Santa Barbara should maintain State Street downtown as a car-free zone! As the city enables the building of new housing and as enterprises such as Yardi add office jobs, the car-free zone will help with downtown revival.
We are all painfully aware that activity has been shrinking in downtown Santa Barbara, as it has shrunk even more severely in other cities. But the decline likely would be worse had we not established the car-free zone. The absence of cars on State Street helps to bring people downtown to stroll, to shop, to visit galleries and museums, to attend concerts, and to dine.
Across the nation for many years, downtown retail commerce has declined, but some cities have bounced back. Despite growth of suburban malls, closing of downtown anchor stores, growth of on-line shopping, and the absence of office employees who now work remotely, downtowns that have established car-free zones do better, and many small shops and restaurants have regained walk-in traffic.
With the elimination of auto and truck traffic on State Street, the decline in activity downtown has been slowed. Evidence from cities across the nation and Europe shows that establishing pedestrian areas encourages shopping and dining, The closing of areas to traffic nearly always helps to maintain patronage. With Santa Barbara’s nearby parking garages and parking lots immediately east and west of State Street, pedestrian access works well.
We need to keep State Street car free!
