Heads in the Sand

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Your paper endorsed Barnwell, Schneider and Williams for City Council, declaring that these three are best able to deal with Santa Barbara’s imminent crisis of too little housing, too much traffic, and a decaying environment. Instead of problem solvers, these three look a lot like ostriches. In their campaign literature, they defend no growth, limited building heights and Santa Barbara’s traditional neighborhoods of massively dispersed residential housing. How does their defense of no growth and neighborhoods of increasingly wealthy and self-satisfied homeowners solve the problems of skyrocketing real estate prices, loss of affordable housing and desperate commuters on jam-packed highways? The solution seems clear to everyone whose head isn’t stuck in the sand: significantly increased new, green and affordable developments that mix residential and commercial uses to ensure nearby, pedestrian-accessible amenities. Furthermore, these new, taller and greener buildings need to be located near the central core of the city. Until Santa Barbara deals with these issues, it will remain a giant smog factory for the rich. —R. Lee Kaplan

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