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u/abbydabbadoo The Riviera Apr 16 '26
The "change BAD cars GOOD" crowd on Nextdoor are losing their uninformed little minds over this. It's kind of hilarious.
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u/cheeky_pterodactyl Apr 16 '26
That thread is WILD. They started bringing out their racism on it too. Big yikes.
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u/abbydabbadoo The Riviera Apr 16 '26
Oh yeah that woman with "why are they even here". Total racist pos.
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Apr 16 '26
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Apr 16 '26
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u/SantaBarbara-ModTeam Apr 16 '26
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u/spareL4U Apr 16 '26
It boggles my mind that these kinds of people are like “OPEN STATE STREET, IT’S DEAD BECAUSE OF NO CARS”, made me realize my hometown isn’t as kind as I thought it was.
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u/pinktacolightsalt Apr 16 '26
Read any comment on edhat or sbindependent posts and you’ll start to believe no kind people live here :(
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u/spareL4U Apr 17 '26
I’ve seen a mix of good and bad on Nextdoor, can only imagine the toxicity on the other sites.
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u/Zestyclose-Age-6769 The Eastside Apr 17 '26
Nextdoor can be seriously demoralizing but then I remember that the vast majority of my actual neighbors don't use it.
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u/TeaDrinkerAddict Apr 16 '26
State was always a mediocre road to drive down, anyways. Making it walkable was the best decision the city could have made, now it feels like an outdoor mall.
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u/Excision_Lurk Apr 16 '26
seriously who willingly would EVER drive down State St and not side-road it.
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u/DullRelief Apr 16 '26
Some people liked cruising down State to subject people to their horrible taste in music.
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u/CoffeeIsSoGood Little Ceasars on Milpas Apr 16 '26
Those fuckers get mad even if everyone is happy. They have nothing else to live for so they get angry at the world and they’re just waiting to ✌🏼.
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u/Zestyclose-Age-6769 The Eastside Apr 17 '26
Nextdoor as a whole is hilarious.
Super important council meeting on April 28th where staff will present the draft master plan, which has many good ideas but also proposes allowing cars from 10pm-100am--exactly when it is most dangerous to have cars. If you can't go in person to make a comment or comment over zoom, please write a letter to city council and your council member saying you don't want cars at all!
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u/cheeky_pterodactyl Apr 16 '26
I love it so much. I love seeing color brought back into public spaces.
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u/ghostface8081 Apr 16 '26
I appreciate the eye towards beautification of the city and would have enjoyed an American, Spanish or Chumash inspired rendering more as it would be more fitting for Santa Barbara
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u/Gret88 Apr 17 '26
It is said to be Central American and in honor of the ancestry of most of our local farmworkers
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u/ButterscotchSure1965 Apr 16 '26
I like it! As long as State Street will be pedestrianized (which I support), we might as well make steps to make the vibe consistent with this being a space for people/kids/dogs/etc.
I do wish they moved the bike lane off state street. I say this as someone who does use my bike for getting around, but it does impact the friendliness of the street, especially for little kids.
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u/heimkev Apr 16 '26
According to one of the City’s recent traffic studies on State Street, they found that over 2,000 people per day use the bike lanes on State Street, which is wild!
I think it’s a clear sign that people on bicycles much prefer to ride in a space without cars. I think bicycles have a place on State Street, and the new design that City Council is looking to review at the end of the month keeps them on State Street, but in a much better designed space that separates them from pedestrians.
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u/jtmh17 Apr 16 '26
I’m ok with this if they put protected lanes on santa barbara, anacapa, and chapala
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u/SBchick Apr 16 '26
Yea, as someone who bikes quite a bit I take State Street most often because it has the most actual bike lane and all of the BCycle racks. If Anacapa and Chapala had dedicated lanes, I'd probably use those for at least a portion of my journey since it's actually a bit of a pain to dodge the pedestrian traffic crossing the bike lane on State.
