Keep State Walkable

I fully support keeping State Street a zone for just pedestrians and human-powered wheels (skateboards and bikes).

My wife and I moved to Santa Barbara a couple of years ago because we were looking for somewhere to settle near my aging mom, and we were especially struck with the fact that State Street provided a human-centered walkable/bikeable core of the city, something we greatly missed from having lived in Europe for so long.

In Europe, most of the cities were built before the dawn of the automobile, so they were built for humans, not machines. The result is that the cities of Europe are walkable and more social because of it — people aren’t separated from one another in their separate cars, which creates community and a general sense of well-being.

We implore the city to retain the pedestrian zone on State Street and not open it up to vehicles.

Regarding the conflict around kids and others biking too fast on e-bikes, setting a speed limit for human-powered wheels would be an easy solution, and bringing back the green stripe in the middle of the street would be a good reminder for pedestrians to cross the street with more caution when approaching the bike zone.

Let’s keep State Street for humans, not cars — let’s keep the heart of our city social, community-driven, and lively!