As a lifelong Santa Barbara resident and a member of Strong Towns Santa Barbara, I would like to offer a rebuttal to Cass Ensberg’s recent piece about the organization.
I joined Strong Towns in 2023. I was frustrated by the highway noise near my home, and that led me to learn about the urban design that led my city to be so reliant on such a loud piece of infrastructure. In hindsight, I can see that Santa Barbara, as Ensberg says, is actually much stronger than many cities in California. But I think that means we should be gradually improving this city, not merely protecting what’s good about it. In other words, we shouldn’t let “good” be the enemy of “even better.”
When Ensberg states, therefore, that “Santa Barbara evolved from classic planning and design principles,” I agree. However, that was over 100 years ago. We have since built a 6-lane highway right through our downtown and removed downtown housing for surface parking lots. And while our downtown core is relatively dense, we’ve sprawled right past Hidden Valley (my neighborhood) into areas of once-pristine farmland between our city and Goleta, and realistically into Lompoc and Ventura. Strong Towns Santa Barbara encourages the city to do more than rest on our laurels; we can do better.
That’s why when I look at State Street, I fondly remember the old days when Macy’s and Nordstrom were packed, but I still acknowledge that those businesses are gone (and closed before the promenade). We can cherish the memories while allowing State Street to fulfill a greater purpose. I believe the 3,200 signatures on Strong Towns’ petition to keep State Street car-free demonstrate that Santa Barbara agrees. Furthermore, Ensburg’s description of pre-2020 State Street is patently untrue. No engineer or planner would have called it a “slow” or “shared” street except in the most literal terms; it was one of the most dangerous streets for pedestrians and bikes in the city. That is not the same as designing with active transportation and pedestrian priority in mind.
Strong Towns was formed not “to help struggling communities become more like Santa Barbara,” as Ensberg states, but to help every city become safer, more financially resilient, and more inviting. Therefore, I would like to parallel Ensberg’s list of priorities for Strong Towns with my own list of priorities for everyone in Santa Barbara:
- Improve Santa Barbara by restoring the affordability that allowed rent, homeownership, and recreation to be within reach for everyone.
- Provide an accessible, multimodal transportation network throughout the city that allows people to choose healthier and less impactful modes of transportation, including walking, biking, and public transportation.
- Encourage the development patterns needed to make that transportation network well-used, make housing more affordable by increasing supply, and comply with state law to prevent both sprawl and builders’ remedy projects like the one behind the Mission.
- Create an inviting city through living by example.
I have lived in Santa Barbara my whole life and have yet to visit a more beautiful or more pleasant city. I know I have many more flaws than this city, but Santa Barbara and I both have many opportunities to improve. Yes, most of our downtown architecture is worth preserving, but does every half-empty parking lot deserve the same privilege? I will end with this four-step process that best represents Strong Towns:
- Humbly observe where people in the community struggle.
- Ask the question: What is the next smallest thing we can do right now to address that struggle?
- Do that thing. Do it right now.
- Repeat.
