I’ve lived in Santa Barbara since 2010, downtown for most of that time.
When Amazon bought our company, Graphiq, I made it my mission to pick a location downtown instead of Goleta.
As you all know, we ended up leasing the Saks building, at 1001 State St., which was about to close down.
For those who don’t know, that corner — at State and Carrillo streets — is the official center of Santa Barbara, where Google Maps places the pin.
So I have the bona fides of having rescued the epicenter of downtown Santa Barbara with one of the biggest commercial leases in the past decade.
I’m old enough to remember when State Street was still a street.
Like many of you, I intentionally avoided State when driving. State had midblock red lights, jaywalkers and forbidden left turns.
Whenever possible, I walked our beautiful city and appreciated the perks of year-round excellent weather.
When I drove, I would park at the same garages available to us today, for an affordable rate (more often than not, free). The ease of parking downtown is something I miss when I travel: a great perk for locals, visitors and businesses.
I also remember when State Street was busiest. It was during the farmers market, the Summer Solstice and Christmas parades, and Fiesta, all of which had street closures.
I partook in some big Halloweens in my 20s. I don’t think traffic was closed, but people were definitely walking on the street.
Other memories of State Street include car shows, Christmas trees, races and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which also involved some degree of street closures.
Today, I choose to walk on State Street whenever I can. It’s easier for me to walk down Garden Street to the beach, but instead I walk a few extra blocks to avoid that awful freeway underpass.
When I have guests, I always take them for a walk on State. During those walks, I inevitably end up buying ice cream.
It’s hard to believe that walking on a promenade without traffic — and the risk, smell and noise that comes with it — is a “millennial thing.”
Walkable cities are the envy of Europe and the bane of Los Angeles. The reason people love the State Street promenade is that it’s made for humans.
I am also disappointed by vacant businesses. I used to love going to the movies. When I was a kid, I lived across from a theater and watched every movie. I was obsessed with not missing the trailers and would throw a tantrum if a late guest made me miss them.
Home movies are nothing like watching a great film with immersive sound, sharing laughs and scares with strangers. And yet, I don’t really go to the theater anymore. Nor do most people I know.
I had a craving the morning of Thanksgiving, and to my wife’s horror, I decided to go to Sprouts at 1 p.m. She told me I would be waiting for an hour, and she’s usually right.
But this time she wasn’t. The store was emptier than usual, and it’s located on Milpas Street, not State Street.
The economy has been on a path of dematerialization, which was accelerated by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
It’s sad. And it’s bad for business. And it has nothing to do with traffic on State Street.
If anything, having a walkable corridor is the closest we can get to the golden days of physical consumption.
I feel for business owners, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for those taking financial risks and pursuing their restaurateur dreams to keep our downtown alive. We, the citizens of Santa Barbara, appreciate you very much.
This is not a clash between business owners and “stakeholders who never built anything.” It’s citizens asking for a beautiful, walkable city, and businesses struggling in a changing economy.
By the way, biking on State Street is a problem. Teenagers doing tricks on their electric bikes should not be a replacement for cars. Bike lanes should be less prominent, and irresponsible bikers (or their parents) should be paying fines.
But this is not an argument in favor of cars, just another problem to solve.