A steady stream of traffic passed along Hollister Avenue as Pete Jimenez stood outside Goleta Barbers, talking with a reporter and waving a hello to every fifth car that went by. He was explaining the concept that won the highest grant awarded to Old Town businesses in the City of Goleta’s Pride of Place program and also that he’d barbered the heads of three generations of customers during his 23 years of shop ownership.
With his neighbors from 5878 to 5860 Hollister — Ingrid Kraukle of Blue Blossoms, Ernest Martinez of Maya Income Tax Company, and Minh Duong of Family Discount Shop — Jimenez and their landlord worked together on a plan to add to the front of their shops some benches and planters, which customers can grip when they climb up the double set of curbs, which are steep. “I see people hold on to the tree to get up these curbs,” said Jimenez, demonstrating with the palm tree growing in a square cut. The proposal, which received a $20,000 grant, includes creating signs for the four storefronts and replacing the building-length overhang with awnings.
“For each shop, awnings would bring more sunlight inside, brighten the room, and make it feel more welcoming,” Jimenez explained. He gestured to sets of divots in the concrete sidewalk, saying there had been a wood and concrete bench against the wall at one point, which he’d like to see restored. “In September or October, this is the most beautiful spot for the sunset because it’s open,” he said, and it’s the place where he likes to enjoy his morning coffee.
The city received 28 grant applications totaling more than $500,000 for the new Pride of Place program, which is intended to freshen the look of the blocks heavily affected by the construction near Kellogg Avenue and the narrowing of Hollister to one lane. One applicant needed advertising funds “to let our customers know we’re still open” because the construction made them think they had closed. Only $120,000 in funding was available, so each of the 22 recipients received one-half to one-third of what they’d asked for — or seed money to kickstart their upgrade — ranging from $20,000 to $1,250…