Businesses for State Street is made up of business owners and members of the Santa Barbara community. We write to respectfully ask that the mayor and City Council carefully review the following comments supporting the creation of a fully car-free State Street.

Our opinions are not unique. They come from locals, business owners and visitors alike, who experience State Street every day — and love it car free. According to every available data source, the majority of our community loves car-free State Street too. The petition linked on the BusinessforStateStreet website has garnered over 1,900 digital signatures and over 1,000 in-person signatures, or nearly 3,000 signatures overall. There are also over 700 comments. Anyone interested can read them here. Car-free State Street is economically successful, safe, attractive to investment, and beloved by our community.

That is why it’s time to commit to a fully car-free State Street.

For six years, Santa Barbara has had the opportunity to experience a different kind of downtown. What began as a temporary response to extraordinary circumstances has evolved into something many residents now view as one of the city’s greatest assets: a people-oriented State Street.

As conversations continue about the future of downtown, it is worth stepping back and asking a simple question: what has the State Street Promenade accomplished, and where should we go from here?

A downtown built for people

State Street is not just a transportation corridor. It is our main street, our civic gathering space, and the symbolic heart of Santa Barbara.

The most successful downtowns in the world are places where people want to spend time, not simply pass through. They are places where families stroll, friends meet for coffee, visitors linger, and local businesses benefit from foot traffic.

The promenade has made that possible in a way that would have been difficult to imagine a decade ago. Instead of the noise and stress of vehicle traffic, State Street is now defined by conversation, outdoor dining, public events, bicycles, street performers, and thousands of daily human interactions.

That is not a loss of functionality. It is a different—and arguably more valuable—kind of functionality.

Economic success comes from places, not traffic

For decades, cities assumed that more vehicle traffic meant more business activity.

The evidence increasingly points in the opposite direction.

Successful retail districts thrive because they are pleasant places to visit. People stay longer. They visit more businesses. They make repeat trips. They spend time rather than simply driving through.

State Street is accomplishing all of that. Radius Commercial Real Estate recently released their Quarter 1 2026 retail report. In it they note:

Notably, vacancy along State Street between Gutierrez and Sola Streets (4001300 blocks) has declined significantly. After peaking at 48 available storefronts in Q4 2020, vacancies have returned to approximately 30—on par with mid-2019 levels.

Additionally, vacancy on State Street is lower than it was in 2018. In other words, car-free State Street is as–if not more–successful for businesses than pre-pandemic State Street.

Potential business owners and investors are noticing this success as well. Radius also writes:

The largest transaction was the 37,313 square foot lease to EoS Fitness at 820 State Street, reactivating the former 24 Hour Fitness space and incorporating additional ground floor frontage along State Street. The addition of this State Street frontage creates a new entrance that will benefit the business while enhancing visibility and contributing positively to the building and the overall vitality of the downtown corridor.

Other soon-to-open businesses include a furniture store at the vacant CVS at 1109 State Street, and another store on the 400 block. The largest potential investment comes from Yardi Systems, who is currently in conversation with the City of Santa Barbara to transfer ownership of the Macy’s Building to their company for the conversion of the space into their global headquarters. This is an upwards of $100 million dollar deal. Would Yardi be interested in investing in car-free State Street if it was an utter failure as some have claimed?

The main thing to remember is that vacancies and economics on State Street isn’t solely about car access. State Street is competing not only with neighboring shopping districts but also with online retail. The challenge facing downtown is not how to increase vehicle throughput. The challenge is how to create an experience compelling enough that people choose to visit in person.

Walkable streets accomplish that.

No one should pretend every business has benefited equally. Downtown retail faces real challenges. But those challenges are national in scope and have far more to do with changing consumer behavior than whether cars can drive down State Street.

Safety matters

Before 2020, State Street was the third most dangerous corridor for people walking and biking. That is not a matter of opinion; it is reflected in the city’s own safety data and Vision Zero planning efforts. I wrote about this in a recent article.

The relationship between vehicle traffic and severe injuries is well understood. Cars are responsible for nearly all fatal and life-altering collisions in urban environments. When cars are removed from streets with high pedestrian activity, serious crashes typically decline.

