Rally for Safety at Fairview

All pedestrians deserve a safe way to navigate the Fairview Shopping Center without dangerously walking in the road alongside vehicles that are either driving through the sidewalk-free areas of Fairview center, cutting across the 76 Station to access the mall, or mistaking the Fairview Theatre pedestrian plaza as an extension of Encina Road. On a daily basis, schoolchildren from Old Town Goleta unsafely traverse the Fairview mall roadways on their way to and from Goleta Valley Junior High, and residents of the cerebral palsy home behind Sprouts are similarly forced to navigate hazardous sections of the shopping center in their mobility devices.  

After years of unanswered requests to the Shopping Center management, it’s time for the at-risk public to step up. On May 10 at 3 p.m., New Town Goleta Safety is hosting a Public Rally at the Fairview Shopping Center to send a unified message that our community deserves better than this.

New Town Goleta Safety (NTGS), has been working along with senior residences, COAST (Coalition for Sustainable Transportation), CSA (Center for Successful Aging), Goodland Coalition, local schools, and the Goleta City leadership to address the chronic safety issues at the Fairview Shopping Center. 

The City of Goleta, working closely with NTGS, recently secured Measure A Grant funding for a signal-controlled crosswalk at the Calle Real entrance to the Shopping Center. Regrettably, the Los Angeles management of the Fairview Center has failed to agree to connect this new crosswalk with an ADA-compliant sidewalk on their property.

Let’s come together to get this sidewalk in place before a tragedy occurs as even more traffic is brought into the Fairview Center with the arrival of two new large chain stores. Please join us on May 10 as we rally to create one compelling voice of reason and responsibility.