A State Street History

As a former Santa Barbarian (SBHS ’75) who still has family in the area, I find the State Street debate confusing. There is no mention of how State Street got to what it is today.

State was five lanes. Lower State had winos and car repair shops. Upper State had actually useful stores for residents.

The new San Roque Mall was killing downtown shopping. A bold plan to convert State to a transit way was implemented. Wide sidewalks, two traffic lanes. Plenty of inexpensive municipal parking. At some point Paseo Nuevo was built (totally out-of-scale with downtown).

And here you all are, 50 some years later back at square one. Maybe you can get it right this time.