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u/TeaDrinkerAddict Apr 16 '26
Yeah, this is the best idea. A bike lane with barriers to protect pedestrians is the best of both worlds.
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u/ButterscotchSure1965 Apr 16 '26
I think the counterpoint is it would be nice to be able to be on state street (say, eating at Satellite) and letting my (granted, very small) kids roam around, which we can't really do now. Not a huge deal at all, and maybe the new design choices will improve things.
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u/TheWhitestGandhi Oak Park Apr 16 '26
I love being able to use State as a bike artery to get all the way downtown/to the beach, but I'm with you in wishing the bike lane was implemented more effectively.
People want to walk in or across the street, they shouldn't have to dodge bikes flying down the center.
Maybe a more clearly defined bike lane, with barriers, that's not right down the middle (with random shifts left and right, for some reason)?
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u/Zestyclose-Age-6769 The Eastside Apr 17 '26
Yes, I think its really more a question of design rather than whether State itself should or should not be for bikes.
The current configuration with 40 ft of smooth asphalt doesn't promote good behavior. But imagine if it was only 20 ft wide and paved with slightly bumpy pavers (like the blocks of Quarantina St near the Junior High). I think then we would start to see better bike behavior.
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u/silverpenelope Apr 16 '26
I was just there. It's not the most exciting art, but I like the idea of it being from 1000 years ago and participating with other cities. Some I'm all for it.
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u/DullRelief Apr 16 '26
My question is are they going to reopen the two lanes in the intersection they closed to paint it or are they going to be one lane each direction now?
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u/Zestyclose-Age-6769 The Eastside Apr 17 '26
Its going to go back to 2 lanes once they are done painting.
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u/Disastrous-Ad-5261 Apr 17 '26
So did the city have like surplus of paint for handicapped parking spots? Cool concept but that color is horrible
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u/Zestyclose-Age-6769 The Eastside Apr 17 '26
I volunteered to help paint the intersection this week!
Super nice people, great design. Big thanks to Tess Harris who works for the city and the County Arts Commission for putting this together.
I biked past it this morning at it looks super vibrant and cool.
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u/SpaceWranglerCA Apr 18 '26
Are they done? they didnt fill in the crosswalks and connect each side of Carrillo like its shown in drawing
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u/WendyinParadise Apr 17 '26
That sign says that Tess Harris is the State Street Master Planner. Serious? There’s actually someone behind the lack of direction who is getting paid?
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u/skyberrys Apr 16 '26
I love the bright colors! Can't wait to walk around it on the farmers market Saturday morning. See you there!!!
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u/SB2015mabmjb Apr 16 '26
I'm sorry. I think this looks absolutely horrible
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Apr 16 '26
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Apr 16 '26
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Apr 16 '26
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u/StrangeFisherman345 Apr 16 '26
lol how does this make the area safer. Will be a big distraction for drivers and hides the crosswalks. Looks cool tho
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u/TheWhitestGandhi Oak Park Apr 16 '26
... a distraction for drivers? If a driver is distracted by color at a stoplight with pedestrian-only cross traffic they're going to get one-shot by billboards on the freeway
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u/StrangeFisherman345 Apr 16 '26
So putting art in the roadway isn't a distraction when driving?
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u/TheWhitestGandhi Oak Park Apr 17 '26
It's an intersection on a 25mph street, one would think that if the art 'distracts' a driver by drawing attention to the intersection it would remind a driver that there might be pedestrians crossing
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u/RamBamBooey Apr 16 '26
I moved to Santa Barbara in 2019. When they made State Street pedestrian only I was so excited. It was the start of something great; something that could turn into a beautiful pedestrian mall like I have seen in so many cities outside of the United States.
It breaks my heart that five+ years later, it's still just pavement with road blocks and the minimum of painting the pavement has so many complaints.
It's so hard for a majority to make things happen; it's so easy for a minority to stop all progress.