Santa Barbara has spent years debating State Street. The Master Plan has passed, and the city is moving toward implementation. Yet the effort to reverse that decision brings us back to a familiar question: Should cars return?
The discussion has become contentious, with competing claims about what residents, businesses, and visitors want. Fortunately, there is a public record focused directly on this question: the June 30 City Council meeting on extending Title 31, during which State Street’s car-free arrangement to was upheld. Residents had the opportunity to submit comments or speak, and the record offers a detailed account of the views people brought forward.
Across the entire public comment record analyzed for that meeting, 84 percent of comments supported keeping State Street car-free, compared to 11 percent who favored reopening it to cars. Support for the promenade outnumbered opposition by over seven to one…