People Walk to Stores

Randy Rowse needs to explain how opening State Street to vehicles will benefit downtown businesses. People don’t cruise the streets looking for a business; they search on their phones.

People driving up and down State Street don’t patronize businesses, pedestrians do. And pedestrians need a reason to visit the downtown, a pleasant atmosphere as well as mutually supportive retail and dining.

There may be nostalgia for the business environment before internet shopping, but the best — and perhaps only — hope for creating a lively and appealing downtown is a street with increased outdoor dining opportunities. Instead, the city seems to be doing the opposite, by imposing increased costs and restrictions on outdoor dining opportunities.

And now Mayor Rowse is suggesting returning vehicles to State Street, thus eliminating parklets, the opposite of what will attract more people to State Street, and opposite to what polls indicate a large majority of residents want.

Prior to the COVID, the vehicles traveling on State Street were often local “cruisers” or tourists sightseeing from their vehicle, making the street less pleasant with their noise and pollution. Locals use Chapala or Anacapa streets, adjacent one-way streets with timed lights.