than much of Europe itself.
Locals, who for years had not come downtown, were suddenly walking, riding and rolling to restaurants, excited to be dining outdoors. And visitors also quickly discovered our newly invigorated downtown, finding it equally as compelling as the waterfront, further adding to the vibrancy of State Street.
This has all led to an uptick in retail with new storefronts opening, many of which, not surprisingly, want to be located near places with outdoor dining due to the increased foot traffic and overall interest and vibrancy.
Somehow, facing this dire threat, our city’s incredible response, initially conceived of as a temporary measure to allow businesses and the city to survive, became something much more. It became a roadmap for the future of Santa Barbara.
The closure of State Street to automobile traffic and its accompanying transformation to a primarily pedestrian thoroughfare with outdoor businesses is a forward-thinking, modern vision that understands that things are changing.
And if we are to remain relevant as a vibrant model California city, we must change our vision from what Santa Barbara used to be, to what it must become.
Are there problems with the current look and feel of some of the outdoor business structures? Yes. Can they be improved upon? Certainly! And local businesses have met numerous times over the past three months with city officials to discuss key concerns, such as:
» Working hand-in-hand with the city to make outdoor dining structures and parklets more aesthetically pleasing and in accordance with proper attention to accessibility, cleaning and stormwater management. The manner has sought to balance the city’s requirements with the business needs of the restaurants to operate their outdoor dining structures in a financially viable way.
» Arranging appropriate rental payments to the city for the use of outdoor space in the public domain. These would then become revenues that the city may choose to use to supplement any additional costs incurred by the use of its public property.
» Addressing potential “inequity” issues of those not fortunate enough to have locations within the promenade; i.e., possibly by creating universal size and seating limitations.
Finally, we strongly support and encourage the city to go forward with efforts already undertaken by the State Street Advisory Committee to develop a State Street Master Plan.
The success of the promenade “experiment” to date warrants its continuation, and the exploration of, and hopefully eventual implementation of, further improvements to enhance the beauty, vibrancy and economic health of our city’s downtown corridor, which we firmly believe is good for all of Santa Barbara.
As we work toward that goal, we also urge the city to allow existing outdoor operations to continue as they have been, with minor modifications as needed, until the master plan guidelines have been announced, currently scheduled for December 2023.
Please let the City Council know your thoughts on this. We hope that you will share our vision for the continuation of the downtown State Street promenade and outdoor businesses as a key component of the new master plan for Santa Barbara.
Let’s work together to create a sustainably vibrant future for our chosen and beloved hometown.
— Richard Yates and Tina Takaya are co-owners of Opal Restaurant & Bar, 1325 State St. The opinions expressed are their own.