Twenty-five years ago, Santa Barbara’s State Street was still a destination for retail shoppers, people who wanted to window shop, and folks who wanted a good meal in a nice setting.
What happened to the State Street vibe?
When the street was teaming with foot traffic, stores were welcoming, and the restaurants crowded. It was a pleasant experience, well worth the 100-mile round trip from Lompoc for a day away from home.
We felt lucky to have a trendy vacation spot just an hour away, and frequently made the trip just for lunch.
We don’t make that trip any more, but why?
There were several factors that contributed to the deterioration of this once gracious boulevard; most were caused by poor political decisions made by voters who elected people who had more consideration for vagrants, shoplifters, rabble-rousers, and other seedy distractions than they did for the shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and the public they served.
First came the vagrants; a few eccentric individuals with their tattoos, guitars, colorful clothing, and carefree style started a slow migration up the street. They would “entertain” for handouts, and people would often drop some change into their collection box.
It didn’t take long for these folks to become pests who became more demanding of the handouts, used doorways as their sleeping areas, and turned parking garage stairwells and public sidewalks into outhouses.
The stench of the street began to overwhelm observers of the street scene, kill appetites, and foot traffic seemed to fade.
When the very liberal Ninth District Court of Appeals determined that homeless people had a right to “camp” in any public space unless local taxpayers provided them with free housing and food, it got worse.
Politicians formed committees and spread money helter skelter, but the more taxpayer cash they tossed at the problem, the worse it got. You see, what politicians can’t figure out is when you give things away more people will show up with their hands out.
Then the Santa Barbara City Council stepped in to “fix the problem.” Many people who owned the businesses and buildings helped elect these folks, and they wanted some action.
Businesses were losing business largely because shoppers didn’t want to wade through squads of the unwashed and dodge piles of residue on sidewalks. Without foot traffic, the restaurants lost diners.
But the unhoused had more clout than either the elected officials or the taxpayers who elected them.
To further exacerbate the issue, Sacramento politicians changed the laws regarding commercial thefts, vagrancy and vandalism, following a move by slow-thinking voters.
Next was an all-out campaign to “reduce crime” by simply declaring the crimes were no longer illegal. There — no more crime, so stop complaining.
What followed was predictable: Businesses simply closed because they were experiencing what retailers call “leakage” or losses from the cumulative impact of thefts that were too great to endure.
Another factor, a result of the unexpected government reaction to a disease, was the rapid expansion of online shopping. Now you could get anything from a tube of toothpaste to a refrigerator delivered to your door — no parking hassle, no crowded stores, no wading through the homeless.
Then there were the parklets, first allowed in public spaces to allow businesses to operate during the pandemic. Once the indoor eating restrictions were lifted, owners wanted to keep the parklets because they increased the seating capacity of their restaurants, and the public seemed to like them.
This transformed sidewalks into enclosures, but also exposed customers directly to passing vagrants.
Now the current transformation of State Street into a large sidewalk; no cars or trucks allowed, but in the interest of saving the earth, e-bikes are permitted in pedestrian friendly areas.
Of course, the riders can zoom much faster than a human-powered scooter on these things, and pedestrians have been hit. Once again, this was predictable but not by the consultants or politicians who dreamed up this idea.
With all that empty commercial space in Paseo Nuevo, some say the mall should be converted to affordable housing. This could take the property off the tax rolls and, of course, there is the loss of sales tax revenue.
So, what happened to State Street? Political actions seem to have created more problems than they solved, and the vibe died.