That is exactly what happened on State Street.

Safety on State Street has improved so greatly thanks to the removal of cars that the corridor is now not on the list of the top 72 most dangerous streets in our city. That is a huge success worth celebrating!

A recent article claiming that “Cars moving slowly and predictably at 20 mph on State Street were a safer and more functional option than the current environment” is simply factually untrue.

No downtown improvement is more important than ensuring that residents, visitors, seniors, and children can move through the area safely. A successful downtown is one where people feel comfortable bringing their families, walking between businesses, and spending time outdoors.

Accessibility is essential

A successful promenade must work for everyone.

That means maintaining convenient ADA access, improving transit service, providing accessible parking, supporting rideshare and paratransit options, and ensuring clear drop-off locations.

Recent claims that pre-pandemic State Street was more accommodating of ADA needs are misguided. Walk down the street today, and you will see the old curb paint. Most of it is red. A few locations are painted yellow and marked “commercial loading only.” In other words, there were very few ADA dropoff zones.

Additionally, all Handicap parking spots that existed before the closure still exist today, and still have the exact same pathways to State Street. There are actually more blue parking spots downtown than before the pandemic, as a number were added on cross streets near intersections.

Accessibility and pedestrianization are not competing goals. Many of the world’s most accessible city centers are also their most pedestrian-oriented.

I am the first person to agree that there is still more work to be done for accessibility. For a number of years, there was no transit on State Street, and that was a massive failure for equity. However, there is now free electric shuttle service called The Loop on the street 3 days a week, and riders can request to be dropped off anywhere they’d like. That is the kind of flexibility that can only come with a car-free space. The City should expand this service, buy more vehicles, and operate it seven days a week.

The future of State Street should continue improving accessibility while preserving the qualities that have made the promenade successful.

Sustainability and quality of life

Santa Barbara has adopted ambitious goals related to climate, transportation, and public health.

A walkable and bike-friendly downtown helps advance all of them.

Every trip made on foot, by bicycle, or by transit is one less car trip contributing to congestion, emissions, and parking demand. More importantly, these transportation choices create a healthier and more enjoyable city.

The success of BCycle provides a good example. Two million miles have been ridden on the system, with half of all of those occurring on the car-free section of State Street. The promenade has become one of the most comfortable places in the city, and even the county, for people of all ages to ride. That is an enviable success we should celebrate!

Building on success

The conversation about State Street should no longer be about whether we return to 2019.

That version of State Street no longer exists, nor should it.

The question is how we take what has worked and make it even better.

That means investing in shade, seating, landscaping, public art, wayfinding, transit, housing, and thoughtful design. It means creating a downtown neighborhood rather than simply a downtown destination. It means embracing State Street’s role as the public living room of Santa Barbara. The Draft State Street Master Plan is a massive step towards these goals. I want to commend City Staff; Tess Harris, the State Street Master Planner; City Council; and the team at Moule and Polyzoides for putting together such a thoughtful and impactful plan. Now we must advance this plan to its next phases: final design and implementation.

Cities across North America are moving in this direction because they recognize a simple reality: places designed for people are more resilient, more economically productive, and more enjoyable than places designed primarily for cars.

Santa Barbara has already taken the first step. Now we must finish the job.

June 30th is the big day (though that could change – stay tuned). City Council will discuss whether to extend Title 31 and keep State Street car-free, or revert it to the 2019 layout. Repealing Title 31 would mean a complete loss of outdoor seating on State Street, removal of the pedlets, removal of the bike lanes, and destruction of a beloved promenade. Continuing Title 31, on the other hand, does not mean a vote to keep the somewhat messy layout we have today. It means creating confidence for businesses and the public that the city is committed to a pedestrian-focussed street, and leaves open the possibility to experiment. What if the City puts out more public furniture and planters? What if we paint more artwork on the ground? What if we add pedlets to another block? Will these interventions help slow down e-bikes? Without extending Title 31, we will never know. If you can’t make it at 2pm for public comment, email council a comment here. You can also sign the petition.

The future of downtown is not a return to the past. The future of downtown is a stronger State Street.